Business Plan: Kettle Creek Conservation Authority

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Nathan Hunter
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1 Business Plan: Kettle Creek Conservation Authority How does this service contribute to the results identified in the City of London Strategic Plan? A Green and Growing City A Sustainable Infrastructure Kettle Creek Conservation Authority ensures the conservation, restoration and responsible management of water, land and natural habitats throughout the Kettle Creek Watershed, benefiting seven member municipalities and an approximate watershed population of 70,000. KCCA promotes an integrated watershed approach balancing human, environmental and economic needs for best results. Name the main activities done to provide this service: Name The Activities Done To Provide This Service 1. Environmental Monitoring (KCCA monitors surface and ground water quality and quantity, biota and benthic invertebrates throughout the watershed to enhance and protect water quality and quantity) 2. Flood Forecasting and Monitoring How Much Did We Do? (optional) 180 sampling events at 55 monitoring stations throughout the watershed 4 Level One Low Water Conditions declared in the past 5 years and one Level 2 Released second Watershed Report Card in 2014; maintaining a C average in overall watershed health Average of 6 flood warnings per year protecting 585 residents & 278 structures in the floodplain Is The City Mandated To Provide This Service? No Yes Can The Level Of Service Be Changed? No, not without significant impact to KCCA s ability to show accountability for results No, mandated/legislated service under Conservation Authorities Act Section 21, 28 1

2 Name The Activities Done To Provide This Service How Much Did We Do? (optional) 3. Forestry and Stewardship 25,000 trees planted in the City of London in 2014, making KCCA one of the top planters in London s Million Tree Challenge 40,000 trees planted in the entire watershed in 2014 KCCA s Elgin Clean Water Program and Kettle Creek Clean Water Initiative contributed to over $500,000 in projects within the watershed in 2013 Led the London/Middlesex CAs in a successful application to the London Community Foundation for a $200,000 grant for best management practices (BMP) projects to improve water quality 4. Environmental Planning On average staff review 100 planning and development applications and issue 40 permits for development, interference with wetlands and alterations to shorelines and watercourses per year KCCA is the lead organization in a collaborative of shoreline municipalities, conservation authorities and the County of Elgin to undertake a new Shoreline Management Plan resulting in cost savings of $30,000-$40,000 Is The City Mandated To Provide This Service? No Yes Can The Level Of Service Be Changed? No, any change to the current service level would impair long-term objectives of the watershed as established by the community and the Board of Directors. Increased forestry and stewardship efforts are required to combat environmental degradation of the watershed. No, mandated/legislated service under Conservation Authorities Act Section 21, 28 2

3 Name The Activities Done To Provide This Service How Much Did We Do? (optional) 5. Education and Awareness Coordinated the St. Thomas Elgin Children s Water Festival in 2014 educating 3,500 students on the value of water; 56% of students attending came from London- Middlesex schools KCCA leverages funds to educate local students on the importance of wetlands Coordinate the annual Carolinian Forest Festival, a community initiative requiring 70 volunteers that teaches grade 6 and 7 students the importance of the forest ecosystem 6. Recreation 34 km of passive hiking trails 2 campgrounds attracting over 10,000 visitors and an average of $60,000 in profit per year to support Authority programs and services Introduced a new Signage and Access Policy eliminating the access by permit only policy in some areas 7. Source Water Protection Kettle Creek Source Protection Plan to be approved by MOE in 2014 Establishing an outreach and education campaign on behalf of member municipalities with responsibilities under the plan Is The City Mandated To Provide This Service? No No Yes Can The Level Of Service Be Changed? No, any change to the current service level would impair long-term objectives of the watershed as established by the community and the Board of Directors. No, any change to this program would severely impact KCCA s main source of selfgenerated funds No, mandated/legislated by the Clean Water Act, Section 4, 7(5) 3

4 What is the current state of this service? Tree planting and stewardship programming continue to be the top environmental priorities identified by the community through participation in KCCA s community-based sub watershed strategies and as identified through goal setting in the Watershed Report Card. Tree planting and stewardship activities, such as wetland creation and erosion control, are helping to manage surface water runoff, improve water quality and habitat conditions. Efforts are being tracked and recognized in the lower percentage of impaired streams in the watershed. KCCA s tree planting and stewardship programs help reduce the amount of phosphorus entering the creek, and ultimately Lake Erie a drinking water source for over 100,000 people, thereby having a direct and positive impact on water quality and the reduction of blue green algae. Community buy-in to the programs and services offered by the Authority is evidenced by the increasing amount of landowners planting 1,000 trees or more and the Authority s increasing fundraising success. What is Driving This Service? The majority of KCCA s programs and services (flood forecasting and warning, hazard management plan input and review, source water protection) are mandated under the Conservation Authorities Act and the Clean Water Act. Programming decisions are made by a Board of Directors comprised of representatives from KCCA s seven member municipalities. Goals and measures are outlined in the 2013 Watershed Report Card and Community Based Watershed Strategies and are available at Emerging Issues and Challenges KCCA lost a $175,000 tree planting contract in A new RFP process will be introduced in 2014 to which KCCA hopes to apply with success. KCCA is able to sustain planting 40,000 trees per year without an impact to municipal levy. KCCA is currently undertaking a project with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, as well as Catfish Creek and Long Point Region Conservation Authorities, to address the challenges of nutrients and sediment loading into Lake Erie. The main project will be to identify priority areas for best management practices implementation (stewardship projects) based on geographic maps that locate areas with significant risk of erosion potential. OMAF has supplied funding for a GIS/Photogrammetry position in 2014/15 and 2015/16 to develop maps that identify priority source areas for sheet and gully 4

5 erosion in three sub watersheds. This is seen as a capacity building opportunity for KCCA as 81% of conservation authorities in the province have a GIS/IT position, but up until now KCCA did not. The position has merits beyond this project as mapping, databases and digital elevation models have become an integral part of the Authority s business. KCCA will be looking to secure long-term funding sources or continued partnerships with the neighbouring CAs to continue this position long-term. The Kettle Creek Source Protection Plan will be approved by the Ministry of the Environment in 2014.The Lake Erie Region Source Protection Committee strongly believes the Province should continue to fund the implementation of the Kettle Creek Source Protection Plan and is committed to requesting that this be done. Recent Achievements Introduced Greening Communities program which provides landowners within participating municipalities the opportunity to purchase smaller quantities of trees for reforestation efforts. The success of this program has led to partnering with municipalities to undertake Street Trees planting. KCCA has forested 900 acres of land as of the beginning of KCCA s second Watershed Report Card was released in 2014 awarding the watershed a solid C average with respect to surface water quality, forest conditions and groundwater quality. This is up from a C five years ago. It is evidence that KCCA s watershed is as healthy as it was five years ago; we are not losing ground. The data in the Report Card tells us that erosion, sedimentation and nutrient loading are still significant areas of concern. Completed a community based social marketing program to reduce the use of phosphorus fertilizers. At the beginning of the campaign 52% of residents used phosphorus on their lawns and 37% didn t know what phosphorous did for their lawns. By the end of the campaign 9 out of 10 residents in the pilot area committed to using phosphorus free lawn care products. Installed a new environmental monitoring station in Port Stanley that will assist KCCA staff in the monitoring of high water events, ice jams and riverine flooding. Built a new gatehouse at Dalewood Conservation Area, completely funded through tangible capital asset reserves with no impact to municipal levies. Contributed to over $500,000 in projects within the Kettle Creek watershed and Elgin County including wetland creation, erosion control works, and clean water diversion. Established a Green Your Ravine campaign to increase awareness of landowners living adjacent to natural areas through factsheets, signage, a clean-up event, etc. 5

6 Establishing the Elgin Clean Water Program to assist landowners in improving water quality conditions throughout the County. Led the London/Middlesex CAs in the successful application to the London Community Foundation for a $200,000 grant for BMP projects Coordinated and hosted the 2014 St. Thomas-Elgin Children s Water Festival, educating over 3,500 students about water conservation, science and protection What has been done to manage the budget? The service area has been actively managing its budget by implementing management lead initiatives aimed at creating efficiencies, avoiding costs and generating revenue. These include the following: Efficiencies / Costs Avoided Previous 3 Years Established an Efficiency Committee between Kettle Creek Conservation Authority and Long Point Region Conservation Authority (LPRCA) to investigate synergies in programs and services. One positive outcome of this initiative has been a partnership between KCCA, LPRCA, Catfish Creek Conservation Authority and Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority for the development of a joint Lake Erie Shoreline Management Plan covering the entire Elgin County shoreline. A plan of this scope eliminates the retention of multiple consultants, and streamlines meeting and administrative costs, translating into real cost savings of approximately $30,000 - $40,000. Partnered with the City of St. Thomas and the Municipality of Central Elgin to establish an off-leash dog park at Dan Patterson Conservation Area. This five-acre facility is the first regional facility of its kind. The facility is open to the public from dawn to dusk and has attracted users from the City of London. The partnership has increased the use of KCCA s facilities and has allowed the Authority to offset summer staffing costs as the Authority s management of the facility is partially funded by the project partners. Over the past three years KCCA has implemented information technology initiatives to reduce rising costs. Social marketing, an on-line campground reservation system, and a move to paperless meetings has translated into real cost savings. Permanent staff wages have been limited to contractual employment obligations. 6

7 Revenue Generation / User Fee Increases Previous 3 Years User fees at the Authority s two campgrounds have been increased to keep pace with expenditures ensuring a steady revenue stream of approximately $60,000 to reinvest into the Authority s core programs, services and infrastructure. Kettle Creek Environmental Trust has established a long-term funding goal ($20,000) to support KCCA s stewardship and environmental educational programming. KCCA continues to target employment programs to help fund seasonal and contract positions. What is the future direction of this service? What future initiatives can be contained within the maintain existing service level budget? 2015 Budget Secure a contract for services with Ontario Power Generation to enhance tree planting services, thereby leveraging private funds with federal, provincial and municipal support. Address Health and Safety standards and increased training requirements by incorporating the duties of the Joint Health and Safety Committee Representative into an existing job description. Update our 5 Year Infrastructure Forecast and Budget Plan for all capital expenditures. KCCA s assets are regularly maintained and capital improvements are accommodated within KCCA s budget through asset-funded reserves, thereby not affecting the municipal levy Forecast Continue to invest in campground infrastructure to maintain or increase self-generated funds to at least 55% of total budget. Improve in-house GIS capabilities to assist in targeting stewardship and forestry programs for best results; map and analyse progress. Partnership possibilities exist with the County of Elgin, neighbouring conservation authorities and municipalities to achieve cost efficiencies. 7

8 Investigate synergies with neighbouring conservation authorities for continued cost savings including bulk buying, joint funding partnerships and projects. Over the next five years KCCA is committed to exploring avenues to increase wetland preservation and creation in the watershed, in order to boost wetland cover from less than 1%. This will be achieved through targeted fundraising and grant applications. What service adjustments do you plan to make? 2015 Budget None anticipated Forecast None anticipated. Key Performance Indicators How Much? Description of measure Number of trees planted 100,000 40,000 40,000 40,000 40,000 40, Value of stewardship projects completed (Kettle) $30,000 $40,000* $40,000 $40,000 $40,000 $40, Value of stewardship projects completed (Elgin) Note: KCCA coordinates the Elgin Clean Water Program $401,755 $150,000* $150,000 $150,000 $150,000 $150,000 8

9 How Well? Description of measure Maintain or improve on Overall Watershed C C C+ C+ C+ C+ Benchmark Grade of C 5. Maintain self-generated revenue to a minimum of 60% 55% 55% 55% 55% 55% 55% of total budget 6. Maintain or increase salary dollars raised through employment grants $29,212 $38,200 $35,000 $35,000 $35,000 $35,000 Is Anyone Better Off? Description of measure Number of landowners completing stewardship 5 6 so far projects in Kettle Creek Watershed 8. Number of landowners completing tree planting projects in Kettle Creek Watershed 9. % of impaired streams in the watershed 68% 66% 64% 62% 60% 60% 10. # of people employed under employment programs *Represent forecasts as actual numbers are not available to date. 9

BUSINESS PLAN: Kettle Creek Conservation Authority

BUSINESS PLAN: Kettle Creek Conservation Authority How does this service contribute to the results identified in the City of London Strategic Plan? A strong economy A vibrant and diverse community A green