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ICKEL DISTRICT CONSERVATION AUTHORITY
OFFICE DE PROTECTION DE LA NATURE DU DISTRICT DU NICKEL 200, rue Brady Street, Sudbury, Ontario P3E 5K3 (705) 674-7939 Tel: (705) 674-5249
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February 24,2012
Ms. Linda Heron c/o Vermilion River Stewardship 379 Ronka Road
Worthington,
ON
POM 3HO
Dear Linda: Re: Watershed Stewardship Collaboration Opportunities
Linda, on behalf of all members of the Conservation Sudbury-NDCA General Board, I want to formally thank you and Lesley Flowers for the presentation you made at our January 19th Annual Meeting. lt was also beneficial that Nels Conroy, Chair of the Greater Sudbury Source Protection Committee (GSSPC) and Judy Sewell, NDCA/DWSP Project Manager were present to receive and discuss your presentation. Prior to your presentation we met with Lesley on January 16th in response to a letter Lesley had sent to me. Since your presentation on the 19th, we have met at Conservation Sudbury-NDCA to further consider your presentation and also to review the contents of your Janu ary 4,2O12letter which you addressed to Paul Sajatovic. We fully understand the concerns raised and believe there are many watershed stewardship collaboration opportunities available to address the issues raised. Recognizing our commitment to such an approach I am taking two steps: first, this is a joint letter and commitment of Nels, Lin and myself; second, I have asked Lin Gibson as Vice-Chair of Conservation Sudbury-NDCA, to take the lead on this initiative. Linda, you and Lesley have raised many very important issues related to the management and stewardship of the mid to lower Vermilion River system. These issues and opportunities can be extended to all watersheds in Greater Sudbury. Conservation Sudbury-NDCA, Greater Sudbury Source Protection Authority (GSSPA) and GSSPC, clearly recognize the importance of managing our water resources. Conservation Sudbury is committed to 'Managing our watersheds today-for tomorrow.'
'Working together to protect our watersheds' our vision, defines a strategic priority for our organization: Watershed stewardship, through collaboration and partnerships. I am aware that on April 21st the "Walden Watershed Wellness" Conference is being held in Lively. ln the spirit of collaboration, Conservation Sudbury-NDCA and the GSSPC would be more than pleased to participate in this conference as many of the proposed topics are issues we are directly involved with in all our watersheds.
After thoroughly considering your submissions Linda, we want to engage the Vermilion River Stewardship group and eventually the soon to be reconstituted Greater Sudbury Watershed Alliance (GSWA) in broader discussions. We want to discuss how we can work more closely together for the betterment of all our watersheds. We are aware that the GSWA annual meeting is being held in early March at which time you and other water stewards from our community will be selecting new members and Directors. We would suggest that once the Watershed Alliance is ready, we jointly convene a meeting to explore the issues and collaborative opportunities to properly address the issues identified. We would work with you and others to develop the agenda. This initial meeting could include
A member of Conservation Ontario Membre de Conservation Ontario
Member Municipality: City of Greater Sudbury Municipalit6-membre: Ville du Grand Sudbury
representatives from the NDCA/GSSPA, the GSSPC, the GSWA, the City's Lake Advisory Panel, City staff and Sudbury and District Health Unit staff, amongst others. I believe this would be the beginning of a very productive and collaborative approach much like the Greater Sudbury Climate Change Consortium. The concept of a consortium of local water groups with shared values, interests and desired outcomes may prove to be an important step in assuring the protection and healthy sustainability of all our watersheds. We recognize however, that this must proceed in a measured fashion before possibly making the decision to form a water stewards consortium in Greater Sudbury. Linda, we would be pleased to meet with you in the near future to discuss this further. Effective watershed stewardship is a big job. Together we can be the caretakers of our natural environment. We look forward to charting a course of true collaborative watershed management for Greater Sudbury. We look forward to discussing this approach further and setting a mutually agreeable time to meet.
Bob Rogers, Chair Conservation Sudbury-N DCA
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Vice-Chair, Conservation Sudbu ry-N DCA GSSPA
Chair, C.G.S. Lakes
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Nels Conroy, Chair
Greater Sudbury Source Protection Committee
Conservation Sud bury-N DCA/GSSPA Mem bers Ms. Lesley Flowers, Vermilion River Stewardship Mayor Marianne Matichuk, City of Greater Sudbury Honourable Rick Bartolucci, MPP, Sudbury France Gelinas, MPP, Nickel Belt Paul Sajatovic, General Manager, Conservation Sudbury-NDCA Judy Sewell, Project Manager, NDCA/DWSP Nick Benkovich, City of Greater Sudbury Stephen Monet, City of Greater Sudbury.