The Grand River Conservation Authority board unanimously approved its budget Feb. 27.
The budget is $31.4-million – about $2.3 million higher than 2008, with much of the increase due to one-time capital projects or special programs, such as source water protection, that are covered entirely by the province, municipalities, or other sources.
Revenue
The GRCA has three main sources of revenue:
– $9.5 million (33 per cent) from watershed municipalities, mostly raised through water bills or property taxes;
– $7.5-million (25 per cent) from grants, mostly from the provincial government;
– $13-million (43 per cent) from revenue it generates, such as from campground fees, planning fees, tree sales, hydroelectricity generation, rental property income and other sources.
Expenditures
The base operating budget – $17.8-million (56 per cent) – includes ongoing programs, including flood prevention, environmental education, planning advice to municipalities and landowners, operation of trails, forest management and others.
Other expenditures include:
– $5.2 million for the source water protection program, to continue work to develop a source water protection plan under the Clean Water Act to implement the recommendations of the Walkerton Inquiry. All costs for this program are paid by the province
– $1.4-million to upgrade the Conestogo Dam near Drayton to increase discharge rates during extremely high flows;
– $265,000 for an update of the Grand River Basin Water Management Study, considering three issues: water quality, water supply, and flood control;
– $700,000 in grants to rural landowners under the Rural Water Quality Program, financed by grants from watershed municipalities; and
– $300,000 to purchase environmentally sensitive land, covered by proceeds from earlier land sales.
