The Grand River Conservation Authority is now thinking of ways to fill the gap, left behind by big budget cuts.
Lisa Stocco of the GRCA says the funding for this year is about 48 per cent smaller than last year's funding.
"What we will be getting this year is $449,687.93," said Stocco. "What we need to do is incorporate this funding reduction into the financial forecast, and have a discussion with our board about how we can deal with this reduction in funding, and there are a number of ways this can be done, including reserves."
She says the province informed them early in April that they will be reducing provincial natural hazard transfer payments for all conservation authorities.
"The GRCA budget is approved each year in February. It was approved in February of 2019. Some of the numbers within the budget are based on certain assumptions. So for example, we didn't have information about some of the provincial funding. We didn't know whether or not some of it would be approved."
Stocco says the full impact of the reduction will be part of the discussion with the board on April 26, as they continue to work through the financial forecast for this year.
