PROTECTING ONTARIO’S WATER. Conservation Ontario and its 36 member Conservation Authorities, along with their industry and non-profit partners, work hard every day to monitor our environment, conduct research, influence public policy and, most important, deliver programs and services that guard Ontario’s water today for a better, healthier tomorrow.
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Ontario’s many watersheds are each selfcontained and part of an interconnected ecosystem. They carry and contain the life-giving water that we rely on in so many aspects of our lives; everything from cultivating crops to enjoying gardens in our yards, from having healthy water to drink to sending healthy water downstream for someone else to drink.
It all depends on managing our watersheds well. And thanks to Ontario’s 36 Conservation Authorities and their network association – Conservation Ontario – residents of this beautiful province are working together to protect our watersheds.
“People understand the importance of water conservation and protection,” says Don Pearson, general manager of Conservation Ontario. “They are taking individual responsibility for our water more seriously.”
While treating our water with care is always said to start at home – with the individual – no one is alone in their efforts. Ontario’s Conservation Authorities rely on science to protect our environment.
These agencies deliver programs and services totalling approximately $210 million and employ over 3,000 people including engineers, wildlife experts, planners, biologists and hydrologists.
Ontario is unique in its approach to watershed management, according to Mr. Pearson. “We are the only province with the Conservation Authorities Act – legislation enacted in response to a growing concern among many that there were serious environmental and resource depletion issues that needed to be addressed,” he says.
What is most impressive is that this legislation was enacted in 1946 – very much ahead of its time. Conservation Authorities are known globally for their stewardship of Ontario’s rivers, lakes and streams through the development and delivery of watershed-based programs that work with nature to protect, restore and effectively manage Ontario’s water resources.
Conservation Ontario’s work to promote a watershed approach in the new Clean Water Act serves as a great example of the Conservation Authorities’ efforts on behalf of Ontario’s residents.
“Preventing contamination and making sure we have enough water for everyone’s use is a big focus of ours right now,” says Mr. Pearson. “Source water protection is a first step in protecting our drinking water through understanding what land uses harm our water and devising a plan to minimize those.”
Because what we do on land is reflected in our water and ecosystems, Conservation Authorities protect, manage and restore Ontario’s woodlands, wetlands and natural habitat – promoting practices that lead to healthy, sustainable communities and industries.
“We work to balance the uses of land across the landscape,” says Mr. Pearson, adding that urban development and agriculture are balanced with wildlife and recreational spaces if a watershed is looked at from a holistic viewpoint.
Rather than focusing piecemeal on individual problems, an integrated watershed approach takes a holistic view, exploring the cause-effect relationships of human activities on our environment and finding solutions that minimize negative environmental impacts.
Key to the success of the Conservation Authorities is their close relationship with local municipalities and landowners.
In addition to other sources of revenue, municipalities provide funding to Conservation Authorities, which, in turn, is pumped back into land and water management programs.
As well, Conservation Authorities work in partnership with municipalities to protect life and property by developing programs that minimize or prevent the impact of disasters such as flooding and erosion.
Working with landowners and encouraging them to adopt watershed stewardship practices is also very important to Conservation Authority programs. One such example is work that Conservation Ontario does with Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA) – a farm organization directly involved in the delivery of government-funded environmental programs for agriculture. OSCIA is quick to encourage farmers to take advantage of complementary programs at Conservation Authorities that can provide technical direction and cost share opportunities to conserve soil, water, air and biodiversity.
“With the free technical advice of the Conservation Authorities’ trained technicians, a farmer can gain valuable on-site advice to plan projects. Tree windbreaks, for example, can be effectively designed to satisfy far more objectives than just erosion control,” says Andrew Graham, program manager with OSCIA.
Stewardship education is a key component of Ontario’s Conservation Authorities’ work. Through the lands they manage and own, as well as the educational programs they deliver, Conservation Authorities provide opportunities for all citizens to understand and appreciate the value of their natural environment as well as the social and economic benefits of protecting that environment.
“Conservation Authorities have done a great job of helping people think beyond farm boundaries and look at the entire watershed of which they are a part,” says Mr. Graham.
“As a result, people are considering the importance of sustainable practices to minimize any direct effect they may be having on downstream properties and water.”
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