I’m writing to express my…

I’m writing to express my strong opposition to the Province’s proposal to consolidate Kettle Creek Conservation Authority into a Lake Erie Regional Conservation Authority.

The geographic scale alone makes this unworkable. Moving from a 520 square km watershed to a region more than 17,000 square km and stretching from Shelburne to Windsor creates a structure so large and diverse that local needs will inevitably get buried. These communities do not share the same environmental pressures, priorities, or landscapes. Pretending they can be managed under one umbrella is unrealistic.

When you centralize decision making to this degree, smaller conservation authorities lose their voice. The concerns of Kettle Creek and other small watersheds will be swallowed up by larger municipalities with louder political weight. Public feedback might still be “accepted,” but the practical ability for local residents to influence decisions gets diluted to the point of irrelevance.

Consolidation does not lead to better outcomes. It concentrates authority, reduces accountability, and moves decision making further away from the people actually affected. Conservation authorities aren’t just another layer of red tape. They’re a safeguard for our future. Local knowledge matters. Local priorities matter. A cooperative, locally driven realignment could work; a mandated overhaul of this scale will not.

One authority cannot effectively manage the needs of an area this large and environmentally diverse. What’s required in the northern part of the region will differ drastically from what’s needed in the south. Trying to force one management body to oversee all of it sets everyone up for failure.

I urge the Province to reconsider this approach and commit to solutions that strengthen, not weaken, local watershed management.