The board directors of the Grand River Conservation Authority has approved a budget of just under $33-million for 2010.
The budget, approved on Feb. 26, will pay the cost of GRCA programs that protect water quality, reduce flood damages, protect natural areas, support responsible development and provide outdoor recreation and environmental education.
The budget is about $1.6-million greater than in 2009, but officials said much of the increase is due to one-time stimulus grants from the federal and provincial governments for construction projects at conservation areas.
The overall expenditures in the budget are up 5% (about a $1.5-million increase).
The GRCA operating budget is in fact down by 4% (about a $950,000 decrease).
Capital budget is up 49% (approximately $2.5M increase)
The authority’s capital budget is up because of stimulus grants and the resulting large conservation area capital projects. When the GRCA received federal and provincial grants it still had to fund its share of infrastructure projects.
Officials said the money to fund those projects is coming from conservation area reserves.
Revenues
The GRCA has three main sources of revenue:
– $10-million (32 per cent) from watershed municipalities. The municipalities raise the money through their general tax rates or through charges on their water bills. The municipal levy works out to about $9.68 per person.
– $8-million (25 per cent) from the provincial and federal governments. That includes regular operating grants, one-time capital grants under stimulus programs and money to pay for source water protection planning.
– $13.4-million (43 per cent) in self-generated revenue such as money from campground fees, planning fees, tree sales, hydroelectricity generation, rental property income and other sources.
Expenditures
The budget is broken down into four sections:
– base operating budget, $18.6-million (57 per cent), which covers ongoing programs of the GRCA including flood prevention, environmental education, planning advice to municipalities and landowners, operation of trails, forest management and others.
– About $1.4-million will be spent to complete a two-year upgrade to the Conestogo Dam near Drayton to allow it to safely discharge more water during periods of extremely high flows.
– Special programs, $2.1-million (6 per cent) on one-time projects or continuing programs that are usually paid for with money from outside sources. They include:
– $700,000 for the Rural Water Quality Program which provides grants to rural landowners to take action to protect water quality on the farm. The money is provided by watershed municipalities.
– $300,000 to purchase environmentally sensitive land, covered by proceeds from earlier land sales.
– $100,000 for a subwatershed study for the Upper Blair Creek area in Kitchener, paid for by the city.
– $200,000 to continue an update of the Grand River Basin water management study. That will consider three issues – water quality, water supply, and flood control – on a watershed basis with an emphasis on addressing issues brought about by climate change and population growth. Municipalities, Six Nations, and provincial and federal agencies are also participating in the program.
– Conservation Area operations, $8.2-million (25 per cent). Fees from park users cover the entire operating cost of the GRCA’s 11 active conservation areas, which draw more than one million paid visits a year. In 2010, this budget also includes $2.1-million worth of infrastructure improvements at four parks. Of the total cost, about $1.6-million is offset with grants from the provincial and federal governments.
– Source water protection program, $4.1-million (12 per cent). The cost of that program is covered entirely by provincial grants.
The program is developing source water protection programs under the Clean Water Act in four watersheds – Grand River, Long Point Region, Catfish Creek, and Kettle Creek – to implement recommendations of the Walkerton Inquiry.
