2
^J\ --=n ffi N ICKEL DISTRICT CONSERVATION AUTHORITY OFFICE DE PROTECTION DE LA NATURE DU DISTRICT DU NICKEL 200, rue Brady Street, Sudbury, Ontario P3E 5K3 fE Tel: (705) 674-5249 jFax: (705) 674-7939 www. n ic ke I d i stri ct. ca 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
