Good day everyone. My name…

Good day everyone. My name is Dr. Frank Sammut. I am currently the Lake Steward of Little Silver and Rainbow Lakes in Tay Valley, Lanark county Ontario. I have been actively involved with lake water sampling and quality monitoring for the past 14 years. I have been asked to write to you today on behalf of my lake association, to express our collective dismay and opposition to the Province’s proposed consolidation of the existing 36 Conservation Authorities (CA)s into 7 larger Regional Conservation Authorities (RCA)s. Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) is our current local CA, which represents 18 municipalities, of which we are one. Tay Valley Township (TVT). TVT also does NOT support this amalgamation plan. The newly proposed St. Lawrence RCA is far too large. It will encompass 5 existing CAs representing at least 4 different watersheds with varying typographies, ranging from Glacial formed pot lakes set amidst fragile PreCambrian shield rocks to Sedimentary farmland planes, to paved city blocks with high rise buildings. It will also represent a whopping 44 municipalities! We have been receiving lake water sampling, testing and monitoring along with data analysis for many years, courtesy of our local CA. This includes monitoring key parameters of TP, TKP, O2, e-coli and most recently total Carbon deposits (related to forest fire smoke). A very good example of the RVCA’s work is a recent report https://www.rvca.ca/docs-annual-reports/groundwater-hydrology/viewdocum…. I encourage everyone to click the link and have a thoughtful read of this excellent and important work. I have personally worked alongside the wonderful staff and students at the RVCA and can assure you that this local bond and sharing of knowledge is invaluable.. I fear this will all be lost as the Ontario government creates yet another large bureaucracy stationed in Toronto, that is out of touch with small town, rural Communities. As far as our little lakes are concerned, we are very sensitive to surface water runoff and gray water contamination. Our lakes are situated on fractured Canadian Shield rock. We are situated at the head of the Rideau Valley watershed and are thus an important piece of this wonderful puzzle we like to call home. The entire Rideau Valley is considered a “highly vulnerable aquifer “. BTW! Tay Valley township has a combined estimated population of over 10,000 permanent and seasonal residents. Drinking water: The Walkerton investigation report led by Justice O’Connor made 121 recommendations related to protecting drinking water. Among them was one ensuring that our local Conservation Authorities continue to do water source testing! Under this new proposed system, will this be ensured? I don’t know? Finally, we as the LSRLPO have benefited from the diligence of the RVCA for many years. Any changes, such as those proposed by Bill 68 will surely detract from the quality and continuity of data on which monitoring depends. This is widely considered to be an exceedingly serious threat, motivated entirely by profit for developers and devoid of any common sense. Suggested Compromise: Perhaps, just joining our 2 local CAs, the RVCA and the MVCA (Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority) would make sense, as they are closely related with similar typographies and land use concerns. They would combined represent 2 large watersheds in Eastern Ontario. Thanks for listening. Dr. Frank Sammut, Lake Steward, Little Silver and Rainbow lakes.