If we’re not careful the political vortex caused by debating local autonomy and the details of governance will surely suck us into an era where addressing the real valley-wide issues will never be solved.
What we really need to do is to get on with the task of solving these real problems at hand. We need to have a regional approach on a number of fronts that require all three regional districts to partner up, and if the provincial government needs to force them to joint agreements then so be it.
But leave the issue of mergers and eliminating electoral areas up to the people who live in those areas. Entering into that heated discussion will not build the bridges required to sustain the partnerships needed between people and communities to solve issues that are nearly out of control.
Our local governments should look to workable models that can be used where regional districts can come together without effecting regional autonomies but still directly address Okanagan-wide issues.
Good models for such regional cooperation exist in Canada, one such proven model is the Conservation Authority system in Ontario.
As early as the 1880s, rural Ontario was facing a serious deforestation problem. By the late 1920s and 1930s, the combination of drought and deforestation was causing extensive soil loss and flooding across the province. Individuals and organizations united to call for a broad new initiative to deal with conservation, flood control and reforestation.
Throughout the Depression years and those of World War II that followed, organizations such as the Ontario Conservation and Reforestation Association, which had its roots in the rural Ontario counties, the Federation of Ontario Naturalists and individuals writing for The Farmer's Advocate newspaper, pressed the case for conservation and wise resource management. Many of these leading conservationists believed that real progress in developing a new approach to natural resource management would not occur until an integrated approach was undertaken using natural watershed boundaries.
Although the responsibility for managing natural resources lay with the Province, the scale of erosion and water problems was such that it required a new approach, and when a number of municipal councils agreed to become involved, this spirit of cooperation led to the passage of the Conservation Authorities Act in 1946.
Since then the mandate of the Conservation Authorities has been defined in Section 20 of the Provincial Conservation Authorities Act: "to establish and undertake, in the area in which it has jurisdiction, a program designed to further the conservation, restoration, development and management of natural resources other than gas, oil, coal and minerals."
The mandate has focused on the management of renewable resources, but what has been significant in the design of the Conservation Authorities is the management of these resources on a watershed basis. Since its inception, the notion of watershed-based management has guided the development of individual Conservation Authorities and their ongoing planning and operational activities. Though flooding may have been the catalyst for some Conservation Authorities, the overall concept of watershed-based management of renewable resources prevails as the pre-eminent organizational strategy.
The Okanagan could take a lesson from this, since how we plan population growth, transit, water use, air quality and waste management all seem to be driving the discussion about valley-wide governance, yet in fact, solving these problems are directly linked to how we provide environmental stewardship as a society which is far beyond what we can expect from local government acting alone.
Today in Ontario, 36 Conservation Authorities operate in watersheds in which 90 per cent of the provincial population resides. Managing Ontario's watershed resources is a major undertaking that calls upon Conservation Authorities and their foresters, engineers, wildlife experts, ecologists, geologists, economists, chemists, agroscientists, planners, local municipal members, and volunteers to work together with farmers, developers, educators, lawyers, and ordinary citizens.
The range of responsibilities and activities are vast and includes: watershed strategies and management; flooding and erosion protection; water quality and quantity; reforestation and sustainable woodlot management; ecosystem regeneration; environmental education and information programming; land acquisition; outdoor recreation; soil conservation; environmental land use planning; habitat protection; agricultural and rural landowner assistance; and sensitive wetlands, flood plains and valley lands protection.
Community involvement and partnerships are fundamental to implementing a consistently successful watershed management strategy. Watershed boundaries transcend political jurisdictions and the Authorities' work in conservation and stewardship of renewable natural resources require an understanding of political as well as ecosystem management complexities.
Elected and appointed municipal officials are the board of Directors of a Conservation Authority and represent their community's needs. Province-wide they spend approximately $160 million annually in managing these watershed programs.
The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) was the sixth Authority formed in Ontario, created in 1947 it covers the upper watershed of the Thames River, an area of 3,482 square kilometres. The watershed is mainly rural except for the larger urban centres of London, Stratford and Woodstock and has a total population of approximately 485,000. Agriculture is the main component of the landscape with approximately 3,600 farms, including over 2,000 livestock operations.
UTRCA offers a similar scenario to what we find here in the Okanagan. The watershed’s location in a highly developed part of southern Ontario results in pressures from urban and rural land uses. The water quality of the Thames and its tributaries is impacted by drainage practices, runoff, spills and bank alterations, among other activities. Much of the forest cover in the watershed has been cleared for agricultural fields or urban development.
The forests have also been affected by alien species and over-logging. Despite these pressures, the Thames remains one of the most biologically diverse rivers in Canada. The river is home to over 90 species of fish and many species at risk including the spiny softshell turtle and the queen snake. The entire Thames River system (including tributaries) has been designated a Canadian Heritage River based on its rich cultural heritage and diverse recreational opportunities. The conservation authority has been an important factor in that designation and the protection of the areas habitat.
Presently the authority employs over 60 full time and contract staff, and an additional 100-150 seasonal staff not to mention managing scores of volunteers.
Ontario’s 36 Conservation Authorities have become a model of conservation and resource management for other provinces and countries.
In the United States some states have adopted the model and further innovation on the community level is seeing small-scale energy projects being developed, heritage attractions being developed and managed and even public healthcare facilities being developed and managed.
The model is a good one, and it’s a Canadian idea that works. Politicians should take note and understand that we can’t waste anymore time reinventing governance structures, we have to address the details of solving important community and habitat issues in the Okanagan watershed without anymore delays.
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Don Elzer writes and comments about travel, current affairs and the natural world. He is the Director of the Wildcraft Forest Ecomuseum and is the editor of The Monster Guide which can be found at www.themonsterguide.com
He can also be reached by email at: treks@uniserve.com
