Municipal Drains

If a landowner is having concerns with excess water on their property or need to improve the drainage on their agricultural land they should contact the Township of Wilmot to be put in contact with the Drainage Superintendent.

The Drainage Superintendent will discuss the matter with you, visit the property and provide you with the best options to improve your drainage. 

If the Drainage Superintendent suggests you move forward with a municipal drain, you will need to file a Petition for Drainage Works by Owners – Form 1, which will set in motion a project to create a new municipal drain. This falls under Section 4 of the Drainage Act

It is important for landowners to understand the implications of signing a petition for drainage works. In accordance with the Drainage Act, the landowners who sign the petition acknowledge responsibility for costs incurred, regardless if construction occurs or not.

The Drainage Act process, including drain construction, takes time and there are many variables involved.

Municipal drains constructed under a by-law passed by Council shall be be maintained and repaired by the municipality in which the drain in located. The maintenance, repairs, and minor improvements will be completed at the expense of the lands, roads and utilities outlined in the assessment schedule contained in the engineer's report. 

Basic maintenance and repair work falls under Section 74 of the Drainage Act. This usually includes work such as clean outs, removal of beavers/dams, repairing/replacing tile, and generally repairing the existing drain in a way that does not detract from the drain's original construction. 

If you believe that a municipal drain is in need of maintenance, repair or minor improvements please contact us.

Once the drain has been built, the maintenance becomes part of the municipality's infrastructure.

If an existing drain requires significant repair that includes changing the original drain's infrastructure in a way that is different from the original engineer report, a Notice of Request for Drain Major Improvement under Section 78 - Repair & Improvement must be filed with Legislative Services. 

It is recommended that the Drainage Superintendent be consulted prior to submitting the Notice of Request for Drain Major Improvement. 

Examples of some projects that would be considered a major improvement include:

• Changing the course of the drainage works
• Making a new outlet for the whole of any part of the drainage works
• Constructing a tile drain under the bed of the whole or any part of the drainage works
• Constructing, reconstructing or extending bridges or culverts
• Extending the drainage works to an outlet

Notices and Other Documents

• Notice of Public Information Meeting
• Presentation
• Preliminary Drawings for Information Meeting
• Preliminary Net Assessments

A municipal drain is a system to move water. It is created pursuant to a by-law passed by Council. The municipality is then responsible for the construction of the drainage system and future maintenance and repair. Costs are often recovered from the property owners in the watershed of the drain.

Municipal drains are identified by municipal by-law that adopts an engineer's report. These reports contain plans, profiles and specifications defining the location, size and depth of the drain, and how costs are shared among property owners.

Most municipal drains are either ditches or closed systems, such as pipes or tiles buried in the ground. They can also include structures such as dykes or berms, pumping stations, buffer strips, grassed waterways, storm water retention ponds, culverts and bridges. Some creeks and small rivers are now considered to be municipal drains. Municipal drains are primarily located in rural agricultural areas.

What makes municipal drains different from other forms of drainage systems is that they are municipal infrastructure and the municipality is responsible for their management. 

Most municipal drains are also shown on the Agricultural Information Atlas website. 

You can contact drains@wilmot.ca or phone the Supervisor of Legislative Services/Deputy Clerk and ask them if you have a municipal drain on your property. 

To find out more information about municipal drains on your property, or for which you are being assessed, request copies of the by-law and engineer's report from your municipality. 

The engineer's report defines how a drain affects your property, including:

• Location of the drain
• Watershed of the drain
• Size and shape of the drain
• Working right-of-way
• Your share of drainage project costs

Before purchasing a property, it is recommended that you investigate how municipal drains may affect it. Municipalities have the right to accumulate the cost of maintaining a drain for up to five years or $5,000. That means you may be billed for work occurring before you owned a property.

The municipality is responsible for maintaining the municipal drain on behalf of the community of property owners.

The municipality will periodically arrange to enter onto your property and undertake any necessary work.

As a property owner, it is your responsibility to report any problems to the Drainage Superintendent.

Do not store materials such as brush, wood or other floatable material near the drain; in a storm they could float away and block the drain.

All municipal drains eventually connect with a lake, river or stream. Therefore, do not direct septic system waste, barnyard and manure storage run-off or other pollutants or residential waste directly to these drains.

A municipal drain may benefit a property owner by raising the value of the property making it more marketable, by increasing the productivity of the land and by preventing water from entering on to it.

Benefit will vary between different lands, according to their differences of elevation, the quantity of water to be drained from the land, the distance from the municipal drain, and the presence or absence of other existing drains, natural courses and other like factors.

The owners of all lands, roads, and utilities that are within the watershed of a municipal drain are responsible for the costs of the maintenance of that drain. The cost to each property owner will differ based on the assessment schedule as set out in the engineer's report for each municipal drain.

The costs of maintenance are assessed to the property, not the property owner. The property continues to benefit from the maintenance of the municipal drain regardless of who the owners of the property are. The invoice is directed to the owners of the property at the time of billing out the final costs.

Municipalities have the right to accumulate the cost of maintaining a drain for up to five years or $5,000. That means you may be billed for work occurring before you owned a property.