Perhaps Mayor Bruce Whale best summed up a presentation from Grand River Conservation Authority officials on March 27.
Whale and council heard all about a number of GRCA programs and lots of data, including the 2012 budget. The mayor told the officials no one has any complaints about the programs the GRCA delivers.
“The big question is why can’t you do it for a little less money,” he said. Whale added, “Because we’re critical of the amount doesn’t mean we’re not appreciative of the programs.”
The GRCA’s chief administrative officer Joe Farwell provided the facts. The Grand River watershed is 300km long and, at 6,800 square kilometres, is larger than Prince Edward Island. It flows from Dundalk in Dufferin County to Lake Erie. The Grand has four major tributaries, the Nith, Speed and Eramosa Rivers, plus the Conestogo River that runs through Mapleton.
It amounts, said Farwell, to over 11,000km of streams.
He said the budget this year is $32.7 million, and that is down from $33.6 million the previous years. Farwell also noted the GRCA has leveraged its municipal levy so that $1 from municipalities like Mapleton is matched with $2 raised elsewhere. He added the per capita levy for the watershed is about $10.
The GRCA’s budget includes 12% for special projects such as Trees for Mapleton.
Mapleton’s levy is about $79,000 this year, an increase of just over 2%.
Meanwhile, the GRCA is planning to spend $2.8 million at the Conestogo dam for major repairs this year to slow the water that comes out. That will improve the GRCA’s capability to handle high flows.
Next, he said, is work on an “emergency spillway” that could cost as much as $20 million before it is complete. The GRCA is working with the Ministry of Natural Resources about a size that is consistent with the new rules. The costs will be determined by the outcome of those discussions.
He added the municipal share of the costs could be spread over 10 years.
Supervisor of conservation services Tracey Ryan told council the Rural Water Quality Program will be running again this year and that Mapleton Township has been “the largest uptake” for that program since it started in 1999.
Farmers, mainly, have been using its funding to improve water courses by helping with tasks such as keeping manure and cattle from streams.
The county once provided $300,000 a year for that work, and now that has climbed to $400,000 as the perceived importance of water has grown. Ryan said now it’s not just farmers, but also people in urban areas who want to do such things as decommission wells, that can access funding.
She reminded council that Wellington County lies in parts of six different watersheds but all parts of the county are eligible to use the funding.
Ryan said the goal is “to find out the best combination of money to get things done.” She added the money in most of each of the working categories has been increased.
When it comes to the Trees for Mapleton project, Ryan said the GRCA is hoping for stable funding for a forester. The one working on that the past year has moved on to a new post at the GRCA.
Councillor Andy Knetsch asked what percentage of GRCA land is farmland, and if the board has ever considered selling it (board chairman Jane Mitchell and Mapleton’s GRCA board representative Pat Salter were in the gallery).
Farwell said the GRCA has sold farmland in the past. He said an old workshop property was sold last year. But, he said the GRCA’s strategic plan is coming along, and when it is ready “it may result in some” land sales.
Councillor Jim Curry asked about the county’s active transportation program, and if the GRCA is interested. He said many would like to see more trails, specifically one that extents to County Road 8.
Farwell agreed, “There is real interest in trails.”
He said the GRCA has also had discussions with Guelph, and provided Curry with a contact to consider the issue in Mapleton.
Curry then asked about the Indian Treaty lands. Natives have claimed six miles on either side of the Grand River for decades, and he wondered if that includes the Conestogo river. Farwell said the GRCA’s interpretation is the treaty is for land only around the Grand River. “We don’t believe it affects the Conestogo.”
County councillor John Green, who was also in the gallery, told council the county has a map of that land claim, and the Conestogo is not included on it.
Council thanked the GRCA officials for their presentations.
