The Essex Region Conservation Authority has passed a $12-million budget, calling for the creation of two new wetlands, planting 50,000 trees, and new management plans for the Collavino Conservation Area and the CASO Greenway Trail.
Of that budget, about $3.5-million comes from municipalities in Essex County. For households in the region, it means a 30-cent increase a year to $21.21 for a home assessed at $300,000.
Of the municipal cost apportionment, $3,053,491 goes to provincially-mandated obligations.
Another $7.9-million will come from non-municipal sources, $223,000 from last year's revenues, and $587,000 in transfers from reserves.
"This budget also reflects significant multi-year capital and water quality projects," said CAO Tim Byrne. "Grants exceeding $15-million over four years will fund the Hillman Marsh coastal erosion and restoration project, two Detroit River erosion and wetland protection and creation projects, the Kingsville-Leamington nutrient research study, and region-wide water quality improvement incentives for rural landowners."
ERCA will also continue restorations at the historic horse barn at John R. Park Homestead, engage in a pay equity compliance review, and monitor water quality in waterways impacted by greenhouses.
"As an integrated watershed management agency, ERCA's service delivery areas have developed over the decades and include beneficial programs and services that support our collective goals related to ecological, social, and economic health," continued Byrne. "While the province has identified the core services it deems mandatory, ERCA has secured agreements with each of its nine-member municipalities to ensure the suite of Category 3 non-mandatory services it offers will continue."
Those non-mandatory services include tree planting and restoration of non-conservation authority-owned lands, education and outreach programs, managing the museum at the John R. Park Homestead, and water quality monitoring and reporting.
Between 2018 and last year, the authority received $12.4-milllion in municipal funds for non-mandatory programs and projects. Another $15-million in non-municipal funds was secured for those initiatives.
A recent report on the 20-year investment in the Clean Water-Green Spacess initiative highlighted that since 2003, municipalities have contributed $14.8-million to finance the protection of vulnerable lands, the restoration of habitat and green space, and water quality improvement. Another $15.2-million has come mainly from provincial and federal governments.