Conservation authorities act - modernizing roles

NRU
Dec. 20, 2017
By Daniel Taylor

Long-awaited legislative changes recognize the key role of conservation authorities as watershed managers, and strengthen their efforts to mitigate climate and build resilience across Ontario.

Last week, the province enacted the Building Better Communities and Strengthening Watersheds Act, which bundled together changes to the Planning Act, with its long awaited OMB reforms, as well as changes to the Conservation Authorities Act.

One of the most significant changes to the Conservation Authorities Act is an anticipated climate change regulation detailing standards and requirements for conservation authority programs and services to mitigate climate change, provide for adaptation to changes in weather and aid in the resilience of urban infrastructure.

Conservation Ontario general manager Kim Gavine told NRU that although there aren't many details about what the regulation might look like in practice, but staff is very positive about the modernization of the Conservation Authorities Act.

"We're very supportive and we're very pleased with the changes to Conservation Authorities Act. We still need to hammer out the regulations but once the regulations are hammered out I think we're going to be in a much better situation. The biggest piece of this new legislation is the new climate change regulation—although we don't know what that is yet I can say that we're very excited about it."

The previous provincial legislation governing Ontario's conservation authorities, explains Gavine, was woefully out of date and didn't reflect the rapidly changing situation on the ground.

"The way that we do our stewardship programs and our tree planting programs, that has changed as a result of climate change. The monitoring that we do around water quality and quantity has changed as a result of climate change. So one could really make the argument that we've been dealing with climate change since the day our regulation was created in 1946."

The updated act recognizes that extreme weather events are increasingly impacting Ontario's municipalities and that conservation authorities, which are working on the ground to build climate resiliency and manage climate impacts, need further support.

"What's become more apparent now is the recognition of the more extreme weather events with droughts and floods being the two main [issues], and how we need to better equip ourselves in terms of what we're doing on the ground," said Gavine.

"It's affecting all of our activities and requiring more support when it comes to droughts and floods. We had situations where we had flooding in Windsor and conservation authorities [with a] severe low-water situation out in Quinte. It's these kind of extremes that we're talking about."

The updated act also confirms conservation authorities' role as watershed managers, expanding their mandate from monitoring and mapping floodplains to protecting Ontario's watersheds.