Conservation Authority watershed must appoint a representative to the Authority. 

 These representatives are appointed on the basis of the municipality's population. 

 Where the population is less than ten thousand there is one representative; ten 

 to fifty thousand, two representatives; fifty to one hundred thousand, three repre- 

 sentatives; one hundred thousand to two hundred and fifty thousand, four repre- 

 sentatives; and over two hundred and fifty thousand, five representatives. A 

 special section of the Act deals with the representation from the Municipality 

 of Metropolitan Toronto. The persons appointed by the member municipalities 

 make up the membership of the Conservation Authority. 



Most large Authorities have an executive committee which carries out the 

 routine work. All important decisions however, must be made by the whole 

 Authority and this ibody meets several times a year. Under the Act, provision is 

 made for appointing advisory boards. As the membership of these boards is not 

 limited to that of the Authority, it provides an opportunity for assistancce and 

 advice from other persons in the area who are particularly interested in con- 

 servation. While the final decisions must be made by the accredited members 

 appointed by the municipalities to the Authority, nevertheless, through the opera- 

 tion of advisory boards, a wide variety of opinions is brought to the attention 

 of the Conservation Authority in water control, public relations, reforestation, 

 land use, parks, recreation and history. 



When the Authority has shown sufficient initiative, it has been the policy 

 of the Government of Ontario, at the request of the Authority, to appoint a 

 field officer to direct and co-ordinate the work in that watershed. It is difficult 

 for a large Authority to make progress if its members, who must engage in the 

 day to day business of making a living, must find time to plan and carry out, 

 even to a limited degree, the broad program of conservation which the whole 

 watershed demands. At the present time, fourteen field officers serve some of 

 the needs of the 31 Conservation Authorities in the Province. 



A number of the larger and more active Authorities, in addition to having 

 the services of a field officer supplied by the Department, have hired their own 

 staff. These may be technical people, engaged in the administration of the 

 Authority's program, or they may be superintendents and outside workmen 

 concerned with the development of conservation areas, the carrying out of flood 

 control projects, or any other Authority work. 



AUTHORITY PROGRAMS 

 Water Control 



A number of Conservation Authorities have been established with the major 

 objective of controlHng floods which have long been a problem in many parts 

 of Ontario. Search of records indicates that from 1850 to 1960, floods causing 

 property damage occurred in 103 of the 110 years. 



Floods in Ontario are caused by one or more of the following situations; 

 rapid melting of a heavy snow pack with or without accompanying rainfall; 

 severe local thunderstorms; hurricane-type storms; an abrupt change in the 

 river section alignment or slope; ice jams and man-made encroachments on the 

 river. 



The most devastating flood in Ontario in recent years was the "Hazel" 

 storm of October 1954, when 86 lives were lost, and over twenty million dol- 

 lars damage was caused in the Toronto area alone. 



While good forestry and land use practices will serve in some measure to 

 reduce floods, flood control is really accomplished in most instances through 

 control by engineering structures. 



30 



