Conservation authority halts putting cash into its reserves
Carl Clutchey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Source: The Chronicle-Journal
The “uncertainty” surrounding the future of the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority (LRCA) has caused it to “pause” about $590,000 worth of municipal funds that would otherwise have gone into reserves for future projects as part of the agency’s 2026 budget.
“The 2026 budget has paused all reserve appropriations until the outcome of the proposed regional consolidation of conservation authorities is known,” LRCA chief administrator Tammy Cook said in an email on Wednesday.
“All appropriations would have gone into the reserve for future work,” Cook said.
The funds that have been paused would have come from the City of Thunder Bay under a “sole-benefitting” levy, according to the 2026 budget document.
For 2025, Thunder Bay kicked in $770,000 under the same category.
Though the reserve appropriations are on hold, the LRCA still managed to pass a $3.2 million budget last month for the coming year.
Those funds allow the agency to offer “a diversity of services in the (Lakehead) watershed, including recreation, water management, protection of natural heritage features, flood protection, erosion control and forest management.”
Of the LRCA’s total 2026 budget, $1.1 million — just under $9 per person — comes from the member municipalities that support the agency, including Thunder Bay. The combined municipal levy amount represents a 3.5-per-cent increase over this year.
Exactly how much individual municipalities pay is based on their municipal assessment value.
Thunder Bay pays the lion’s share, with just over $1 million contributed, the budget document says. And the LRCA will receive about $766,000 combined in federal and provincial grants in 2026.
The LRCA also operates 10 conservation areas a short drive from Thunder Bay, two of which provide access to Lake Superior.
According to the budget document, upcoming major projects over the next 10 years the LRCA has to plan for include $3.5-million worth of dredging in the Neebing-McIntyre Floodway.
The LRCA’s future became uncertain last month, when the province unveiled its intention to reduce the number of Ontario’s conservation authorities to seven from 36.
If that plan goes ahead, the LRCA would become part of the proposed Huron-Superior Conservation Authority. That agency would include 72 municipalities; the current LRCA deals with less than 10.
The LRCA’s board says because of the agency’s unique location, it should be allowed to remain independent with a new name — the Northwestern Ontario Regional Conservation Authority.
The province has contended the current network of conservation authorities is “fragmented,” with individual conservation authorities having “different policies, standards, fees and levels of staffing and technical capabilities.”
“This has led to unpredictable and inconsistent turnaround times for approvals across all conservation authorities, creating uncertainty and delays for builders, landowners and farmers,” the province said.
The LRCA says the concerns being raised by the province are mainly an issue in southern Ontario, where several conservation authorities operate in close proximity.
The proposed mergers could take effect sometime next year or in 2027, the province says.
Public comments on the proposal can be submitted to the province’s environmental registry until Dec. 22. The registry’s website is ero.ontario.ca.
