The three conservation authorities that serve Leeds and Grenville are worried about the impact of changes proposed by the provincial government.

Sommer Casgrain-Robertson, general manager of the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority, said two provincial ministries want to revamp the way the authorities operate by allowing municipalities to opt out of some of the services they provide.

Her conservation authority, the Cataraqui Authority and South Nation Conservation Authority fear the government’s proposals would lead to a piecemeal approach to conservation, depending on which municipalities opted out, she said.

If enough municipalities dropped the services, it might make it uneconomical for the authorities to provide them to the remaining ones, Casgrain-Robertson told the council of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville this week.

Under the changes proposed by the Ministry of the Environment, the authorities would remain to be responsible for natural-hazard risks, managing conservation authority land and protecting drinking water sources.

But the other functions now performed by the authorities along their watersheds would be subject to separate agreements with the affected municipalities, she said.

The conservation authorities argue that the decentralization of their functions is “contrary to watershed-scale decision-making.”

“CA programs are designed to work together to achieve watershed management,” she said.

The authorities said the requirement that separate agreements be signed with each municipality would be an “administrative burden” for both the municipalities and the authorities.

The provincial government is now holding consultations on the proposals. Casgrain-Robertson urged counties council to make representations to the government if they share the authorities’ concerns.

Many counties councillors praised the work of their conservation authorities and generally supported the status quo. But several said their residents are concerned by the authorities’ customer service and bureaucracy.

Mayor Brant Burrow of Elizabethtown-Kitley said his township is unique in that parts are served by all three conservation authorities.

And the complaints by residents vary depending on which authority they deal with, Burrow said.

Mayor Roger Haley of Front of Yonge said the government is right to look at the operations of the authorities, which are irritating to a number of his residents.

For example, a local store has been told by the authority that it can stack lawn fertilizer on one end of its parking lot, but not at the other, Haley said.

Another resident in the nearby Township of Leeds and the Thousand Islands had the Cataraqui Authority put survey sticks on his lakefront property for $300. The next summer when he wanted to build a garage, the authority told him it would have to survey again for another $300 even though the old stakes were still there, Haley said.

Mayor Doug Struthers of Merrickville-Wolford complained about the government’s consultation process. There are no meetings set up for Eastern Ontario – the closest is in Peterborough, he said.

And although that meeting is only three days away, the government hasn’t picked a location – saying only that it is in the “Peterborough area” – or circulated an agenda, he said.

Casgain-Robertson said she hasn’t been informed about those details, either.

Along with the environment ministry’s proposed changes, the Ministry of Natural Resources also wants to make changes.

The ministry wants to ease regulations on development near wetlands and exempt low-risk developments from requiring permits, Casgrain-Robertson said.

wlowrie@postmedia.com