To: Ministry of the…

To: Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks

From: Ottawa River Institute

Re: Proposed boundaries for the regional consolidation of Ontario’s conservation authorities

The Ottawa River Institute is an incorporated, charitable organization based in the Ottawa Valley. Our mission is to foster sustainable communities and ecological integrity in the Ottawa River watershed.

The concept of the Ottawa River watershed is important to our organization and to Ottawa Valley residents, including the Indigenous Algonquin peoples whose traditional territory coincides with the watershed boundary. It is also important from a health and safety perspective.

The proposed boundary of the St. Lawrence Regional Conservation Authority does not appear reasonable. Its description—that it “Encompasses watersheds flowing into the St. Lawrence River”—is incorrect. The South Nation, Rideau, and Mississippi Rivers all flow into the Ottawa, not the St. Lawrence. Each of these major Ottawa River tributaries has its own CA with a proud history of working with farmers, recreational users, and municipalities to protect property values and water supplies.

The proposed boundary of the Northeastern Ontario Regional Conservation Authority is equally problematic. Combining the North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority, headquartered in North Bay, with distant conservation authorities in Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins, and Sudbury is illogical. The North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority CA serves another major portion of the Ottawa River watershed, including the Mattawa River basin with tributaries such as the Amable du Fond and North Rivers.

Residents in the Ottawa River watershed experienced serious flooding in 2017 and 2019, affecting communities from Mattawa to Hawkesbury. Homes were flooded, bridges closed, ferry services suspended. Rather than consolidating existing CAs in our watershed with CAs in other watersheds, we suggest retaining the current CA structure, and providing additional support to individual CAs to improve coordination among them. Consideration should be given to filling in major gaps in coverage, noting that the Madawaska, Bonnechere and Muskrat basins all lack CAs, and only an upstream portion of the Petawawa basin is within the area covered by the North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority.