Grand River Conservation Authority fonds

Grand River Conservation Authority.
Grand River Conservation Authority fonds. - 1929-2004.

ca. 39 m of textual records and other material.

In the early 1800s, the Grand River was a source of transportation, power and water for local communities. Settlement led to deforestation, intensive farming and urbanization, which began to hinder the natural cycles of the river. By the 1930s, river conditions had become so severe that annual floods, drought and pollution were affecting public health and the economic development of the communities along the Grand.

In 1932, the Province of Ontario passed the "Grand River Conservation Commission Act", which was sponsored by the Grand Valley Boards of Trade and modeled on the fledging Tennessee Valley Authority in the United States.

The Grand River Conservation Commission was the first watershed management agency in Canada when it received its formal Letters Patent in August, 1934. This was the first time local municipalities had banded together to address water management issues on a watershed scale. The founding partner municipalities were Brantford, Galt, Kitchener, Fergus and Caledonia. William Philip of Galt was the first chairman, and the commission's head office was in Brantford. Other municipalities soon joined the partnership.

In 1942 the commission completed the Shand Dam near Fergus, the first dam in Canada built for flood control, water supply and water quality purposes. This was followed by the Luther Marsh Dam in 1954 and the Conestogo Dam in 1958. Funding was shared between the federal and provincial governments and the local municipalities. The commission also planted more than two million trees on their land and undertook some of the province's first large scale reforestation projects.

The success of the commission, its watershed scope and municipal partnership model led to the Guelph Conference on Conservation in 1941, and the Conservation Authorities Act of Ontario in 1946. This new act led to the creation of 36 conservation authorities across the province.

In 1948, the Grand River watershed municipalities formed their own Grand Valley Conservation Authority under this new act. This new agency had extended powers in the 1950s, which allowed it to acquire many wetlands, forests and natural areas in the watershed. The valley authority also acquired park land for camping, swimming, fishing and canoeing. Many of today's popular conservation areas, including Elora Gorge, Rockwood, Pinehurst Lake and Byng Island, were purchased and developed during this time.

The Grand Valley Conservation Authority's objectives began to parallel those of the commission. Early provincial conservation authority publications even included the commission as a special section. The two agencies merged in 1966 to form today's Grand River Conservation Authority.

The GRCA continues to operate under the Conservation Authorities Act of Ontario. It is a corporate body, through which municipalities work cooperatively to manage the water and natural resources in the watershed for everyone's benefit. (From GRCA website)

Fonds consists of records relating to the administration and operation of the Grand River Conservation Authority and its predecessors, the Grand River Conservation Commission and the Grand Valley Conservation Authority, from from 1966 to 2006. Includes clippings, correspondence, minutes, visual and sound materials, reports and studies, maps, etc., arranged in 82 series as follows:

1. Incorporation : Acts and Bills
2. Organization and Administration
3. Board Minutes: Grand River Valley Boards of Trade
4. Board Minutes : Grand River Conservation Commission
5. Board Minutes : GRCC Executive Committee
6. Board Minutes : Grand Valley Conservation Authority
7. Board Minutes : Grand River Conservation Authority
8. Annual Meetings : Budget Information Packages
9. Board Committee Files
10. Administration : Financial Files
11 to 13. Administration Departments : Communications
14. Administration : Flood Warning Systems
15. Administration : Flood Inquiry, 1974
16. Administration : Legal
17. Administration : Personnel
18. Administration : Summer Student Employment Programs
19. Secretary Treasurer's Files : Ilmar Kao
20. Administration : Secretary Treasurer : Correspondence
21. Operations : Dams : H.A. Cameron Files
22. Operations : Divisions : Forestry and Wildlife Branch
23. Publicity : Clippings : Originals : Large Scrapbooks
24 to 27. Publicity : Clippings
28. Publications
29 to 47. Resources : GRCA Library
48 to 50 Visual : Moving Images : Films
51 to 53. Visual : Moving Images : Videocassettes
54 to 57. Visual : Moving Images : DVDs
58. Visual : Negatives Binders
59 to 61. Visual : Photographs
62. Visual : Slides : Carousels
63 to 67. Visual : Slides : Donations
68 to 69. Visual : Slides : Historic
70 to 77. Visual : Slides
78 to 79. Sound Recordings
80. Visual : Artwork
81. Maps and Plans
82. Artifacts

Title from content of the fonds.

Includes 9583 photographs, 25,717 negatives, 25,403 slides, 95 film reels, 64 videocassettes, 11 audio reels, 6 audio cassettes, 3 drawings, 23 topographical maps.

The extent is measured in linear metres of shelf space occupied by the fonds.

Donated by the Grand River Conservation Authority in 2005.

Detailed finding aid available. (1 MB, 205 pages)

Further accruals expected.

Call number: GA183

Special Collections

Grand River Conservation Authority fonds