SNC Expands Conservation Authority Jurisdiction to Include City of Clarence-Rockland
South Nation Conservation’s (SNC) environmental services that protect help people and property from natural hazards (such as flooding), support sustainable development activities, and protect water quality are now available to the entire municipality of Clarence-Rockland and its residents along the Ottawa River.
The expansion was unanimously approved by SNC’s municipally-appointed Board of Directors at the request of Clarence-Rockland’s Municipal Council, who voted in support of joining the Conservation Authority’s jurisdiction in February.
The enlargement expands upon the municipality’s existing 197 square-kilometers within the SNC jurisdiction to now include the full municipality, the community of Rockland and the Ottawa River shoreline.
“We are pleased to join the South Nation Conservation jurisdiction,” said Guy Desjardins, Mayor of Clarence-Rockland. “The value of their programs and services, and support for municipal planning and environmental reviews, far outweighs the cost of membership, especially as we’ve seen increased flooding along the Ottawa River in recent years.”
Through the Flood Forecasting and Warning Program, SNC provides advanced notice of flooding to its member municipalities along the South Nation, St. Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers, including the City of Clarence-Rockland.
SNC also works with its partner municipalities and residents to ensure people and property are protected where development is proposed in and around natural hazards.
The agency’s tree planting programs and services will continue to be delivered to residents in Clarence-Rockland through a municipal partnership which has seen over 100,000 trees planted by SNC throughout the municipality since 2004. Over 4,000 trees will be planted by SNC in Clarence-Rockland this year.
Jurisdiction expansion also enables SNC to receive ecologically significant land in other areas of the municipality, to add more forests to the public land trust. SNC’s Land Securement Program has seen 500 acres of forest within the municipality added to SNC’s land network to date. With this expansion, SNC can now accept gifts of land and offer charitable receipts and tax benefits for future land donors.
South Nation Conservation was formed through the Conservation Authorities Act of Ontario in 1947 to restore local natural resources and protect people and property from flooding, erosion and landslides across the South Nation Watershed in Eastern Ontario.
Today its watershed jurisdiction is made up of 16 participating municipalities across 4,446 square-kilometers, governed by a municipally-appointed Board of Directors.
“It is a great pleasure to have the City of Clarence-Rockland within our jurisdiction,” said Bill Smirle, SNC Chairman. “We’ve had a great partnership with them for a long time now, and we look forward to building on that.”
Angela Coleman, SNC’s General Manager, is proud of the newly enhanced partnership and looks forward to the work that the Authority will undertake for the municipality and its residents, with special attention to areas being developed along the Ottawa River.
“We proudly offer programs and services that local municipalities and their residents value so greatly,” said Coleman.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Taylor Campbell, Communications Specialist, 1-877-984-2948, tcampbell@nation.on.ca.
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