Environment committee  It was marginal land, as you would call it today. It would have been undrained. It's very flat, pancake land with hydric soils, so very organic soils. It's difficult to drain, and it would have taken quite a drainage scheme to dry it out and turn it into farm land.

Environment committee  I would say it's a wetland that formed over centuries and centuries. It was wet ground, hydric soils, very damp, undrained. It was one type of wetland. When you put water on top of soils like that it turns it into a standing marsh. It's called Luther Marsh wildlife area. It's still a wetland.

Environment committee  Certainly. We have a long-standing history of working with the farm community in our watershed. It actually dates back probably 25 to 30 years, whether it's through tree planting or buffering riparian watercourses. About 20 years ago, one of our major municipalities adopted a program where they recognized that the contribution of pollution, manure, things like that, to the watercourses from the farm community could be reduced by buffering streams and building manure storages and carrying out conservation tillage.

Environment committee  I can certainly say that a similar type of program is what we're delivering through the rural water quality program, and it makes a lot of sense. We're working with the landowners. As I mentioned, 70% of our watershed is farmed. Almost all of our watershed is owned by private people.

Environment committee  Luther Marsh's history is that it was a poorly drained portion of Ontario with soils conducive to the formation of wetlands, so very high-organic soils. In the 1950s, they recognized that it would be important to have a large water storage feature at that site, partially for flood control but mostly water supply.

Environment committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning. My name is Joe Farwell, and I'm the chief administrative officer for the Grand River Conservation Authority. I am pleased to have this opportunity to provide you with input on habit conservation in the context of the national conservation plan.