The Province of Ontario…

The Province of Ontario recently released an Environmental Bill of Rights posting 013-5018, titled ‘Modernizing conservation authority operations-Conservation Authorities Act’. The purpose of this Memo is to provide a summary of the key proposed changes and outline comments that the Town of Caledon will submit prior to the closing of the EBR on May 20th.

Modernizing Conservation Authority Operations-Conservation Authorities Act

The Conservation Authorities Act was introduced in 1946 to enable programs and services to further the conservation, restoration, development and management of natural resources in watersheds in Ontario. Under the Act, 36 Conservation Authorities were created at the request of municipalities and are governed by municipally appointed representatives. As extreme weather, caused by climate change becomes more predominant, the role that Conservation Authorities play in our communities is becoming increasingly important. In response, the Province is seeking to modernize the Conservation Authorities Act, specifically considering the following:

• Clearly define that the core mandatory programs and services provided by conservation authorities to be natural hazard protection and management, conservation and management of conservation authority lands, drinking water source protection and protection of the Lake Simcoe watershed;
• Increase transparency in how conservation authorities levy municipalities for mandatory and non-mandatory programs and services. This will be done by aligning with modern transparency standards and reviewing levy’s for non-core programs after a certain period and establishing a process for entering agreements with municipalities for the delivery of these non-mandatory programs;
• Enable the Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks to appoint an investigator to audit and report on a Conservation Authority, and;
• Clarify the duty of conservation authority board members to act in the best interest of a conservation authority, like not-for profit organizations.
Previous Updates to the Conservation Authorities Act

In 2017, the Ontario government updated the Conservation Authority Act. Through updates to legislation, regulations, policies and programs, the Conservation Authority Act was proposed to be modernized to address the following:
• strengthen oversight and accountability;
• increase clarity and consistency in Conservation Authority programs and services;
• increase clarity and consistency in regulatory requirements;
• improve collaboration and engagement; and
• modernize funding mechanisms.
Implementation of the proposed changes were planned to be phased-in over four-years to provide ministry, conservation authorities, participating municipalities, Indigenous communities and other interested parties the opportunity to participate, and to allow resources needed to operationalize changes.

Caledon’s Climate Change Plan Update

The Federal Government in their report “Canada’s Changing Climate” recently revealed that Canada is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world, with many of the impacts already considered irreversible. To help understand the implications of a changing climate, the Town recently completed a Climate Change Risk and Vulnerability Assessment that served the purpose to (1) understand the future weather trends in Caledon to 2090 and (2) Identify the impacts related to the forecasted weather changes to natural, infrastructure, and social and economic systems. A summary of the climate change projections are outlined in Table 1 below:

Table 2: Climate Change Projections Summary
Climate Indicators Climate Change Projections
Temperature • Warmer in every season
• More extreme hot days
• Fewer days below freezing
• Average annual baseline temperature increases
Precipitation • Increase in annual precipitation
• Winter and spring getting wetter (snow & rain)
• Precipitation events getting more frequent & intense
• Decrease in summer precipitation
Freeze/Thaw Cycles • Fewer freeze/thaw cycles, primarily in spring / fall
Growing Season Length • Growing season beginning earlier, ending later
Average Wind • Difficulty forecasting major trends
Freezing Rain • Difficulty forecasting major trends

After extensive consultation with stakeholders including Town staff and Conservation Authority partners, a series of impacts resulting from the climate change projections were identified and evaluated. Examples of key impacts identified include:
• Drier summer conditions that lead to drier soils, wetlands and waterbodies negatively impacting agriculture, biodiversity and leading to the spread of invasive species;
• Increased precipitation leading to more flooding, creating emergency service challenges, damaging infrastructure, eroding natural areas and leading to the run off of important soil nutrients required for agriculture practices;
• Increase in precipitation that lead to more salting of roads during the winter season, and runoff from agricultural fields (during shoulder seasons) that may result in reduced water quality.
A full list of the impacts identified through our risk and vulnerability assessment, specifically related to the work completed by Conservation Authorities is available in Schedule A. The outcome of this assessment is a significant pillar in the Town’s Climate Change Action Plan Update. This Plan will contain actions to reduce climate change causing greenhouse gas emissions, and actions to adapt to the forecasted changes in climate to build a resilient Caledon.

Importance of Partnerships with Conservation Authorities on Climate Change Action

The Town has developed strong partnerships with Credit Valley Conservation (CVC) and Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) to implement programs, projects and studies that protect, enhance and restore natural systems within the Town of Caledon. As the Town updates its Climate Change Action Plan, these partnerships will be crucial in affording the Town the capacity to address the wide ranging and complex systemic changes already taking place as a direct result of a changing climate. This in turn enables the Town to leverage the expertise within Conservation Authorities to support climate change action without having to duplicate these efforts and resources within the municipality. The Town agrees with the actions outlined in the Provincial Environment Plan that recognizes the strength in relationships with Conservation Authorities for the protection and restoration of wetlands, natural ecosystems and resources, protection of people from flooding, and for the management of road salt, increasingly used in response to extreme weather. As the Province undertakes a review of the Conservation Authority Act, the Town would like to highlight the importance of the unique expertise and capacity within Conservation Authorities to deliver wide ranging actions to address and respond to the challenges of a changing climate.

Fundamental to their role and expertise is the ability of Conservation Authorities’ to take a watershed perspective, providing holistic guidance on resource management. To date, CVC and TRCA has worked in partnership with the Town of Caledon to successfully develop and implemented mitigative and adaptive strategies that would not have been possible otherwise. Through continued efforts programs offered by CVC and TRCA have contributed to improving and building the Town of Caledon’s resiliency in the following ways:

• Monitoring water level conditions in real-time and provide flood forecasting a warning services;
• Gather and use knowledge in support of informed decision making on the impacts of climate change on biodiversity, natural features and functions;
• Build partnerships and leverage capacity to ensure a coordinated agency response to climate change;
• Provide the capacity necessary for residents and the private sector to enhance climate change literacy to foster action that is supported through tailored programs and interventions;
• Incorporate current science on climate change into Natural Heritage Systems planning at multiple scales within CVC and TRCA including watershed, subwatershed, and site scale;
• Measure, monitor and report on indicators of climate change in our natural areas, apply adaptive environmental management, and enhance protection and stewardship efforts;
• Identify and enhance protection efforts for species or communities most at risk from climate change;
• Undertake innovative research leading to the development of processes and tools to evaluate flood risk mitigation investments and approaches;
• Conserve genetic diversity by protecting a variety of habitats and species;
• Increase wetland protection and restoration efforts and the quality and quantity of streamside plantings to moderate flooding events;
• Enhance urban natural spaces and plant more neighbourhood trees to moderate the effect of extreme heat days in urban settlement areas;
Further details on the programs offered by TRCA and CVC and their benefit to the Town of Caledon is provided in Schedule B: Inventory of Conservation Authority Partner Climate Change Related Projects and Programs in Caledon.

In addition to these, the Region of Peel, City of Brampton, City of Mississauga, the Town of Caledon, Credit Valley Conservation, and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority have formed a Peel Climate Change Partnership. The Partnership was formed in response to ‘the urgent need to respond to climate change at the locale level’ guided by senior representatives from each of the partnering organizations. The Partnership focuses on three main strategies including (1) the transition to low carbon communities (2) addressing temperature increases using green infrastructure and (3) develop comprehensive and coordinated approaches to flood mitigation. The Partnerships mission is to work collaboratively with municipal partners, conservation authorities, residents and businesses to address climate change at the local level. CVC and TRCA have been important members of this collaborative, providing science and technical expertise, and assisting to execute key actions identified in these strategies.

Overall, through partnerships with the Conservation Authorities, the Town is able to enhance its capacity to address the significant challenges posed by climate change without the duplication of resources at the municipal level. The Town encourages the Province to consider the value of this expertise as changes are considered in the modernization of the Conservation Authorities Act.

Attachments

Schedule A: Risk and Vulnerability Assessment Results Related to Work Completed by Conservation Authorities
Schedule B: Inventory of Conservation Authority Partner Climate Change Related Projects and Programs in Caledon