Environment

A permit is required prior to performing any work on a watercourse as listed below.

Here are the documents to provide for a permit application:

• Application for Permit form (Available in French only)
• Detailed description of the work
• Location plan
• Plan of the intended work
• Hydrological and hydraulic studies, if necessary
• Payment of the fee

Here is the list of works and the cost of the permit:

Please note that if your planned work is not listed below, you must contact your municipality to obtain a permit.

Structures and activities prohibited by the MRC:

• Installation of culverts made from a tank with an inner lining
  • Alternatives: Reinforced concrete pipe (RCP), galvanized corrugated steel pipe (GCP), smooth lined polyethylene pipe (SLP) or smooth lined high density polyethylene pipe (SLDPE);
• Pushing of snow into the watercourse
• Installation of parallel culverts, with some exceptions
• Waterway canalization, with some exceptions
• Addition of an embankment to a watercourse
• Watercourse access for farm animals
• Installation of a dam on the watercourse

These works could lead to an offence under the applicable regulations. Please check with the MRC and your municipality before doing any work on a watercourse.

Please contact the watercourses department for any permit request by email at coursdeau@mrcvs.ca by phone at 450-455-5753 x2201, or in person at the MRC office at 280 Boulevard Harwood in Vaudreuil-Dorion.

La mise en vigueur du Règlement concernant la mise en œuvre provisoire des modifications apportées par le chapitre 7 des lois de 2021 en matière de gestion des risques liés aux inondations du Gouvernement du Québec vient modifier l’encadrement des activités réalisées dans les milieux hydriques en instaurant un régime d’autorisation municipale.

À cet effet, plusieurs activités telles que la construction d’un ponceau constitué d’un conduit d’un diamètre supérieur ou égal 1,2 m et d’au plus 4,5 m et la construction d’un ouvrage de stabilisation de talus nécessitent une autorisation de la part de la municipalité locale sur le territoire de laquelle sont réalisés les travaux. La construction d’un ouvrage comprend à la fois l’implantation, le remplacement, la reconstruction, la modification substantielle, le déplacement et le démantèlement de l’ouvrage ainsi que toute activité préalable de déboisement.

Une liste non exhaustive des activités nécessitant une autorisation de la part de la MRC ou de votre municipalité locale est présentée dans le tableau suivant :

Pour plus amples informations, veuillez vous référer au Règlement concernant la mise en œuvre provisoire des modifications apportées par le chapitre 7 des lois de 2021 en matière de gestion des risques liés aux inondations du Gouvernement du Québec.

Reddition de comptes du régime transitoire 2022

Definition of a watercourse under the jurisdiction of the MRC.

Before doing any work on what you think is a ditch, contact the MRC to check whether it is a watercourse under its jurisdiction. Be aware that even the smallest natural flow could be a watercourse, even if it is has been dry for some time The exact location, location of the riparian buffer, or other geographic information should be determined by a surveyor or biologist trained in the high water line determination process. In response to your request, the MRC will send you a map approximate location of the watercourse on the property to study. The responsibility of the MRC is limited to confirming whether or not it is a watercourse under its jurisdiction.

What is a watercourse?

Some ditches are now considered watercourses under the Law, which makes no distinction between regular or intermittent watercourses and those created or modified by human intervention.

Definition of a watercourse under the jurisdiction of the MRC

The MRC has jurisdiction over regular or intermittent watercourses, including those created or modified by human intervention:

• Natural watercourse, regardless of drainage basin;
• Watercourse of natural but modified origin, regardless of the drainage basin;
• A dugout watercourse that exists only because of human intervention with a drained area greater than 100 hectares.

Please contact the watercourses department for any inquiries regarding the identification of a waterway by email at coursdeau@mrcvs.ca or by phone at 450-455-5753 x2201, or in person at the MRC office at 280 Boulevard Harwood in Vaudreuil-Dorion.

In 2016, the MRC de Vaudreuil-Soulanges launched a program to promote the retention of agricultural soils thanks to an aid package from the Prime-Vert program of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of Quebec (MAPAQ). The objectives of this project are to improve the quality of watercourses by reducing the amount of sediment due to bank erosion, to reduce maintenance work required in waterways, and to improve growing conditions on many agricultural lands. It is made possible through the collaboration of agro-environmental advisory clubs, the Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA) and of the Conseil du bassin versant de la région de Vaudreuil-Soulanges (Watershed Council of the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Region – COBAVER-VS) The MRC intends to maximize the use of MAPAQ’s aid package by seeking grants that can cover up to 90% of the cost of the works, which represents nearly $25,000 per farm business. A personalized approach is offered to each farmer to promote the retention of agricultural soils. Here’s an overview of the steps of the project:

• Registration;
• Data compilation;
• Field diagnosis by an agronomist technician;
• Choice of actions to be carried out by farmers;
• Farmer-directed execution of the work;
• MAPAQ reimbursement according to grants.

  For more information, or to participate, please contact the watercourses department by email at coursdeau@mrcvs.ca or by phone at 450-455-5753 x2202, or in person at the MRC office at 280 Boulevard Harwood in Vaudreuil-Dorion.