Thank you.
Thank you for having me. I have a lot to say, and my wife felt I should write it down to keep it short.
My name is Donald Maciver. I'm the director of planning at the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority, which is right here in Ottawa. By training, experience, and accreditation, I'm a professional planner, and I've been with the conservation authority for 35 years.
The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority is one of Ontario’s 36 conservation authorities. Conservation authorities are pretty well unique to Ontario, although there is a similar construct in a couple of instances in Saskatchewan, I understand. Legislation enabling the creation of conservation authorities in Ontario came into effect around 1946. Part of the idea was to put the boys coming back from the war to work, not anticipating the post-war industrial boom.
There were three fundamental principles in forming these bodies: people living closest to the problems were best equipped to identify and resolve environmental problems; the watershed jurisdiction was preferred, as it transcended municipal boundaries; and at the time, and for a considerable period of time following that, the sharing of cost between the province and the local communities was a principle.
Following the devastation in southern Ontario that occurred because of Hurricane Hazel—81 lives were lost, and in today's dollars, about a billion dollars' worth of damage was done—the Ontario government made a policy decision that water quantity control should be done on a watershed basis as well, and conservation authorities really took off after that point in time. While the concept dates back to 1946, the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority, for instance, wasn't formed until 1966.
Conservation authorities conserve natural resources for everyone's benefit. In the City of Ottawa we're one of three conservation authorities that conduct business within the political boundaries of Ottawa, with the Rideau being the one with the largest population. Some of you will be aware that the Rideau is a designated Canadian heritage river, in recognition of its outstanding historical and recreational values, but it is also inscribed as a UNESCO world heritage site, so it's quite an asset to our community.
In my brief, I've described some of the nuts and bolts of what we do, but I'll just hit the topics in this commentary here.
We're responsible for flood warning and for flood information, and for monitoring related to drought response, so you probably heard our name if you were around this summer. We provide science-based planning advice to municipal approval authorities associated with their own development approval job. We regulate development on hazard lands. We protect fish habitat. We do water quality monitoring. We're responsible for watershed-based drinking water source protection. We do watershed and sub-watershed planning. We have quite a large stewardship services program—planting trees, correcting erosion, fixing wells, fixing septic systems, that type of thing—and we own over 2,300 hectares of land for the public enjoyment.
Today, however, I want to talk to you more particularly about looking forward and about making plans. Our member municipalities have come to see the river system as an economic asset to be valued and integrated into their long-range development plans, but I think as far as individuals are concerned we have a battle to wage here, because the challenge may be to reconnect people with the environment rather than to connect them—to ensure the population at large understands their connection to the landscape and the environment as well as the consequences of these connections.
I like to say that in the recent past, Canadians lived off the land; now many of them just live on the land. Rapid and uncontrolled development is transforming urban areas.
Most of you will be aware that we have in excess of 7 billion people on the planet. In Ontario our population is expected to grow by more than 32% by 2036, and that will push the GTA's share of the population in Ontario to over 50%. In this area, in Ottawa, by 2031, we're expected to grow by 30%, and what that's going to mean is that we're going to need another 145,000 homes by 2031. That's going to cover a lot of the landscape.
Comprehensive planning is required to address such growth pressure, and this is where the opportunity of urban conservation comes in. Urban conservation, from my understanding, has been a construct that until recently has dealt with the built environment, with buildings, with architecture, with circulation routes, that type of thing, but more recently, UNESCO has been looking at the meaning of it, and my understanding is that now they also recommend that it take into account the natural environment that cities are involved in.
You asked what best practices are. As conservation authorities, we believe a best practice is a concept called integrated watershed management. Integrated watershed management presents an opportunity for effectively ensuring that topography, geomorphology, and natural features and systems on and under the land are protected and that the resilience necessary to address climate change and other realities is integrated into future plans.
Integrated watershed management is increasingly being adopted in Canadian and international jurisdictions as a fundamental way for managing water resources. The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment incorporated IWM into a report they did, called “Strategic Directions for Water”. Many provinces are incorporating IWM into their water management strategies, including Ontario.
Integrated watershed management is the process of managing human activities and natural resources on a watershed basis, taking into account or recognizing that there are also social and economic issues that have to be dealt with together with the environment, and it incorporates community interests in order to manage water resources sustainably.
It's an evolving and continuous process through which decisions are made for the sustainable use, development, restoration, and protection of ecosystem features, functions, and linkages. IWM allows us to address multiple issues and objectives and enables us to plan within a very complex and uncertain environment. This approach allows us to protect important water resources while at the same time addressing critical issues such as the current and future impacts of rapid growth and climate change.
To add to this, we have to recognize the changing landscape in Ontario. There are 36 conservation authorities in Ontario right now, and they're limited to only 10% of the geography. Conservation authorities affect roughly 12 million people in the province--that's 90% of the population--and in addition to that, we also have to recognize that there are other things happening on the land, like agriculture.
We believe that this approach will help support one of the province's leading industries, which contributes more than $33 billion to the economy every year. The importance of agriculture, coupled with the rapid rate of urban development, creates significant pressures on Ontario's environment and seriously challenges the health and security of our future water and land resources, which are critical to the environment, to the economy, and most importantly to the health of Ontario residents, as we just learned from the doctor.
There is no denial that threats to Ontario's water and land resources, such as urbanization and climate change, are significant and growing larger. Managing impacts is a key in ensuring a sustainable economy and sustainable resources. Keeping water clean requires maintaining a healthy land resource so as to protect water quality and quantity. All society benefits.
It is preferable to do it this way, in an organized way, and to anticipate problems rather than to have to react to them. Here in Ottawa right now, the city is embarking on a $250 million dollar plan. It's called the Ottawa River action plan, and it is aimed at improving the quality of water discharges to the Ottawa River.
Any of you familiar with the local media know that there have been some horror stories over the last five years. In doing this, the city is adopting a watershed approach to implementation of the plan to ensure that the full range of pollutant sources and impacts are addressed. It's not just the Ottawa River, but also all the water sources that flow into it, one of which is the Rideau.
I would like to highlight as a best practice our watershed report card initiative, which I have here, although unfortunately it is not bilingual. It clearly and graphically provides a report for residents on watershed health. The RVCA has completed watershed report cards for the middle Rideau, the Tay River, and the Jock River in southwest Ottawa. A similar report is being prepared for the lower Rideau, the part that flows through the city. It will be available next year and will be in both of our official languages.
With this information, decisions regarding future development can be supported with current and scientifically valid knowledge. Stewardship programs can also target areas of concern, resulting in cost-effective improvements on the ground geared to improving land and water health in partnership with the community.
A key tool in how we determine health from a land cover or ecosystem health perspective is based on thresholds established in an Environment Canada publication called “How Much Habitat is Enough?”. The environmental thresholds described in this thing are based on that Environment Canada publication.
Other useful aquatic habitat approaches we utilize come from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, with whom we have a formal relationship, as well as the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. We believe this is a tool to ensure people understand their connection to the landscape and to the environment, as well as the consequences of these connections.
It takes the scale down to a level at which people can understand what is happening where they actually live, so they can understand the impacts of what they do on the environment.
In closing, I was asked what the role of the federal government should be in urban conservation. I was asked what I want from the federal government.
I was a little taken aback with that. I can't say I really want anything. The reality is that our day-to-day interaction with the federal government in this area is quite limited, in spite of having a federal waterway that runs down the spine of our watershed. What I would like to see is for this relationship to change and for the Government of Canada to become a leader in urban conservation.
Particularly, we would like to see recognition that the watershed uniquely serves as a rational scale for this perspective.
Decision-makers must be equipped with facts and tools to deal with ecological services, public health, and social benefits. Continued use of science is essential. The brief has reference documents we use routinely, developed by the federal government, and we would hope that these documents would continue to be made available and kept current.
In past years, the federal government has had many grant programs aimed at reducing energy use in homes and buildings; for larger infrastructure projects, the federal government could ask that a conservation plan be available to support those types of grant programs.
Finally, adoption of an integrated watershed management approach to managing water and resources could be a keystone not only for urban conservation but also for a reinvigorated federal water policy. Application of urban conservation practices, including the use of an integrated watershed management approach, will, we believe, lead to the creation of healthy, sustainable communities. We also believe that as conservation authorities, we are more than able to be a partner in these practices.
I thank you for your time. It's been a pleasure.