Conservation Authority Flooding, Erosion, Shoreline and Wetlands Regulation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 30, 2006

Conservation Authorities have been regulating development in "hazard areas" for more than 40 years since Hurricane Hazel struck Toronto in the GTA in 1954, claiming 81 lives. The flooding and erosion issue in the GTA has not gone away. In Toronto, August 19, 2005 a local storm caused an estimated $500 million in damage, ripping out a street, exposing trunk sewers, breaching a trunk sewer that leaked for 24 hours, and closing the Don Valley. With climate change, federal experts anticipate that flooding and erosion will increase.

Wetlands in headwater areas such as the Town of Caledon, Dufferin County and Wellington County are critical not only to reduce flooding and erosion in those areas but also to mitigate flooding downstream in Mississauga and Brampton. Wetlands function to store water and release it slowly, not all at once in a storm. Mississauga and Brampton are particularly at risk because they contain at least 22 flood damage centers such as Churchville, Streetsville and Meadowvale.

The Conservation Authorities Act and its regulation are the provincial tools administered by 36 conservation authorities to try to prevent loss of life and property due to natural hazards in Southern Ontario. The Conservation Authorities Act and its regulation were revised by the Harris government to make the regulation consistent across all Conservation Authorities and to bring it into conformity with the Provincial Policy Statement. Both the revised Act ('97) and the Generic Regulation ('04) were approved by the Province after extensive consultation.

The generic regulation allows individual conservation authorities to allow "exemptions" where no permit is required even though the activity is in the regulation limit. Under the regulation, the Conservation Authorities are also allowed to make their own policies, which are revised periodically usually as a result of new knowledge or technology. Normal farming practices are not subject to the generic regulation at all and are automatically exempted. The generic regulation has no authority to regulate normal farming practices. A farmer undertaking normal farming practices does not need a permit or to even inquire regarding a formal exemption under the regulation.

The generic regulation does not detract from the power of the municipalities with regards to the Planning Act nor will it further reduce landowner rights beyond what exists in current legislation. Municipalities and landowners must already protect wetlands under the Provincial Policy Statement because wetlands recharge water tables and aquifers, filter toxins, sediment and other impurities and provide habitat for uncommon flora/ fauna.

The development application process involving conservation authorities is no different than currently exists. For many years, Conservation Authorities have been commenting agencies under the Planning Act and are circulated development applications in a process dictated by the Province and led by municipalities. Conservation Authorities currently review applications for the Province, analyzing whether a development will have an effect on flooding and erosion. In addition, the Conservation Authorities having environmental experts on staff are contracted by municipalities to provide advice on whether the municipality has met its obligations to protect natural heritage under the Provincial Policy Statement.

Based on the screening maps, the municipal official advises the applicant whether the proposed development needs to be reviewed by the Conservation Authority and if so forwards the application to the Conservation Authority. If the Conservation Authority requires more information, the person may or may not need to go to the Conservation authority office and the conservation authority official will meet the applicant on site.

The Province never intended that all the hazards would be mapped- they could be mapped or described in written text. The cost of mapping all the areas in the Province on the ground would be prohibitive and would have to be borne by municipalities. It has been the practice for more than 40 years that as applications come forward, that if the hazards are not already mapped, that they be determined on a site-by-site basis. The CVC has nonetheless tried to map as much of the features as possible. We do not have the right without landowner approval to enter on private land.

The Credit Valley Conservation together with the Toronto Region Conservation Authority is hosting a public information session, February 7 at the Brampton Fair Grounds, 12942 Heartlake Road, Caledon from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. Landowners will be able to see if the regulation limit has been adjusted on their property and if so what the nature of the natural hazard or hazards is, (are) on their property.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Bernadette Fernandez,
Communications Specialist
905-670-1615 ext 240