UTRCA Approves $16 Million Dollar Budget

Monday, 24 February 2020 at 08:42

The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority's budget for 2020 was approved for just under $16 million dollars, plus some awards were handed out at their AGM.

LONDON - The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) approved their annual budget on their AGM.

This year it is just under $16 million dollars.

Marketing Specialist Steve Sauder says they also handed out three awards.

"Roger and Elaine Cook received the Kayla Berger Stewardship Award. Roger and Elaine helped established the Upper Avon Conservation Club over 25 years ago and they're still, today, very involved in kind of a process of neighbours helping neighbours in the upper regions of the Avalon River, planting trees all along those streams and municipal drains and really making a difference in that watershed."

Roger and Elaine are landowners in Perth County near Stratford. Sauder adds they have both created enough habitat to re-establish brook trout into those streams, along with planting over 10,000 trees in over 16 kilometres of stream coming into the Avalon River.

Middlesex County landowner Karen Auzins won the Board of Directors Award and Little Falls Public School in St. Marys won the Inspiration Award.

Sauder says Little Falls Public School in St. Marys won this year's Inspiration Award because they truly inspire environmental learning through all aspects of the school program.

"They have children involved in the school yard, they have children involved in the neighbourhood parks, they have children involved in outdoor schools and they have children going to Wildwood Conservation Area regularly. And they really blended outdoor learning into every aspect of the school's program and for that reason we felt that this school needed to be recognized for inspiring youth in the environment."

The meeting was held in London on Thursday. It was at the Watershed Conservation Centre, Fanshawe Conservation Area.

The meeting also had a presentation from guest speaker Phil McLeod. He spoke about Community Collaboration for Conservation.