Central Welland River Watershed Plan - Niagara Peninsula ...

CENTRAL WELLAND RIVER WATERSHED PLANAlthough still a relatively new science, it is hopeful that as the science improves and data gaps arefilled that Ecosystem Services will be considered in future provincial and local policy decision making.This tool would enhance the ability of decision makers to make informed decisions in areas such ascost-benefit analysis and to compare outcomes of various scenarios of different policy criteria (MNR2009c).Implementation Responsibilities and Recommended Management ActionsThe Central Welland River Watershed Restoration Strategy is guided by an implementation framework(Table 23). The implementation framework has been designed to account for the watershed planobjectives which were derived from key issues in the watershed and extensive public input. Theimplementation framework identifies project stakeholders (e.g., provincial agencies, regionalgovernment watershed municipalities, public interest groups and landowners), and recommendedmanagement actions for each watershed plan objective.Implementing the Recommended ActionsLead project stakeholders and those who should be involved in the project have been identified in thefollowing framework. The recommended management actions for the Central Welland RiverWatershed include planning and regulatory actions (e.g., septic system re-inspection program), projectopportunities on private and public lands (e.g., riparian buffer planting, corridor creation), and areasrequiring additional research and monitoring (e.g., salt studies, geomorphic assessments) in thewatershed. The budget for NPCA restoration projects through the NPCA Water Quality ImprovementProgram is identified in the table. If the project is identified as ongoing then it is likely an action thatrequires continual updating such as the five year review process for regional and municipal OfficialPlans, which is not allocated a dollar amount. If an existing program already has funding, and theproject and funding have a termination date, then these projects have a specific dollar amountattached to them. In addition, funds allocated as part of annual budgeting have also been assigneddollar amounts.The recommended actions have also been identified in terms of their implementation. Green denotesshort term implementation, yellow represents medium term implementation and red is used to indicatelong term implementation. For example, projects that are ongoing are almost always implementedover the long term and are therefore, represented in red. Projects that have specific fundingrequirements or require approvals, for example, are often represented in green and yellow, therebyindicating short term or medium term implementation respectively.177