Environment committee  I agree that all levels of government...we need support from a conservation authority perspective. The provincial government is looking at reviewing the Conservation Authorities Act and the way it's administered. It's vitally important for conservation authorities that the Conservation Authorities Act is represented to allow us to properly review development proposals and implement measures within the act for the betterment of our environments and to protect people from the effects of flooding and disasters.

Environment committee  I can speak from my watershed perspective. While appreciating the fact that we get funding from the federal government for wetland protection and infrastructure, from our conservation authorities' perspective, we look at trying to protect the wetland before it gets destroyed. So, leave it intact.

Environment committee  Locally our partnerships with our municipalities are very good. We have some water, rivers and watercourses that routinely flood. We're working on mitigation measures to address those specific areas, but there is a lot of work to be done for some of the smaller rivers and watercourses that don't have flood plain mapping or have inaccurate mapping.

Environment committee  Absolutely.

Environment committee  That funding is very important. Our conservation authority is represented by 18 municipalities, and this funding is going to help prepare drought management plans for all 18 of those municipalities, to have them better prepared. We're in a situation in which the Quinte region has, I'll say, a limited supply of groundwater—there's a lot of fractured bedrock—so most regions really depend on sustained rainfall to recharge groundwater.

Environment committee  That's correct.

Environment committee  Thank you for the opportunity to address the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development regarding the study on disaster mitigation and insurance. First off, I would like to formally introduce myself. As mentioned in the introduction, I am Brad McNevin, chief administrative officer with Quinte Conservation.