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Conservation Authorities Act Plans & Strategies

Overview

Conservation authorities are required to develop a series of plans and strategies by the end of 2024. These guiding documents will help us continue to fulfil our mandate, maintain our lands and infrastructure, and manage natural hazard risks and natural resources in our jurisdiction. On this page, you can learn about these requirements and opportunities to share your feedback on key strategies.

2024 Plans & Strategies

What is it?

Our Watershed-Based Resource Management Strategy (“Watershed Strategy”) will guide our programs and services to help us protect the health of our watersheds for years to come. It will bring together the latest scientific data and apply a climate change lens to our work in watershed management, allowing us to continue to respond effectively to key natural resource issues and management needs in our jurisdiction.

Visit conservationhalton.ca/watershed-strategy to learn more.

What is it?

Our Conservation Area Strategy will guide how we protect and manage lands that we own in our jurisdiction. We have prepared ten overarching goals for conservation land management, including goals related to how we:

  • acquire, dispose of, secure, maintain, and protect our lands;
  • mitigate natural hazards on our lands;
  • protect natural heritage and environmentally significant areas on our lands;
  • engage with community partners and stakeholders; and
  • contribute to community wellbeing through passive and active recreation on our publicly accessible properties.

Our goals will inform the specific objectives and priorities of our Conservation Area Strategy. Visit conservationhalton.ca/conservation-area-strategy to learn more.

What is it?

Our Land Inventory will identify each of the lands that Conservation Halton owns and controls, including key details such as date of acquisition and land use (e.g., active conservation park, passive recreation area).

Conservation authorities maintain their land inventories as internal documents that are updated from time to time to reflect changes to landholdings.

 

What is it?

Break-up of ice within our watercourses can lead to ice jams that cause water levels to rise upstream of the jam, increasing the risk of flooding. Conservation authorities, where deemed necessary, are required to maintain an up-to-date Ice Management Plan that addresses how this risk should be managed. Our Ice Management Plan summarizes the methodologies and equipment used to monitor the break-up of river ice at historic ice jam locations across our jurisdiction; it also includes procedures for forecasting and reporting on potential ice-jams and ice-jam related flooding within our local watercourses.

 

What is it?

Our Natural Hazard Infrastructure Asset Management Plan includes all dams, flood conveyance channels and other hazard-management infrastructure that is owned by Conservation Halton. The plan includes condition assessment details related to each structure, identifies current levels of service and required capital repair costs, and forecasts long-term budget requirements and funding strategies for capital upgrades to ensure that our infrastructure remains in a “State-Of-Good Repair”. This plan will be updated from time to time.

 

What is it?

Our Natural Hazard Infrastructure Operational Plan provides a summary of key documents that contain detailed operations and maintenance procedures and protocols, surveillance system details and emergency response information to ensure each hazard-management structure is operated in compliance with all applicable technical guidelines, legislation and approved design. This plan will be updated from time to time.

More Information

Conservation authorities were formed between 1946 and 1979 under the Conservation Authorities Act, 1946 in response to poor water quality, deforestation, sedimentation, erosion, and fluctuating river flows. In 1954, Hurricane Hazel reinforced the importance of managing natural resources collaboratively, based on watershed jurisdictions.

The purpose of a conservation authority is to provide for the organization and delivery of programs and services that further the conservation, restoration, development, and management of natural resources in watersheds in Ontario.

In 2021, through changes to the Conservation Authorities Act, the province implemented a standardized approach to conservation authority service delivery and funding that identified mandatory programs and services. As part of this update, each conservation authority in Ontario is required to prepare a series of new strategies and plans by the end of 2024.

Ontario Regulation 686/21, Mandatory Programs & Services, issued pursuant to section 21.1 of the Conservation Authorities Act, stipulates the types of programs and services that conservation authorities may provide. As part of the implementation of this new regulation, the province requires that conservation authorities prepare a series of plans and strategies by December 31, 2024:

  • Watershed-based Resource Management Strategy (“Watershed Strategy”)
  • Conservation Area Strategy
  • Land Inventory
  • Ice Management Plan
  • Natural Hazard Infrastructure Asset Management Plan
  • Natural Hazard Infrastructure Operational Plan

For first two strategies listed above (i.e., Watershed Strategy and Conservation Area Strategy), the regulation requires that the public be consulted during the strategy’s development and during any subsequent update to the document.

The plans and strategies meet the requirements of Ontario Regulation 686/21 complement the priorities set out in our current strategic plan, Momentum, and align with the Memoranda of Understanding that we have with our partner municipalities relating to the provision of programs and services.

In many cases, the plans and strategies build on existing documents already developed and in use at Conservation Halton, such as our watershed plans, conservation area master plans and other management plans.