Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority

Last updated
Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority
Founded1950
FocusManage the water and other natural resources in the Saugeen River Watershed
Location
Area served
Saugeen River Watershed (Counties of Grey, Bruce, Wellington and Huron)
Website www.svca.on.ca

The Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority (SVCA) is a conservation authority in Ontario, Canada. It operates under the Conservation Authorities Act of Ontario. [1] It is a corporate body, through which municipalities, landowners and other organizations work cooperatively to manage the Saugeen River watershed [2] and natural resources within it.

Contents

Created in 1950, the SVCA has jurisdiction over 4,675 km2. (1,800 sq. miles) of land in southwestern Ontario, and owns over 8,498 hectares (21,000 acres) of natural areas, including conservation areas and forests. [3]

History

The Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority was created with the intention of responding to problems of flooding on the river, and the effect it had on local communities. [4] One of the first projects of the authority was to build a dyke system around the town of Walkerton to address the problems of flooding in the town. [3]

Over time, land was bought and added to the authority's jurisdiction. [5] [6] Present-day conservation areas were sold or donated to the authority, such as Sulphur Spring Conservation Authority, south of Hanover, which was created in the 1920s by a private landowner, A.J. Metzger, and sold to the SVCA in 1969. [7] In 1973, the Saugeen Valley Conservation Foundation, a non-profit organization, was formed to raise funds for conservation projects in the SVCA. There are 15 member municipalities: Arran-Elderslie, Brockton, Chatsworth, Grey Highlands, Hanover, Howick, Huron-Kinloss, Kincardine, Minto, Morris-Turnberry, Saugeen Shores, South Bruce, Southgate, Wellington North, and West Grey.

In 1996, the Ontario provincial Conservative government of the day cut the Authority's budget by 70%, limiting its ability to monitor water run-off quality. At the same time jobs were cut in the ministry responsible for assuring that water treatment facilities were kept in repair. [8] [9] In 2000, E.-coli in farm runoff leaked into the watershed, contributing to the Walkerton Tragedy. Representatives of the Authority were called to testify at the subsequent inquiry. [10] The budget cuts were among the events found to have led up to the seven deaths. [11] The inquiry led, among other things, to changes in legislation concerning all of the conservation authorities in Ontario. [12]

Today, the authority has taken on additional responsibilities beyond flood management. It manages 15 conservation areas and five campgrounds, monitors wildlife, [13] participates in research [14] [15] contributes data for environmental assessments [16] and provides public education programs available to residents and visitors of conservation lands.

Canoe route

The Saugeen River is a popular canoeing destination in southern Ontario. The SVCA manages the canoe route, which begins at Hanover Park in the town of Hanover, and ends 102 kilometres downstream at Denny's Dam Conservation Area, near the town of Southampton. The route is generally broad and placid, with few rapids, making the route an ideal beginner's course. [17]

Three portages are maintained, which bypass dams on the river. The SVCA also maintains access points and parks along the canoe routes.

Conservation areas

Camping facilities exist at Brucedale, Denny's Dam, Durham, McBeath, and Saugeen Bluffs Conservation Areas.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walkerton, Ontario</span> Town in Ontario, Canada

Walkerton is a town in the municipality of Brockton, Bruce County, Ontario, Canada. It is the site of Brockton's municipal offices and is the county seat. Walkerton is located on the Saugeen River, at the junction of King's Highway 9 and the former King's Highway 4 and is 75 km southwest of Owen Sound. As of 2011, the town had 4,967 people in the community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saugeen River</span> River in Ontario, Canada

The Saugeen River is located in southern Ontario, Canada. The river begins in the Osprey Wetland Conservation Lands and flows generally north-west about 160 kilometres (99 mi) before exiting into Lake Huron. The river is navigable for some distance, and was once an important barge route. Today the river is best known for its fishing and as a canoe route.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce County</span> County in Ontario, Canada

Bruce County is a county in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It has eight lower-tier municipalities with a total 2016 population of 66,491. It is named for James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, the sixth Governor General of the Province of Canada. The Bruce name is also linked to the Bruce Trail and the Bruce Peninsula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mattawa River</span> River in Ontario, Canada

The Mattawa River is a river in central Ontario, Canada. It flows east from Trout Lake east of North Bay and enters the Ottawa River at the town of Mattawa. Counting from the head of Trout Lake, it is 76 kilometres (47 mi) long. The river's name comes from the Algonquin word for "meeting of waterways".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amable du Fond River</span> River in Ontario, Canada

The Amable du Fond River is a river in Nipissing District, in Northern Ontario, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penetangore River</span> River in Ontario, Canada

The Penetangore River is a river in Kincardine, Bruce County in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is in the Great Lakes Basin and empties into Lake Huron. A boardwalk, a harbour, and the Kincardine lighthouse are located on the bank of this river near its mouth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southampton, Ontario</span> Community in Ontario, Canada

Southampton is a community on the shores of Lake Huron in Bruce County, Ontario, Canada. It is close to Port Elgin and is located at the mouth of the Saugeen River in the Saugeen Ojibway Nation Territory. The size of the town is 6.44 square kilometres. The permanent population in 2016 was 3,678, but the summer population is higher since cottagers and campers spend vacation time in the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saugeen Shores</span> Town in Ontario, Canada

Saugeen Shores is a town in Bruce County, Ontario, Canada, formed in 1998. In addition to the two main population centres of Southampton and Port Elgin, the town includes a portion of the village of Burgoyne and the North Bruce area, straddling the municipal eastern and southern boundary respectively. In 2016, the permanent population of Saugeen Shores was 13,715, in a land area of 171.05 square kilometres (66.04 sq mi).

The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) is a conservation authority in southern Ontario, Canada. It owns about 16,000 hectares of land in the Toronto region, and it employs more than 400 full-time employees and coordinates more than 3,000 volunteers each year. TRCA's area of jurisdiction is watershed-based and includes 3,467 square kilometres (1,339 sq mi) – 2,506 on land and 961 water-based in Lake Ontario. This area comprises nine watersheds from west to east – Etobicoke Creek, Mimico Creek, Humber River, Don River, Highland Creek, Petticoat Creek, Rouge River, Duffins Creek and Carruthers Creek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Elgin, Ontario</span> Community in Ontario, Canada

Port Elgin is a community in Bruce County, Ontario, Canada. Its location is in the traditional territory of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation. Originally named Normanton the town was renamed Port Elgin when it was incorporated in 1874, after James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, a former Governor General of the Province of Canada.

A conservation authority is a local, community-based natural resource management agency based in Ontario, Canada. Conservation authorities represent groupings of municipalities on a watershed basis and work in partnership with other agencies to carry out natural resource management activities within their respective watersheds, on behalf of their member municipalities and the Province of Ontario.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Durham, Ontario</span> Unincorporated town in Ontario, Canada

Durham is a community in the municipality of West Grey, Grey County, Ontario, Canada. Durham is located near the base of the Bruce Peninsula.

King's Highway 9, commonly referred to as Highway 9, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. Highway 9 has been divided into two segments since January 1, 1998, when the segment between Harriston and Orangeville was downloaded to the various counties in which it resided. The western segment of the highway begins at Highway 21 in Kincardine, near the shores of Lake Huron. It travels 73 km (45 mi) to the junction of Highway 23 and Highway 89 in Harriston. The central segment is now known as Wellington County Road 109 and Dufferin County Road 109. At Highway 10 in Orangeville, Highway 9 resumes and travels east to Highway 400. The highway once continued east to Yonge Street in Newmarket, but is now known as York Regional Road 31.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand River Conservation Authority</span>

The Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) is a conservation authority in Ontario, Canada. It operates under the Conservation Authorities Act of Ontario. It is a corporate body, through which municipalities, landowners and other organizations work cooperatively to manage the Grand River watershed and natural resources within it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservation Ontario</span> Conservation authority in Ontario

Conservation Ontario is the network of Ontario’s 36 conservation authorities in Ontario, Canada. Conservation Authorities are local, watershed management agencies that deliver services and programs that protect and manage water and other natural resources in partnership with government, landowners and other organizations.

The Temagami River, formerly spelled as Timagami River, is a river in the Nipissing District of Ontario, Canada, in the Temagami region. Its source is Lake Temagami and flows through Cross Lake and Red Cedar Lake. It flows into the Sturgeon River at the community of River Valley.

The Beatty Saugeen River is a river in the Saugeen River and Lake Huron drainage basins in Grey County, southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is a tributary of the South Saugeen River.

Maple Hill is an dispersed rural community in the township municipality of Brockton, Bruce County, Ontario, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wareham, Ontario</span>

Wareham is a community in Grey County, Ontario. It is about 80 km northwest of Brampton, Ontario and about 60 km west of Barrie, Ontario. It is south of The Blue Mountains, Ontario and of the Grey Highlands.

The Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway (WG&BR) was a railway in Ontario, Canada. It ran roughly northwest from Guelph to the port town of Southampton on Lake Huron, a distance of 101 miles (163 km). It also had a 66-mile (106 km) branch line splitting off at Palmerston and running roughly westward to Kincardine, another port town. A branch running south from Southampton was built during the construction of the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station in the 1970s.

References

  1. ↑ "Conservation Authorities Act. R.S.O. 1990, CHAPTER C.27". Government of Ontario. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  2. ↑ J. D. McCuaig; Edward W. Manning (1982). Agricultural Land-Use Change in Canada: Process and Consequences. Lands Directorate, Environment Canada. ISBN   978-0-662-11785-8.
  3. 1 2 History of Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority.
  4. ↑ "Flood Advisories Issued". November 1, 2013 Bayshore News.
  5. ↑ "Saugeen Valley facing financial difficulties" | Kincardine News
  6. ↑ Transactions of the ... Federal-Provincial Wildlife Conference. Environment Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service. 1984. ISBN   978-0-662-13601-9.
  7. ↑ Sulphur Spring Conservation Area Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority.
  8. ↑ Brenda Lee Burke (2001). Don't Drink the Water: The Walkerton Tragedy. Trafford Publishing. pp. 188–. ISBN   978-1-55212-713-1.
  9. ↑ "Seven dead from e-coli contamination in Ontario, Canada". by Keith Jones, 1 June 2000
  10. ↑ " THE WALKERTON INQUIRY". Dennis R. O'Connor, Government of Ontario.
  11. ↑ "People of Walkerton look back at tragedy". Owen Sound Times. by Scott Dunn, Sun Times, Owen Sound, May 18, 2010
  12. ↑ " ACCENT: How safe is our water? - Committee formulating a plan to protect our wells". Lara Bradley, The Sudbury Star, February 28, 2009
  13. ↑ Henry Jarrett (18 October 2013). Comparisons in Resource Management: Six Notable Programs in Other Countries and Their Possible U.S. Application. Taylor & Francis. pp. 215–. ISBN   978-1-135-99477-8.
  14. ↑ Federation of Ontario Naturalists; Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (1989). Wetlands: inertia or momentum : proceedings of a conference held in Toronto, Ontario, October 21-22, 1988. Available from Federation of Ontario Naturalists.
  15. ↑ James Gordon Nelson; Rafal Serafin (1 January 1997). National Parks and Protected Areas: Keystones to Conservation and Sustainable Development. Springer. ISBN   978-3-540-63527-7.
  16. ↑ "Bruce County council wants SVCA to hurry up". Don Crosby, The Sun Times, September 3, 2014
  17. ↑ "Ontario Canoeing". Out There.
  18. ↑ Denny's Dam Park Ontario Steelheaders
  19. ↑ Source Protection Stewardship – News and Information
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.