Environmental management of the Great Lakes international boundary areas a case study of the Niagara urban region

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ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT OF THE GREAT LAKES
INTERNATIONAL BOUNDRY AREAS
I

DONALD ROBERT KISICKI,,,

Cornell University
'Ithaca, New York

Q'i,

NEW YORK STATE S,EA GRANT PROGRAM
GB 99 WASHINGTON AVENUE
i627 ALBANY, NEW YORK 12210
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N44
IC 1973

MAY 1973
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Main 'DIRE
CENT161A

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT OF THE

GREAT LAKES INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AREAS

A CASE STUDY OF THE NIAGARA URBAN REGION

Donald Robert Kisicki

Cornell University
Ithaca, New York

A Member of the New York State Sea Grant Program
A Consortium of the State University of New York and Cornell University

U S. DEPARTMF.NT OF COVMERCE NOAA
ES CENIER
COAM AL
EPVICt"
2234 SOUIH HOPSON AVENUE
CHARLESTON SC @9405-24 13

The work upon which this report is based and its publication and dis-
tribution were supported by funds provided by:

The New York State Sea Grant Program, United States
Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration;

The United States Department of the Interior, Office of
Water Resources Research, as authorized under the Water
Resources Research Act of 1964, as amended; and.
C"

The Institute of Water Resources, U. $ Army Corps of
Engineers.
VA--

Property of CSC Library

FOREWORD

One of the major tasks before us as we move into the end
of the present.century is bridging the gap that persists
between the generation of new knowledge at a rate un-
matched in human history and the effective application
of this knowledge to pressing social and environmental
problems. As population grows, industry and agriculture
expand and resource consumption increases, the residuals
of production and consumption place ever greater stresses
on the physical environment. Nowhere is this more evident
than in the Great Lakes Basin.

We in North America have reached that pointat which
environmental quality has taken its place in the arena
of public issues. Citizens are now applying pressures
on their governments as a means of defending certain
values that had lesser priority in earlier days. While
recognizing that a beginning has been made, the.facts of
the matter are,that we are not managing well our natural
resources and that progress will continue to be slow and
halting unless the requisite political will for some
fundamental changes emerges.

There are a number of common factors that account for
our inability to respond more effectively to the challenges
.to managing not only our water and land resources ' but
other social problems as well. A listing of a few of the
more significant factors affecting resource management
include: the diffused public interest; differing views
about national priorities; inadequate legislation.and
enforcement; special interest politics; fragmentation of
responsibilities within and among governments; and
organizational jealousies. These elements operate indi-
vidually and jointly in ways that seriously impede public
programs that are designed to yield effective management
of our resources.

There is, however, a more fundamental contributive factor
and that is our fa ilure to modernize the institutional
structure. The institutional problem is defined as that
of determining what kinds of government organizations are
needed and how these organizations should be related to
each other in order to achieve the most effective manage-
ment of the natural resources of the Great Lakes Basin at
the lowest possible economic, political and social costs.
There is, of course, an existing institutional apparatus
involving all levels of government in both Canada and the
United States. This present structure, however, is not
the product of any United States - Canadian long-term
plan for the Great Lakes Basin. On the contrary,,the

present mix of governmental departments, agencies, boards
and commissions simply evolved over the years at a rate
and to an extent that were determined by the changing
limits of political feasibility in each country.

For the past two years, the Water Resources.and Marine
Sciences Center at Cornell University has been engaged
in a series of studies of the institutional problems in
the Great Lakes Basin. Perhaps the most important con-
clusion of our studies is that the present institutional
structure for resource management in the Great Lakes
Basin is inadequate and is in,need of fundamental revi-
sion.

The Cornell project focusing on the institutional problems
of the Great Lakes consisted of three related yet distinct
research efforts.

The first commenced in early 1971 when a group of twenty
graduate students representing a wide range of disciplines
investigated the water and related land management problems
of the Lake Ontario Basin. The approach of this graduate
seminar was to attempt a comprehensive, multiple resource-
use investigation which included an examination of the social,
economic and political factors peculiar to the Lake Ontario
Basin. The objective of the group was to consi .der the need
for, and the formulation of an improved management scheme
for Lake Ontario. A background report (350 pages) was
prepared and a summary report, The Management of Lake
Ontario - A Preliminary Report Pro osing an International
Manaaement Organization was distributed to the Governors
and Provincial Ministers Conference on Great Lakes Envir-
onmental Problems at Mackinac Island, Michigan in July
1971.

The summary report concluded, among other things,. that
the improved management of Lake Ontario (and by extension,
all of the Great Lakes) would require either a substantial
strengthening of the International Joint Commission.or the
establishment of an altogether new binational agency to
supplant the former in the Great Lakes Basin. The report
recommended a joint Canadian - United States study in this
matter and, as an interim action, a reference to the Inter-
national Joint Commission authorizing the Commission to
establish on a trial basis a management office with rather
extensive coordinative responsibilities for the water and
related land resources of the lower lakes region.

The graduate student group sought, in effect, a strengthened
binational apparatus, preferably one based on the existing
International Joint Commission, authorized to carry out a
surveillance and mediation function in the lower lakes.

Surveillance is defined in this instance as essentially
an information collection, data interpretation and dis-
semination role. It is an activity concerned with
problem definition. Surveillance includes a continuing
responsibility to be aware of problems and alert to future
developments. Mediation, on the other hand, encompasses
the development of joint programs to attack common
problems. It involves also the promulgation of.'regulations,
schedules and uniform standards, along with appropriate
means to secure implementation of those regulatory
mechanisms.

While some consideration might be given to assigning a
joint agency a third function - that of control, particu-
larly in the cases of water pollution or air pollution
control, that does not appear to be a feasible direction
in which to proceed, at least at the present time. The
governments will be better able to determine their posi-
tions with respect to vesting a joint body with an effective
control function once the Great Lakes Water Quality Agree-
ment signed by Prime Minister Trudeau and President Nixon
in April 1972 has had time to operate and be evaluated.

The second phase of the Cornell project began in late
1971. In order to.further test the tentative findings
,of the graduate student group and also to encourage a
binational focus on the problem, plans were laid for a
six-month seminar comprised of interested faculty from
universities in Canada and the United States.

A Canada- United States University Seminar was formed by
various faculty from some twenty universities and colleges
in Canada and the United States. The Seminar met in three
formal sessions during the period December 1971 - June 1972.
Using the information and data assembled by the Cornell
graduate student group as a starting point, the Canada -
United States University Seminar took up the question of
improving the two countries' capabilities for managing the
water and related land resources of the Great Lakes. A
principal objective of the faculty group was to produce a
report which would promote discussion in both countries
on the problems of the Great Lakes. Another purpose was
to set forth in general terms the available alternatives
for improving the management of the water and related land
resources of the Great Lakes Basin.

A final report of the Canada - United States University
Seminar has been written and the findings (1) indicate
that there is A need for a modified international arrange-
ment to cope more effectively with the existing and emerging
resource-use problems affecting the Great Lakes Basin, and
(2) present three.alternative institutional approaches
as possible guides for further discussion and debate in

Canada and the United States.

The third phase of the Cornell research effort on the
Great Lakes Basin consisted of an attempt to develop
further the idea of a binational management office with
wide coordinative responsibilities for the Lake Erie and
Ontario Basins. Concurrently with the Canada - United States
University Seminar (December 1971 - June 1972)t a second
graduate student group at Cornell University investigated,
under the guidance of Professors Leonard B. Dworskyj
Donald Gates and David J. Allee, selected elements of
a hypothetical joint management office. As part@of this
effort, ten graduate students completed seven theses for
advanced degrees, together with three research papers
on some facet of ajoint regional management office.

The type of joint office conceptualizedis one designed
to carry out a coordIinative role in'the management of a wide
range of resource-use problems. The list of such:problems
used in the investigation included: water quality;'munici-
pal/industrial water supply; agricultural water supply;
lake level control; hydropower; flood control; navigation;
shoreline erosion;.fish and wildlife protection; water-
based recreation,-,solid waste disposal; Air quality;
economic development.- agriculture and transportation.

In our attempt,to simulate a Great Lakes operations
office jointly established and operated,by Canada and
the United States, we endeavored to examine a selected
number of those.problems which both the de signers of such
an office as well as those who are,ultimately charged
with its direction would be obliged to address.

An obvious initial consideration, for example, would be
the structure and.functions of a modified joint agency.
This topic is dealt with in Natural Resources Management,
in the Great Lakes Basin by James A. Burkholder. A
primary task of an operations office would be the collection,
interpretation and dissemination of data and information
pertaining to the Basin. This important area is'treated
in An Information System for the Mana2ement of Lake Ontario
by Dale Reynolds. The role of public participation in the
activities of the proposed Basin operations office is
examined in detail in Public Participation in Water and Land
Management by Arvid L. Thomsen. Demographic trends and
problems are traced on a national scale and then examined
with respect to the Lake Ontario Basin as a case study in
Toward a National Population Redistribution Policy: Some
To'licy Issues by Lawrence W. Saunders. The problems of

water quality management of a lake basin are considered in
Opportunities for Water Quality Management: A .Case Study
of the Lake Erie Basin by Ralph P. Meckel. Special
problems of environmental quality management along an in-
ternational boundary are the subject of Environmental
Management of the Great Lakes International Bound@ry
Areas: A Case Study of the Niagara Urban Re by
Donald R. Kisicki. The opportunities and prWoll .Cz
associated with Federal and state grants for wastewater
treatment facilities are discussed in two case studies in
Cost ShariLig in Water Pollution Abatement Facilities -
Some Economic and Political-Consequences by James M. Foster.
Land use management as an integral part of the -overall
planning process is the subject of a paper Land Management
in the Lake Ontario Basin by James M. Wolf. In his paper
entitled Manaqement of the Biological Resources of the
Lake Ontar-lr*o Basin, Douglas M. Carlson provides a compre-
hensive survey of the biota of the lake basin as well as
an assessment of present conservation management practices.
Finally, in his paper Management of Water Supply, Naviga-
tion, and Power Programs, Martin J. Murphy focuses on
those water uses in the Lake Ontario Basin and the
potential role of a joint operations office with respect
to municipal water supply, navigation and hydropower in
a new institutional framework.

These papers, o f which this by Donald R. Kisicki
is one, are offered with the hope that they will contribute
usefully to the improved management of the Great Lakes of
Canada and the United States.
-7'

LEONARD B. DWORSKY
Director,
Water Resources and Marine Sciences Center
Cornell University
January 1973

V i

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Donald Robert Kisicki was born in Omaha, Nebraska on Feb-

ruary 239.1946. He attended schools in Omaha and received a

(legree of-Bachelor of Science in General Engineering from the

.University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1969, Since graduation fit.,

has extended his education through night courses, concentrating

in the field of sanitary engineering.

While attending the University, he worked as.a civil engi-

neering designer for Northern Natural Gas Company and as an en-

gineering technician for the U.S. Army Corps of Tn

he was employed by the Corps'of Engineers as.a. civil en6i-

neer,; since 1970 he has worked in the field of sanitary and en-

vironmental engineering.

Mr. Kisicki has attended Cornell University since Septemberv

1971 undertaking a graduate program in water resources planning

-and management.through the Planning Fellowship Program of the

Corps of Engineers.

Vii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am grateful to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the

opportunity to further my education through their Planning Fel-

lowship, Program,

The assistance provided by my committee chairman, Professor

Charles D. Gates, is gratefully appreciated. The advice and in-

spiration provided by my committee membero Professor Leonard B.

Dworsky, in selecting my, topic and guiding my research is appre-

ciatively acknowledged.

Lastly, I wish to extend special thanks to.my wife for her

assistance.in typing drafts of this thesis and for her support

and encouragement throughout my studies.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE

FOREWORD . . . . . . .

Vii
BIOCR&PHICAL SKETCH

ACKNOI.VLEDGMENTS 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ix

LIST OF TABLES

LIST OF FIGURES xiv

INTRODUCTION

Purpose and Scope

Description of the Frontier Regions lz
Niagara Frontier . . . . o 12
Detroit-Windsor-Port Huron-@@nia 14
Saulte Ste Marie Frontier 16

Characteristics of the Connecting Channels 16
Nioz.ara River 16
Detroit River 17
St. Clair River 18
St. Marys River 19

CH.47TER I - THE.STUDY AREA 22

The Study Area in Canada 24

The Study Area.in United States 27

Combined Study Area 29

Niagara Frontier-Keystone for the Lower Great Lakes 31
Transportation . o o o & , 0 0 0 * 0 a 0 0 * 0 0 32
Tourist Attracting Characteristics of the Region 35
Implications 37

CHAPTER II THE POLLUTION PRO13LEM 9 e 40

Specific Pollution Problems . . . 0 0 0.0 42

Water Quality 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 a 0 0 a 0 0 * 0 0 0 42

Niagara River 0 0 * 0 0 q 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 47

Specific pollutants 0 o s o 9 o e. o s-* o 47

Progress in Pollution Control . . . . . 0 0 0 0. 54

Water Pollution Control Problems 0 0 a 0 0 0 0 0 0 .57

Other Forms of Environmental Problems 0 0 0. 0 0 0 0 0 6o

A Perspective On Water Quality %. 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0,0 64

Implications For the Study Area o o o @ 9 0 0 a 0 0 78

CHAPTER III - MANAGING THE FUTURE . . . . . 0 0 0 46,0 0 a 0 85

Conflicts Between Urbanization and the Environment 9 e @ 85

Regional Goals e o o o@o * o o o. 0 0*0 0 0 0 0 101

Implications 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 105

CHAPTER IV MODERNIZING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS A REGIONAL
GOVERNMENT APPROACH TO MANAGING THE 0 0 0
ENVIRONMENT o 0 41 9 0 0 IN 0 0 0 0 0 0 110

SteDs Toward Reform . a 0 * 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 a 0 o * 9 1.14

Centralization vs. Decentralization a. o o o o a o 114

Fnrms of Governmental Reorganization 9 0 0 0. 0 0 10 115
One Government Approach o 0 0 a 0 0 0 * 0 Is 9 40 0 ir 0
The Cooperative Approach 0 9 0 0 0 0 a 0 41 0 0 0 11 117
The Two-level Approach . 9 0 9 0 0 * 0
k,onclusion 0 0 0 a 0 0 0 0 0 0 4?

r"he States Crucial Role o o o o

Politics'and Criteria of Regiohal Government 0 132
Politics . 0 a 0 9 0 9 0 0 0 - -132
Criteria * * * 9 * @ 9 9 * 9 135',

CHAPTER V LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN THE STUDY AREA 141

Regional Municipality of Niagara 146
Direct Environmental Control Functions 9 9 151
Control of Growth Pattern,Functions . 152
Benefits of the RMN Regional System . 154
Creation of RMN . . . 157

Local Government - U.S. Study Area 163
Regional Agencies 17.1
Regional Planning B;a;d*v;.'R;gioLi ao@e;nm*e@t* 173

Political Feasibili ty For Regional Government-Erie
.Niagara Counties 180.

A Note On Local Autonomy 187

Framework For A Regional Government-Erie-Niagara Co
NeYe 9 o e 9, e 6 0 0 is 9 a 0 9 0 0 11 0 0 0 190

Regional Level 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a 0 0 0 195

Community Level 0 0 a 00 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 197

Structural Organization of Lower Tier 0 0 .6 0 0 0 0 0 198
The Cities o 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0. * 0 * * * 199
Distribution of Functions e # * 9 o * # o 0. 0 0 0 0 201
Planning . 0 1a 0 0 6 a 0 a 0 0 * 202.
Land Use Control . . o 0 * * 0 6 't *0 0" ** 0" (*j 203
Transportation o . . 0 0 * a 0 0 204
Water Supply and Sewage Dis;o;ai so 00 0 IN 0 0 0 * 205
Solid Waste.Collection and Disposal 0 # a .0 v 0 0 0 0 206
Parks, Recreation, and Conservation o 0 a 0 :0.0 a 0 * 207
Air Quality,.Control 0 0 & 0 0 0 0 0 .00 0 0.0 0 * 0 to 210
Capital Borrowing, 0 0 a 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 .0 0 .00 41 0 211
Other Functions 212

The Problem of Taxes and Financing in Reorganization 213

k1ternatives to the Inter-County General Purpose Approach 215 c
Urban County ..4 0 0 A 0 0 0 0 * 4 0. a 0 0 0 0 0 9 215 c
Multipurpose District . * 0 a 0 0 0 a 9 0 a 0 0 0 215 d

CHAPTER VT INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT OF THE NIAGARA
FRONTIER 216

Common Interests 0 0. 0 0 0 221

Common Problems . . . . . 226

International-Intraregional Cooperation To Manage -
Community And Regional Environm.ental Priorities . . . 233

Surveillance 0 a 0 9 0 0 9 0 f 0 0 0 0 0 236
Information Exchange s . 9 9 e * 2-36
Joint Information 240
Public Hearings . . . 0 0 aa 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 241
Information Services -P * oa # 0 0 a 0 242

Mediation 245
Joint Recommendations 246
Promulgation of Regulations and StaL@rd*s * & * o # 247

Control 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 248

Planning & 249

Form of Cooperative Structure 0 0 251

Councils of Government o e 254

Other Activities 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a .0 261

Membership 0 0 a a a 0 0 0 a 0 0 a .0 a 0 0 0 0 262

Legal Status* e o * o 265

Niagara Regional Council As Part OfA. Higher Level
Great Lakes Management Agency a 41 0 0 0 268

SUMMARY - CONCLUSIONS - RECOMMENDATIONS 282

Summary 0 0 0 0 0 0 a 0 * 0. 0 0 282

Conclusions 0 0 a 0. a * 0 0 0 0 0 0 Q 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 284

Recommendations, 0 0 0 0 a 0 0 0 0 0.0 a 0 0 288

BIBLIOGRAPHY 0 0 0 0 0 A a 0 a, 0 0 297
Xii

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

1. Community and Regional Environment Priorities 41

2. Waste Quantities Discharged to the Niagara River 55

3. Waste Quantities Discharged into Connecting Channels 67

4. Urbanization and Compatability with the Environment 86

5. Population Densities Erie-Niagara Counties 87

6. Projected Densities 0 0 0 0 89

7. Population Densities RMN o 0 0 0 0 0 0 1a 0 IR 0 9 93

8. Population Projections For Some Municipalities in RMN 96

9. Membership on Regional Council . . . . . . 0 0 0 0 0 148

10. Regional and Local Functions of RMN . . . 0 0 0 * 0 0 149

11. Cities'l Towns.# Villages Erie County o * 9 * 164

12. Cities, Towns$ Villages Niagara County 165

13. Property Taxes For Selected Communities 216

1.4. Studies Accomplished by RMN and ENCRPID a 0 0 0 238

Xiii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

1. The Study Area . . ... . . 23

2. Great Lakes Megalopolis . . . . 0 30

3. Regional Location of Study Area . . . . . . . . . . 0 @33
4. Niagara River Water Quality * 44
5. Water Pollution - Erie and Niagara Counties, N.Y. . . 45
6. Water Pollution - Regional Municipality of Niagara * 46
7. Air Pollution Erie and Niagara Counties, N.Y. a 61
8. Land Pollution Erie and Niagara Counties, N.Y. * 62
9. Air Pollution Regional Municipality of Niagara . 63

10. Regional Growth Trends Erie and Niagara Counties . 90

11. Potential Urbanization by 1990 - Erie and Niagara
Counties see@ 0-069,*9,004 too 9 of 00 91

12. Environmental Problem and Protection Areas - Erie and
Niagara Counties 0 9 * a 0 0 0 a 0 0 0 0 0 a 0 0 92

13. Existing Ur ban Development - Regional Municipality of
Niagara 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 * 0 0 0 # 0 * 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 94

14. Area Municipalities - Regional Municipality of . .
000090*00 000 95

15. Niagara,.Ontario Region Growth Patterns 99
16. Environmental Protection Areas - Regional Municipality
of Niagara 0 0 * 0 a 0 0 0 a .5 0 0 0 0 a 0 4 100

17. Population St atistics - Erie and Niagara Counties,N.Y. 200

18. Areas within One Half Hours'Driving Time from Selected
Points in the Region 0 0 0 0 0 219

19. Areas within One Hours, Driving Time from Selected
Points in the Region 220

20. Niagara Regional Council as Part of a Great Lakes
Management Agency 275

Xiv

INTRODUCTION

Purpose and Scope.

This paper is part of a continuing study at Cornell Uni-

on the integrated land and water.managementot the

Great Lakes System., The reason whythe Great Lakes have r6-

ceived the amount of attention that they have is due to the

significant role that these massive bodies of.watet play in

the social and economic well being.of the citizens of the

United States and Canadal. particularly those,,who.reside on

their-ahores. Theproblems of managing the Great Lakes Systerd

have been wellstudied and documentedi the multitude uses of

this resource are well known*

The importance. of this resource to both countries was rec..

in 1909 with the, signing of the Boundary- Waters Treaty,'

While.the importance of the entire system has been recognized

over the int.ervening..L63 years ithas been and must also be reai-

ized that there arecertain geographical areas in which the prob"

@lemb.of the Great Lakes System concentrate themselves and become

unique. These.areas are known as the frontier areas and border

the Connecting Channels of the Great Lakes. It is at these fo-

cal points that the.problems of the System become real; it is

where much of the urban concentrations bordering the Lakes,ex-

ist; it is where growth of urban centers originated on the Great

Lakes shores and it is the focal point for cont inued growth.

It is therefore necessary that when discussing the manage-

ment of the Great Lakes in general that a certain note be made

of the-significance of these frontiers and their effects on over-

all management schemes, The International Joint Commission has

realized this in stating that while the Boundary Waters Treaty

has concerned itself with many problems along the entire U.S.-

Canadian border$ none however, has been more worthwhile than the

control of pollution in the Connecting Channels of the Great Lakes

System.

Extending beyond water pollution and looking into the future

it can be postulated with some degree of certainty that the fron-

tier areas will be the bellweather for emerging problems in the

Great Lakes System. Evidence of this fact is,the studies done

by the International Joint Commission. The first water pollution

studies were done in the donnecting dhannels; the first air pol-

lution study was done in a frontier area (Detroit-Windsor)t the

first mercury scare manifested itself in the St. Clair River;

plus numerous docets of the Boundary and Waters Treaty concen-

trate on problems where the land masses of both countries come

close together and are separated by the common waters of the

connecting channels,

Realizing thent the importance of the frontiers and con-

necting channels the purpose of this paper will be to research

the problems of and set a framework for the management of the

urban physical environment of one of the frontiersv the Niagara,,

and its connecting channel, the Niagara River.

Necessarily the intended approach will be not only to ex-

amine the physical, economic and social characteristics of the

Niagara Frontiert but also the established institutions on both

sides of the Niagara River who are charged with the responsibil-

ity for the well being of those who populate.the frontier# spe-

cifically their environmental well being.

The case of water pollution and quality control will be

used1to assess the effectiveness of past and present integrated

land and water management. This'case was selected for two rea-

sonst

(1) Water quality management provides probably the best histori-

cal. outlook as it has received the most attention in the past

and appears to be still a top priority problem receiving the ma-

jority of concern in the present, (2) It is perhaps the main

physical characteristic of the frontier that affects the over-

all Great Lakes System particularly eastern Lake Brie and west-

ern Lake Ontario.

It is realized however, that manageme nt of water quality

is not confined solely to the water itself.but implies manage-

ment to a certain extent of land use and to a certain extent

economic development. Moreovero when one manages a physical

resource or resources he is very, well trying to provide for the

social well being of those who rely on the resources, It is for

these reasons' that this paper will not be limited to water qual-

ity and water quality control institutions. but will concern it-

self with the overall management of the physical environment of

the Niagara Frontier.

Noting that little has been done in the past to manage oth-

er parts of the environment outside of water# a historical ansly-

sis of water quality control problems is the*only one that pro-

vides a means for assessing the effectiveness of past and pre-

sent institutions on both sides of the Niagara River to cope

with current problemsg project for future demands and goals,

and plan to meet desired objectives.

The historical approach is designed to answer several

questions. Firsto how effective have past and present.inati-

tutions been in solving problems in the Niagara River and Fron-

tier; seconds has one form of agency or government on one side

of the river better "capabilities for carrying out a desired man-

datei.third, as.it is well known that what one portion of the

frontier does on one side of the Niagara River affects the oth-

er portion on the other sides are there functionsthat the in-

stitutions on both sides could have coordinated and worked on

Jointly and uniformly.

The study on water pollution control has other implica-

tions its well.. It provides a startling example of what man has

done to his environment as well as highlighting the obstacles to

his attempts'to remedy the situation, It shall be the purpose.

of this document to project into the future to determine.what'

the Niagara Pron,tier will be like in the next 30-50 years* what,

goals and objectives are aspired to by various,institutiones and

how well they are equipped to@meet these goals and objectives,

Knowledge of the past is not in itself a totally adequate guide.

Decisions must be based also on..inter@pretations of current trends

and anticipation of future development.. It seems correct to say

that if future.conditionst future population growtht etc,.can be

projected then anestimate of future problems can also be made.

The capabilities of.government to carry.o.ut tasks on either,

side of the border will be compared using the test case of water

pollution control and other forms of physical environmental con-

trol. In recent years it has become apparent that urban envi-

ronmental problemst such as pollution do not respect jurisdic-

tional boundaries and that one of the obstacles to enhancing

the environment has been that management responsibilities are

shared by numerous local governments so that comprehensive so-

lutions to problems have largely been non-existent. For this

reason local government on both sides of the Niagara River

will be case studied to find out if fragmentation exists and

if it presents an obstacle to,environmental enhancement. If

it does then a searcho will be made for solutions based on mu-

nicipal, reform that may well take the form of regional govern-

ment. A framework will then be provided for what appears to

-be'the most logical solution.

This paper will also attempt to determine if there are

certain act ivitiesq that affect the environmental management

of the Niagara Frontiers that institutions of both countries

could coordinate and work jointly one If the:answer is affirm-

ative then perhaps an international council of governments un-

der the jurisdiction of the I.J.C. or some other Great Lakes

management organization could be initiated.

Now if it is determined that some form of government or

management organization on at least one side of the river could

handle the water pollution problem and otherenvironmental prob-

lems more effectively and also that perhaps there are functions

that could be coordinated better on both sides,of the Niagara

River the question arises# "could a management agency composed

of governments on each side plus an international council of

governments composed of members from the separate regional gov-

ernments handle future problems in the Niagara Frontier more

effectively?"

Fifty years ago there was a pollution problem in the Great

Lakes that manifested itself first in the connecting channels,

particularly the Detroit and Niagara Rivers... It is realized

that past attempts to control pollution within the frontier and

thus within the connecting channels have largely been unable to

keep pace with population and industrial growth; that conflicts

and problems remain and in some cases get worse because many

agencies and governmental units share responsibility for the-

environment of the Niagara Frontier.

The following options are at our disposal. The status quo

can be accepted and the future not worried about too much; or

the future can be planned for,, to determine what type of envi-

ronment is desired and implement new and vigorous programs to

meet the desired objectives. If we are goingto plan for the

'futures what is the,best strategy to carry out these plans? It

would appear that to,determine the@best management system we

must look hard at two things. First* to determine the best form

of government within each country,s portion of the Niagara Fron-

tier and second, to determine, what problems can be best handled

as joint Coordinated ventures between these governments. In.

other words, provide. the best form,of institutions to handle

en vi.ronmental quality con,trol'problems.on both.sides of the riv-

er; i.e.$ regional governments and then to treat, with regard to

certain functions$ the Niagara Frontier as a unified system.

Perhap's the international function will be only exchange of in-

formation,,perhaps joint planning in some formp perhapajoint

survelliancep perhaps even joint constructio*n,

If there are problems to be solved in the Great Lakes 51'

as a whole then,certainly there are the same type of prob-

lems, only more critical in the frontier areas* If an interna-

tional management agency is necessary to deal with the Great

Lakes System as.a Whole then perhaps some form of international-

regional body can deal more effectively with problems on a more

o Cal baai a .,through some, s9r.t. of a.formal or informal compact

arrangement$ some type of arrangement that would enable urban

areas, separated only by a connecting channell to work on a uni-

f orm. and Joint basis..

In summary this# then, will be the purpose of this papers

to determine what is necessary to bring about the most efficient

management of the integrated land$ water, and air resources of

the Niagara.Frontier. In otheri words to'provide modern institu-

tions for the'management of the urban environment of the Niagara

Frontier. A mechanism that can solve current problems more ef-

fectively.-provide for more orderly 'owthg be more res o .nsive
gr p

to regional needs and prioritiesg involve greater citizen parti-

cipation and plan1wisely for the future. The main emphasis of

this study will be on local agencies and government that have

actual implementing responsibilities for the environment of the

Niagara Frontier,

Chapter I of this study will be a general'description of

the.study area defining the boundaries, social.and economic

characterist,icag and population trends. Chapter 11 will be a

discussion of the pollution problem within the study areat con-

centrating on water quality but also considering other environ-,

mental concerns. This chapter will also include a perspective

on water quality that has certain implications for other envi-

ronmental concerns and for the future.. Chapter III will be a

discussion on managing for the future. In this section I will

show the conflicts that arise between various urban densities

and the environment. After this analysis is done I will pro-

ject what trends are evident in the study area, how densities are

changings why and where growth is occurringl and what environmen-

tal conflicts are emerging. I will then relate this to the need

to handle problems on a broads comprehensive basis; i.e.9 region-

al government,

Chapter IV will be a discussion of local government reform

along the line of regional governments. Contained in this sec-

tion will be a discussion of some of the problems encountered'

in forming regional governments. Chapter V will be a study of

local government in the study area. It will also contain the

framework for a regional government on the U.S. side patterned

somewhat after the Regional Municipality of Niagaral Ontario,

Chapter VI will be to treat the study area as a unified

system. This.section will focus on joint cooperative functions

between regional governments# the possibility of a loosely, form-

ed environmental compact or council of governments, and the in-

clusion of such framework into the expanded I.J.C. or some oth-

er Great Lakes Management Office. This section will become then

the framework for managing the land and water of the Niagara and

other frontiers.

Although this study will be limited to the Niagara Fron-

tier it may provide the framework for analysis of the other two

Great Lakes frontier areas of Detroit-Windsor and Saulte Ste

Marie. The conclusions reached with regard to the Niagara Fron-

tier may very well be applied to the other two,

Therefo re, I will briefly introduce the three frontiers

and their respective connecting channels to give evidence of

their degree of commonness as to geography and problems, but

then will proceed directly to concentrate the study on the

Niagara Frontier.

Description of the Frontier Regions

The frontier areas represent urban concentrations that

exist on each side of the connecting channels. These areas

ares

Frontier Areas, Connecting Channels

.Erie-Niagara Counties, N.Y. Niagara River

Regional Municipality of Niagara, Ont.

Detroit-Windsorp Ont. St. Clair R.-Detroit River

Saulte Ste Marie, Mich. St. Mary's River

Saulte-Ste Marie,, Ont.

In general the areas represent a focal p oint for urbaniza-

tion on both sides of the border. Water transportation was the

first incentive for growth and water continues to be a dominant

factor with high water using industrial development on both

sides of the rivers. Urban areas have and continue to grow bas-

ed on the water resource and related developments such as hydro-

power.

Niagex% Frontier

On the U.S. side Erie and Niagara Counties border the Ni-

agara River. The major urban centers are Buffalo and Niagara

Falls, N.Y. The principal concentration of industrial activity

in western New York State is in these two counties$ with Brie

.County playing the more significant role. Population is expect-

ed to increase nearly 100% from the 1960 figures to 2020 figures.

Expected population will be over 2,0000000 by 2020 with 85% of

2
the growth in Erie County. Land development around Buffalo is

taking on the typical urban sprawl characteristiest i.e., de-

cline in central city population with large increases in the

suburban population.

The major portion of land in these two counties is expect-

ed to be largely urban by 2020 and coupled with the highly in-

dustrial base should present unique land use, water quality,

and other environmental problems.

The Canadian side is not nearly as developed as the U.S.

side; the major centers being Niagara Falls and St, Catharines.

Administratively the counties.of Lincoln and Welland border the

Niagara River which have recently formed the Regional Municipal-

ity of Niagara. Land use at the present time is approximately

80% urban in this region, The trend of increasing urbanization

is evident in the Niagara Region. It is projected that popula-

tion will grow in the two counties from 146oogg and 178,818 to

240,547 and 241023 in Lincoln and Welland counties respectively
from 1966 to 2001.3 These figures may be somewhat low however

as the growth in Lincoln County alone was 64 per cent from 1951

to 1966.4 Two major population trends are apparent in Regional

Municipality of Niagarai firsts concentrationAn urban centers

with shifts out of rural areass second# the growth of rural non-

farm or gentry population accessible to urban centers. The lat-

ter effect is very evident in the Niagara Peninsula's fruit belt

north of the Niagara Escarpment.

Detroit-WiLadsor-Port Huron-SIMi

This frontier comprises two connecting channels# the St.

Clair and Detroit Rivers and one lake, Lake St. Clair. The ma-

jor population centers are on the Detroit River-and Lake St.

Clair with the exception of the urban center of Port Huron-Sar-

nia at the source of the St, Clair River,

Both sides of the Detroit River at Detroit and Windsor

thrive with automotive, steels distillery, and.chemical indus-

tries. The Detroit-Windsor area is a major concentrated urban

center supporting a highly dense industrial comp lex,

The high industrial nature of the economy and the.particu-

lar nature of the wastes from these industries has presented and

will continueto present in the future complex pollution prob-

lems.

On the U.S. side Wayne County borders the Detroit River,

Macomb County borders Lake St. Clair, and St. Clair County bor-

ders the St. Clair River. The total U*S. population along this

frontier was approximately 4*500POOO in 1970 and is expected to

double within the next fifty years. Most of the urban concen-

tration is in the Detroit-Wayne County area which acts as a hub.

for satellite population centers along the channels, The De-

troit area is typical of other metropolitan centers with cen-

tral city growth remaining stagnant or declining and the subur-

ban population burgeoning.

In 1970 out of a total land area of 3,980,400 acres the

total urban area was 8309400 acres. In 2020 it is anticipated

that urban and built-up acreage will be 1,747,300 or more than

double that of 1970,

On the Canadian side Essex County borders the Detroit Riv-

er, Essex, and Kent Counties border Lake Ste Clairg and Lambton

County borders the St. Clair River. The major population con-

centration is in Essex County in the urban center of Windsor.

The principal city on the St. Clair River is Sarnia.

The 1970 population statistics and 2001 projections for the
three counties ares 60

1966 Census 2001 Projections

Essex 293029 4409049
Kent 969775 150,077
Lambton 109s952 166,879

Saulte Ste Marie Frontier

A few large steelt paper, and chemical industries center

around.the development of power and transportation on the Sto

Marys River. The area is not densely populated on either side

of the border and the industries although large number only

threep all in Canada,

The principal cities are Saulte Ste Marie, Ontariog popula-

tion 74,594 and Saulte Ste Marie$ Michigang population 18,500.

Although these populations are expected to double during the

next fifty years they still will not represent major urban con-

centrations.

Characteristics of the Connecting Channels

Niakara River

The Niagara River is a P mile long stretch delivering

flows of 200,000 c.f.s. The river is probably best known be-

cause of the world famous Niagara Falls and for this reason has

received much attention with regard to preservation and enhance-

ment.

The Falls divide the river into an upper and lower portion.

In the upper portion the river is also divided into two channels

by Grand Island, These divisions produce significant effects as

to transboundary movements of pollutants..

Between industrial and municipal uses the river and its

tributaries provide almost a billion gallons per day of water

mostly for use on the U.S. side. Municipal and industrial

wastes from both sides of the border are discharged to the

river and again the United States side is the largest contribu-

tor.,

Major industrial inputs to the river include chemical,

steel., abrasivest paper and oil refining wastes. Dye manufac-

turing and alkali-chlorine production constitutes a major por-

tion of thechemical industry in the-area.

A large portion of the waste load on the Niagara River is

contributed by the slow moving Buffalo River. -Although the

Buffalo drains into Lake Erie it must be considered in conjunc-

tion with the Niagara because of its direct influence on the

Niagara River quality.

The Niagara River also provides important benefits in the

form of recreation and tourism, In addition to Niagara Falls,

which is the major tourism attraction in the area. fishing, wa-

ter skiing, swimming# and waterfowl hunting are also important

recreation uses of these waters.

Detroit Riveg

The Detroit River is a 31 mile long link between Lake St.

Clair and Lake Erie, The flow of the Detroit is exceptionally

un iformq@because of the tremendous reservoir of Lake Superior

averaging 182,000 c.f.s.

The city of Detroit and,suburban communities occupy the

United States side and the City of Windsor, and smaller commu-

nities occupy@the Canadian side, The banks of the river are

lined,with residentialand industrial development.

In addition the river contains several islands which are

used for a combination of industrial and recreational uses.

.There is.a steel mill on. Zug Island; Fighting Island'and the

.Upper end of the Grosse Ile are being used for the disposal of

'waste materials resulting from the manufacture of caustic soda

and soda ash; Grassy Islandand Mud Island arebeing used for.

the disposal of material from dredging operations; and Belle

Isle and Bois, Blanc Island are devoted to recreational purposes,.

St. Clair River

The,St. Clair River is a 40 mile stretch that connects

Lake Huron to Lake St. Clair. It has an average width of-one-

half mile anda depth varying from 25 to 75 feet, The.average

10
flow is. 177 0100 C.. f

The principal cities along the river ares Fort Hurong Wary-

ville, St, Clair, Marine City, and Algonac on the United States

side; and Sarnia on the Canadian side.

Water uses of the river include public water supply (10

municipal intakes)t waste assimilation (9 municipal,sources, 8

industrial plants), cooling water for steam electric power gen-

eration (2 plants), recreation, boating# sport fishing, and com-

mercial. navigation.

The industries discharging wastes into the river include

petroleum refineries, petro-chemical plants, chemical manufac-

..turing, paper products manufacturing, and metal plating.

St. Marys Rivet

The St. Marys River is the connecting channel between Lake

Superior and Lake Huron. The width varies from 18,000 feet to

2,000 feet and the depth varies from 25 to 55 feet. The flow

averages 73,000 c.f.s., but is regulated because of the hydro-

11
power and navigation works.

The waters of the St. Marys serves a variety of purposes

including public water supplyt industrial water supplyo waste

assimilation,, hydropower workso recreation, boating,, waterfowl,.

sport fishing, and commercial navigation.

Both communities of Saulte Ste Marie use the river for

public water supply; both countries use the hydropower. The

river receives municipal discharges from both communities.

There are no significant industries on the U.OS. side in compari-

son to the Canadian side which has three large water users in-

volved in steel manufacturing and paper products,

REFERENCES

INTRODUCTION

1. International Joint Commissionj Safeguardin -Boundary Water
Qualitj, United States-Canadat (11791)* P* 7*

2. Erie-Niagara Basin Water Resource Planning Board Erie-
Niagara Basin ComRrehensive Water RUources Plan: West
Seneca, New York, December 1969). pp. 11-5.

3. Ontario -Department of Treasury and Economics, Economic
Analysis Branch,, OntUjo PoiDulation-Projections For Coun-
ties And Districts 1966-2001, (Toronto, Ontario, 1970).

4. Ontario Department Of Treasury And Economics, Regional De-
velopment Branch, Delign For DeveloDment-Niagara (South On-
t io Reaion), (Torontot Ontarios 1970)s p. 25.

5* U.So Army Corps of Engineers, Alternatives For Managing
Waste-water For S2utheastern Michigan. (Detroit. Michig
July, 1971). *p. Be-2.

6. Op. cit., 3-@

7. Ontario Department of Municipal Affairs, Community Planning
Branch, Ontario PoDulation Statistiest (Toronto, Ontario,
1970)s P. 148.

8. International Joint Commission# Lake Erie-Ontario Advisory
Board$ The Nilgara Riv6r-Pollution Abatement Progressg
(August,, 1971)t P. 3.
go International Joint Commissions Lake Huron-Lake Superior-
Lake Erie Advisory Boards Summarly Report On Pollution Of
The St. MUjs River, St. Clair'River. DetKoit Rivero Sep-
tember, 1968), p. 9.

10. Ibid.g,p. 23.

lie 11gd*# pe 29o

CHAPTER I

THE STUDY AREA

A brief description of the Niagara Frontier was presented

in the Introduction. The purpose of this section will be to

probe more deeply into the chara cteristics of this frontier,

including problems and conflicts particularly those relating to

water quality and integrated land and water management. To dis-

cuss the Niagara Frontier a delineation of boundaries is neces-

sary,

For the purpose of this paper the region considered on the

United States side is Erie and Niagara Counties, New York and on

the Canadian side the Regional Municipality of Niagara# Ontario,

formerly Lincoln and Welland counties. The study.area is shown

in Figure 1.

This delineation of study area may be justifiably contest-

ed on the grounds that I have cut off a small portion of the Brie-

Niagara Drainage Basin consisting of parts of Genesee, Wyoming,

and Cattaraugus Countiesq New York. Neglecting these small and

relatively undeveloped portions of the drainage basin greatly

simplifies the intended analysis of trends and institutions and

should not introduce serious error particularly for academic pur-

poses. Also the Canadian side may be contested due to the fact

TORONTO

0 N T A R 0
L A K

BURLINGTON

A
LTON .... ....
MI

!AOA.

X ..........

.............. ............

.. ... ........ ...

20 MILES

REGIONAL LOCATION ZI
NEW YOR
WESTERN

16-
Fig.-l The Study Area

that the urban areas of Saltfleet, Hamiltont and Burlington lie

in a line just westward of the Regional Municipality of Niagara

(RMN). Howevert the concentration of this paper is centered on

urban areas immediately adjacent to or that have a significant

effect to the Niagara Frontier,. Thereforev the Canadian portion

of the study area will be limited to the RMN. It is,not. however,

the intent of this study to neglect the population concentration

around the western end of Lake Ontario, sometimes referred to as

the ,Golden Horseshow, and its effects on the Niagara Frontier.

These effects will be given due consideration.

The Study Area in Canada

The Niagara Peninsula is one of the fastest growing regions

in the Province of Ontario, Its sustained growth can be attri-

buted in large part to three factorst favorable location in the

large Central Ontario market area; its proximity to the United

Statesi and the presence of a combination of unique natural re-

sources including tender fruit soilso tourist attractions, and

extractable mineral resources. The major urban centers are

Niagara Fallso St. Catharineso and Welland. The growth pattern@

has been in an are stretching from the northwestern end of the

Municipality around the southwestern shore of Lake Ontario to

Niagara Falls.

The highest densities of population in the RIVIN are in the

north and east sections mostly in the former Lincoln county.

The rapid rate of growth has been a result of its locations be-

tween Wentworth and Welland counties, the effect of the Niagara

Escarpment, and the location of transportation routes such as

the Q.E.W. This area has experienced a population growth of 64

percent between 1951'and 1966 and is exhibiting the trend com-

mon to a large part of Southern Ontario of concentrations in ur-

ban centers plus growth of rural non-farm population in areas

accessible to established urban centers. The population of RMN

2
is estimated to be 348,000.

The rural portions of the northern portion contain the Pen-

insula's specialized fruit growing zone and many of the Regions,

workable non-metallic mineral deposits. While the concentration

of population in this area has produced benefits due to scale

economies. it also has produced many negative,benefits. The pro-

cess of "rurbanization" has eroded much of the acreage of the

fruit growing zonel the extraction of mineral deposits has de-'

faced the Niagara Escarpmentj and the general pollution of the

areas water resources are attributable partly to the high con-

centration of activity in this area.

The southern portion of the RNIN is not as developed as the

northern portion. Howevers when the entire region is analyzed

with respect to the emerging Great Lakes megalopolis pressures

for urbanization and industrial development against the envi-

ronment will in all probability equal those of the north.

The Design for Development Studies outlined five region-

al problem areas for the RMNs problems associated with the eco-

nomic bas6i transportation problems, land use problems, envi-

3
ronmental. problems# and social problems. As this study is

mainly concerned in water quality and environmental problems

the problems associated with land use and the environment are

of prime concern. Howeverg the. other three areas are also in-

directly related to the prime problem areas and therefore must

be considered in the overall management problem particularly

the economic.base which consists of mostly old, marginal indus-

tries in the area.

The loss of,fruit lands not only affects the agricultural

base, but also detrac-Os from the recreational aesthetics of the

fruit belt, Uncontrolled development in this area can only-fur-

ther endanger the recreational potential. With regard to recre-

ational areas water pollution is causing problems as are indus-

tries who aredefacing scenic areas such as the escarpmente rais-

ing conflicts between the exploitation of non-renewable resources

and recreational and visual amenities. The excessive develop-

ment of tourist attractions such as billboards and high rise

facilities, going on unchecked, is reducing the potential of

tourism areas such as Niagara Falls.

Increased population and lack of coordinated development

of private and public facilities will further add to the con-

flicts mentioned above,

The projected population for the RMN to the year 1991 will

be between 421,670 and 553,329. depending on the fertility and

migration rates used. This will represent an increase of be-

tween 30 to 70 per cent over 1566 population levels. Using a

median fertility rate and median net inmigration the population

by 1991 would be 469.568 representing a 42.5 percent increase

over 1966 levels. Whatever population statistics are used the

result is clears that a fairly rapid growth rate will occur dur-

ing the next twenty years and combined with the emerging Great

Lakes megalopolis will manifest itself in ever increasing pres-

sures on the water and environmental quali.tyin the RMN and also

in the eastern portion of the Lower Great Lakes System.

.Study Area in U..,S_.

The study area on the U.S. side, consisting of Erie and

Niagara counties, New York, centers around the major hub of the

City of Buffalo and owes its present significance and growth

potential to its proximity to the Great Lakes, its position

as a focal point for transportation to the eastern United

States, and its link to Canada and Canadian markets.

The area accounts for 7 percent of total New York State

employments concentrating on primary metalso heavy chemicals

and machinery industries. Although new or expanded industry has

entered the area the majority of plants are old, New industry,

particularly in transportation equipment and the rapid growth

of the State University at Amherst are Iexpected to stimulate.

new industrial development in the region.

T
.population of Erie and Niagara Counties is expected
he'

-to increase from a 1970 level of 1,350,441 to a 1990 level of
1,662,718 or a 22 percent increase over the next twenty years, 6

A more moderate estimate made by the Office of Planning Coordi-@

nation sets the 1990 estimates for the Buffalo urban area at

1,581,677 representing urbanization of a land area of 847.8

square miles.

Although the Erie-Niagara County Region has been describ-

ed as an urban region the bulk of the regionts land area is not

utilized for urban purposes as 84 percent is vacant or used for

agricultural purposes, Past and present trends indicate that

the urban land use is extending to the north and east from

Niagara Falls in Niagara County and to the northeast and east

from Buffalo in Erie County.7

This proposed population increase is expected to place de-

velopment pressures on the eastern Lake Erie and western Lake

Ontario Plains and on the,entire U,S. portion of the Niagara

Frontier. in light of the fact that the entire U.S. study area

is plagued with pollution of all kinds this increase in popula-

tion can only be expected to make problems more critical.

Qoqbined Study Area

Combining the study areas on both sides of the Niagara

kiver reveals that the area will be supporting a combined popu-

lation of 2.118,568 by 1990, representing a 25 percent increase

over present levels. By the year 2020 it can be easy anticipa-

ted that the total population will reach close to three million.

The situation may be even more critical than it appears

after, consideration of the emerging Great Lakes megalopolis as

shown in Figure 2. as identified in both the Doxiadis Study and

the New York State Study, entitled ChMge, Challengg, and Re-
sponse*809 Both of these studies identify the Niagara Frontier

as being an integral part of the embryonic megalopolis.

While the types of urbanization and industrialization may

THE STUDY AREA IN CONTEXT

MONTREAL
MINNEAPOLIS
STPAUL

TORONTO

d:
HAL 11 A a-FFALO
0 F STUDY
. . . . . . . BOSTON
D Roll

CHICAGO
CLEVELAND
PITTSBURGH PH:LAOELPHiA NE W-YORK

SALTIM_OtE.

ST,LOUtS HINGTO ATLANTIC OCEAN

:wI

DEVELOPMENT CORRIDORS, NEW YORK STATE of ter "CHANGE, CHALLENGE, RESPONSE"

Jill
bi, LEGEND

Main Portion Of
EEO Canadian Extension
Eastern Magolopellis

OCEAN,

9=11
GREAT LAKES MEGALOPOLIS Is after DOXIADIS

Fig. 2 Great Lake Megalopolis

differ somewhat in both countries the overall experience to the

environment is,the same. The conflict between land-water and

urbanization will become even greater when considering today,s

trend for higher quality 'environment and hence higher quality

of life competing against increased urbanization and industri-

alization'in an area that already has problems in practically

all environmental areas.

Niagara,Frontier-Keystone for the Lower Great Lakes

in discussing the study areas on both sides of the Niagara

River it was noted that both areas owe their existence and con-

tinued development to their proximities to the opposite country,

to transportation routes# and to the Great Lakes. The Niagara

Frontier can truly be classified as the keystone for the ecolo-

gic and economic well being of the Lower Great Lakes System and

for the populations that inhabit both shores. The Frontier

is' not only alfocus for all forms of transportation,, but also

because of the unique natural environment, including the world

famous Fallst is a focus for tourism. The importance of the

Niagara Frontier cannot be overestimateds it is the only point

along the 434 mile combined length of Lake Brie-Ontario where

the land masses are close enough to be crossed relatively eas-

ily with transportation routes and people. The regional setting

of the Niagara Frontier is shown in Figure 3,

Trgngportation

Since the early days of its development. the Niagara Penin-

sula has acted as an important connecting land link between On-

tario and the United States. The special geographic config"ura-

tion has caused a concentration of travel routes within the re-

gion. Water transportation on the Great Lakes was the original

incentive for growth within the region. Both sides of the river

acted as port facilities for goods finding their way in and out

of the countries on each side. Today water transportation is

still of economic importance to the frontier.

The Welland Canals located in RMNP connects Lake Erie with

Lake Ontario providing an important link between the center of

the North American continent and the rest of the world. In

1970t 7,200 vessels passed through the canal carrying 61,965,

510 tons of cargo consisting mainly-of iron ore, coal,, steel
products, and agricultural products. 10 The canal therefore

serves as a major transportation corridor across the Niagara

Region,

In addition to providing the water transport link the

Niagara Region provides the only land transportation link be-

tween the U,S. and Canada for a length of 434 miles along the

S U p .4 e
/0 lg2_@l so M I I E s
REGIONAL LOCATION x MONTREAL
GREAT LAKES- LUNITED STATE

0 t IL
C.
0 t4 TA0 0 0
0 TORO"

DETROIT

CHICA CLE VELAAD' 4 A H
p S

PITTSBURGH

0
0
)r
D AN A
WA@NINGTOA' \e

Fig- Regional Location- of Study-Area

international border. The connecting link for land transport is

provided by major highways and rail lines.

The rail lines crossing the Niagara River are used for both

passenger and freight service. The rail lines cross the river at

two pointso one at Buffalo-Fort Erie and the other at Niagara

Falls. The Penn Central Company has its Detroit-Buffalo main

line passing across the river and along the north shore of Lake

Ontario. The Penn Central also connects at both crossings to

the Canadian National Railroad. Data is not available on the

amount of freight transported across the river but a large

,portion of the railroad services are designed to meet extra-re-

gional needs,

The highway system crosses the Niagara River at four loca-

tions all connecting to the Queen Elizabeth Way- in Ontario and

to Interstate Highways 90, 190, and 290 in New York State. Com-

bined crossings are estimated to be somewhere between 25,000-
30,000 vehicles per day. 12 Again the Niagara Frontier provides

the only international link between these main highways from De-

troit on the west to:the St. Lawrence River on the east.

The Niagara Frontier is located in the path of one of the

major urban development corridors coming into existence in North

America. It is part of the Great Lakes Megalopolis containing

the urban center of Buffalo and is flanked by Detroit$ Cleve-

lando Toronto# and Rochester. These urban centers affect each

other and have strong social andeconomic interactions. Trips

made in the Niagara Frontier are not only intraregional trips

but also include a large proportion of trips made between the
Toronto-Centered Aegion and most of the Eastern,United States,13

The f unction served by the Niagara Frontier is a critical one in

the North American transportation network. It has become in-

creasingly clear that the frontiers transportation system can"

not.be planned in isolation from other developments in the Great

Lakes area#'

Tourist Attrgating Characteristics of the Region

The Niagara Region is one of the. most visited areas in the

world. -The Falls areat the main tourist attraction, has been

worldly famous for decades, The fact that the region is loca-
te d in the megalopolis path results in'..a large number of tour-

ists particularly in the summer months. Because there are few

land access points to Canada and the Falls the region hosts

large numbers of tourists. The principal focus for interre-

gional trade in the study area appears to be tourism.

The top ten origins of vehicles visiting the Queen Victor-
ia Park, Ontario, in 1961 are as follows: 14

Origin Percent
Ontario 35.8
Ohio 12.1
New York 11.7
Michigan 8.2
Pennsylvania 6.7
Quebec 4.0
New Jersey 2.3
Illinois 2.1
Massachusetts 1.5
Connecticut 1.4

It is suspected that because of the completion of the in-

terstate hi
ghway system since 1961 the figures from various

states may have changed considerably and that the touristic ap-

peal is even more widespread.

Areas on both sides of the Niagara River depend on and

benefit from the economics of the tourism industry although the

Canadian side predominates in this regard. In 1969 36 million

visits were made to Canada, 60 percent of these entering through

Ontario. Approximately 70 percent of these visits were for less

than one day spending an average of $5.00 each. Roughly 35 mil-

lion Canadians visited the U.S. in 1969, 75 percent remaining for

less than one day and spending an average of $2.00 each. The

visitors who stayed more than one day averaged expenditures of

$66.oo and $75.00 for United States and Canadian visitors re-

spectively. The main mode of travel for these tourists in each
case was the.automobile. 15

The above information highlights the importance of the

Niagara Frontier. First# the visitors from Canada are mainly from

Ontario,(Ontario being the most highly populated Province). See-

ond,, because of the Great Lakes# access points to either country

are,limitedo therefotes one can suspect'that'most of these trav-

elers entered either through the Detroit-Windsor-Frontier or the

Niagara Frontier. Third, the high percentage of one day visits

indicates that, tourists are travelling to points of significant

interest within on.e-days automobile drive. Fourth, and finally

the Niagara Falls being the predominant tourist attraction in the

L,ower.Great Lakes, must be considered the main gathering point

for these tourists. Furthermores economic base analysis for

both sides of the river indicate a high interest in the tourism

market"potential for the region indicating that tourism plays

an important role in the Niagara Frontier.

Implications

The Niagara Frontier is in a unique position to the Great

Lakes System and the emerging Great Lakes Megalopolis and be-

cause of its unique position deserves special attention and

study. The Frontier lies athwart the access routes between the.

U.S. and Canada along a 434-mile combined length of Lakes Erie

and Ontario. it is because of this unique geography that the

Niagara Frontier is a unique area to the Lower Great Lakes re-

ceiving perhaps more than its share of benefits but also re-

ceiving far in excess of its share of problemsi economic,

and environmental.

REFERENCEa

CHAPTER I

1. Ontario Department of Treasury and Economics, Regional De-
velopment Brancho Design-F�r Development Niagara (South On-
tario Region), (Torontot Ontario# 1970)., .1p. 25*

2. Canadian Urban Economics Limited, Economic Base Research And
Analysis, Report No, 59 (St. Catharines Ontariop Regional
Municipality of Niagara' Official Plan Studies, December,
1971)9 P. 3-15.

3. Opf Cit*9 is

4-. Ontario Department of Treasury and Economicsq Economic Analy-
sis Brancho Ontario PoiRulation Projections Foj; Countiel ALId
Districtsq. 1966-20019 (Torontop Ontario, 1970),
5. Erie and Niagara Counties Regional Planning.Boardq Expopiori
And Amplification Of Regignal Economic Anal-ysil, Grand Is-
land, New Yorks June 1970)o PP. 51-54.
6.- New York State Office of Planning Service, Demographi2i
ie tions For N2w Xork �ta@e Counties To 2020 A-,D,L (Albany$,
N.Y., August 1969)0 P, 7.

Erie and Niagara Counties Regional Planning Boards "Regional
Land Use,, ENCRPB Negglettet-4 Vol. 1. No. 2v (December 1969).

8*. Ontario Department of Treasury and Economics And Department
Of Municipal Affairs, A___Sjra$egv For Southwestern Ontario
Developments (Toronto, Ontariot March 1970)9 PP. 7-10.
New York State Office For Regional Develo pment, Change,/Chal-
lengeZResponse, (Albanys New Yorke 1964).
10. Read Voorhees and Associates Limited, Transportation Reseach
and--Lnalysisp Report No. 6. (St. Catharinesp Ontario, Region-
al Municipality of Niagara Official Plan Studiesg December,
1971). P. 3-10.
11. 012.-Cit.9 It P9 76*
12. Op- Cit-P 10t Pe 5-4-.

130 lbid-t Ps 3-79

14. Op. Cit., 10, P. 3-120

15. Or), Cit-* 5, p. 4-13.

CHAPTER Il

THE POLLUTION PROBLEM

Generally speaking the entire study area is plagued by

pollution of all the primary re,sources. It will be the pur-

pose of this section to give a brief overview of water pollu-

tion and other environmental pollution concerns in the study

area. By integrating a somewhat historical approacho partic-

ularly with regard to water quality- control a perspective can

be gained on the need for more effective management of all the

primary resources,

Agencies on both sides of the Niagara River have express-

-ed concern over their environment. The Brie-Niagara Counties

Regional. Planning Board in their Initial Environmental Survey

of 1970 identified nine functional areas and/or topical con-

cerns in the region ass

Water quality
Water pollution
Air quality
Air pollution
Land quality
Land pollution
Waste disposal
Provision of services
Coordination

The study based on questionnaires sent to 20 agencies con-

cerned with the environment indicated that for the primary re-

sources of land, airo and water, concern was greater for pollu-

tion*than it is for quality. Outright concern for land was

greater than for water and far greater for water than that

for airt although the greatest amount of agency.resources

were being devoted to water pollution, The situation is at

least partially crisis oriented; high priority problem areas

such as pollution of the primary resources must be resolved

before interest can be generated in quality building.

On the Canadian side the Design for Development Studies

have given the following priorities to environmental concerns&

TABLE 1

2
CONUNITY AND REGIONAL ENVIRONMENT PRIORITIES

Regional municlRalily- of IliagUg,
Needs
Municipal water.supply M
Municipal sewage treatment H
geduction of air pollution,-. H
Reduction of scenic pollution H
Reduction of environmental pollution
by chemicalst pest controls H
Urban noise abatement ?
Protection of prime farmland
from urban development H
Preservation of prime recreation areas H
Protection of fish and wildlife habitat H
Reduction of erosion L
Conservation of prime forest resources L
Use and restoration of mineral sites H
Retain open space between urban centres H
Prevent urban:sprawl.along highways
Concentrate urbanization in selected
centres H
Maintain variety of different sized
centres. L
Maintain quality of urban neighbourhoods' H
Prepare urban & rural land use plans M

H High Priorityt M Medium Priorityq L Low Priority.

From the chart it noted the wide predominance of high pri-

ority areas among all the community and regional environmental

needs. It also must be realized that these high priorities ex-

ist at the current time and that if projected population in-

creases, combined with a lack of coordinated effort continue,

these priority areas can only be expected to become more severe,

Specific Pollution Problems

Water Quality

Since this-report is partially concerned with integrated

land and water management in the Niagara Frontier and as it

pertains to the Great Lakes System the@primary water quality

concern is the Niagara River.

The Niagara River is probably the major environmental re-

source within the Niagara Frontier and has been and will con-

tinue to be the most important concern of those who reside on

or near her banks, Thereforeo in discussing the role of the

Niagara Frontier with regard to the management of the Great

Lakes System an.investigation of the physical quality of the

water is important along with the effectiveness of past and

present institutions responsible for improving and maintaini ng

a high level of quality.

However to adequately evaluate the effects of wastes gen-

erated in the frontier on the Niagara River one must go beyond

the immediate vicinity of the River and include waste discharg-

es,and.land practices within the entire study area, This in-

cludes sources entering Lake Brie from the Buffalo-Lackawanna

area and thosegoing into the Buffalo River because of their

effect on the Niagara Rivere

Figures 4, 5,.and 6 show the areas of either questionable

water quality or'severe water pollution within the study area...

Figure 4 reveals the areas of questionable water quality in the

Niagara River itself while Figures 5 and 6 depict areas of se-

vere water pollution within the,.region.

in the Brie and Niagara Counties portion of the study- area

most of the region's water resources are contaminated to some

d egree.by excessive solidsp..'ehismicals,, or wastematter. In the

Regional Municipality 'of Niagara several of the inland streams

and creeks have serious Water quality problems. Most of the-in-

land water problems in the*combined study area are due to ind,us-

trial and municipal dischargeso combined sewer overflows$ septic.'.

tank systems# and land runoff.

Before discussing the Water quality in the Niagara River*

it is best to take.some frame of reference or objectives to com-

pare'against.. To accomplish this we can use the recommended In-

010 PX\O f
Ni-1.0

C 0

CC
W NIAGARA RIVER WATER USES

IT -1
& AREAS OF QUESTIONABLE
Ni-9.0 WATER QUALITY

LEGEND
-Ni-I o Water Intakes

N
Ni.
i-14.2 NI-18.0 i-21.0
Bathing Areas
C) I
Areas With Noticeable Oil Filas
I
B 3 Ni-25.0 Areas With Noticeable Di ... I.ratloo
GRAND 4 Or
ISLAND
Areas With Excessive Phenols
Ni-26.7 ELK
Areas with Excessive Coliforms
Ni-29.2
NJ.1.0: Mileage From Routh of River
Ni-32D

Ni -34.0 MAP INDEX
NUMBER H_ATERINTAII
DA CR. UNITED STATES
1 Niagara Falls Emergency
Intake
2 City of rliagara falls and
Niagara county Water
Ni-38.0 Authority
3 City of Lockport
A 01, 4 City of North Tonawanda
5 City of Tonawanda
LO Rfv 6. T wn of Grand Island
7 T= of Tonawanda
8 Dupont Industrial and Potabl
9 Mass. Ave. Emergen cy Intaka
for City of Bu ffalo
10 city Of Buffalo
11 Erie Cou nty Water Authority;
LAKE ERIE Woodlawn Intake
CAHADA
A Town of Fort Erie
a City of Niagara Falls
C Town of hiagars-on-the-Lake

Fig. 4 =14-lagara River Water Quality Ref.

WIL SON N.- X.
-xX HARTLAND 0
FORTIN

LEWISTON toc Kroll

C
AMORIA
ROYALTON

...... SO

7
I
WHIAIFIELD
FIND LITON
(7@

I AD
GRAND 06
ISLAND CLARINCI
IZ
12
10
AMHERST
N AWANDA

ONTARIO, CANADA lost 12. DIN

..fee.

A LANCASTER

WEST ELMA
... SENECA ILLA:;
Legend 1=0
0
Severe Water
Pollution

Co...
Me
0 R.c W A I I 1@-
H A&P,
PAR K AURORA
ltm- tu
T - - - - - -

EVANS

COLDIN N LLANO 0

I IDIN ROSTON

ARANT
We .... Go$ 1.61.4 NORTH COLLINS SARDINIA
I CONCORD
......... so

0
L
OU
us

COLLINS

Fig. Water Pollution-Erie-Niagara Co. Ref. 6

r A

/kIIII-N

0,00

Leaend
Water Pollution

Fig. 6 Water Pollution Regional Municipality of Niagara Ref

ternational Joint Commission Standards3 and the new Executive

Agreement Standards which in some instances go beyond the I.J.C.

4
recommendation.

Niagara River

The Canadian waters in the Upper River generally meet the

I.J.C. objectives. Excessive concentrations of phenols and coli-

forms predominate near much of the United States shores of the

Upper River and the entire portion of the Lower River. Areas of

discoloratio n are evident near several United Sta tee outfalls.

Oil problems seem to have decreased perhaps due partially to the

publicity given oil pollution,

SRecific Pollutant�

The following summarizes the latest report available for

8
the Niagara Rivert

Bacterial Contamination. One good measure of the hygienic quality

of the water is the density of coliforms present in the sample,

Current analytical results indicate that the I.J.C. and-Executive

Agreement objectives of a median value of 1.000 organisms per

100ml of water are being exceeded along the U.S. shore in the

9
Upper River.

A major source of the bacterial contamination from the U.S.

side comes from the Buffalo River discharge. The Buffalo River

receives treated municipal and septic tank discharges in the

upper reaches along with combined sewer overflows. The Buf-

falo River discharge and the discharges from the communities

of the City of Buffalo, Town of Tonawandag City of Tonawanda,,

and the City.of North Tonawandap noticeably increase the con-

centration of coliforms below their outfalls. Coliform concen-

tration in excess of 20#000 organisms per 100ml have been re-

10
cently recorded in the Upper Niagara.

In the lower Niagara the coliform densities are constant

across the river and median concentration ranges from 1000.-

3,000 organisms:per 100ml of water. The major source of the

coliforms is the overloaded plant at Niagara Fallso New York

which provides only fine screening and chlorination. The plant

receives wastes from a population equivalent of 450$000 while.

designed only for 1109000*

Phenols. The I*J.C. objectives for phenol are a maximum of 5

ug/l, an average of 2 ug/lt and a revised average of 1 ug/l.

This objecti ve is being exceeded in many areas in both the

Upper and Lower River.

In the Upper Niagara River the Buffalo River is a princi-

pal source of phenols. Industries contributing to the phenol

problem appear to be refineries and coke plants. The I.J.C.

report states that th ese industries have made significant reduc-

tions in their phenol discharge since 1967. however. an analysis

of the phenol concentrations between 1967 and 1970 immediately

below the Buffa lo River reveals a significant increase particu-

11
larly near the shore.

On the Canadian side of the Upper Niagara the waters are

essentially free of phenol contamination.

The Lower Niagara phenol concentrations are fairly con-

stant across the river and generally are not in excess of the

I.J.C.'s maximum objectiv6v Although they are in excess of the

desired limitation, Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario, which is lo-

cated at the mouth of the Niagara River does treat for phenols

using carbon absorption.

91-1. Oil is one of the more obvious pollutants and usually cre-

ates the most public interest. Because of this great public in-

terest and involvement the amount of oil discharged to the Buf-

falo and Niagara Rivers has been greatly reduced. The I.J.C.

reported that 29 million pounds of oils were discharged into

the Niagara River in 1967 and that 40% came from municipal treat-
ment plants. 12 Part of the reduction may be due to increased

public pressure on gasoline service stations to properly dispose

of their waste oil.

Oil will continue to be a problem however due to occasion-

al spills. Also the Buffalo River continues to accumulate heavy

surface oil films which are occasionally flushed into the Niag-

ara during flood flows.

Iron. The I.J.C. objective is 0.3 mg/l and this objective is at

times.being exceeded on the U.S. side in the Upper Niagara. Iron

is objectionable mainly from an esthetic point of view causing

red water stains. In the Lower River the concentrations are con-

sistently below I.J.C. objectives.

'Chloride. The concentration of chlorides are not critical at

this time in the Niagara. Chlorides are of,historical importance,

however, because of their persistent nature and their addition

into the total solids accumulation. The I.J.C. objective for

total solids is 200 mg/1 for Lake Brie and Lake Ontario. Lake

Ontario is approaching this limit and since 80-85% of the flow

into Lake Ontario is from the Niagara Rivers this could be of

concern for the near future,

Chlorides are Particularly difficult to remove in the

waste treatment process and are usually present in large quan-

tities from alkaline-chlorine manufacturing as in Niagara.Fallso

N.Y. and also from municipal plant effluents and salt used for

snow and ice.removal. If chlorides do become a problem this

should add to some interesting debate which is already going on

as to the effect of chlorides in the water and their benefits

in preventing accidents and body injury on ice covered walks

and streets.

Phosphorous. @Phosphorous is not as much of concern in the Niag-

ara River, dueto the swift current which eliminates quiescent

conditions favorable to algal growth$ as it is in the western

end of Lake Ontario which accumulates large quantities of phos-

phorous from the flow,of the Niagara. It has been estimated

that the Niagara basin adds a total of 5,,500 short tons annu-
ally into Lake Ontario. 13 In addition certain quiescent water

pockets in the Niagara are capable of sustaining algal growth.

Esthetic ImRairment Of The NiaggX River. Discoloration, odors,

and foams are'particularly noticeable to the public and prompt

a response much. in the same way as does oil films. There are

several areas in the Niagara River that are esthetically- unde-

sirable and that are also within the view of large numbers of

tourists.

The City of Niagara Falls, N.Y. diversion sewer which

carr.ies large quantities-of suspended solids from an industry

(Carborundum) enters an eddy, current and carries gray colored

water to the base of the New York State Observation tower and

the "Maid of the Mists, loading docks, The main effluent from

the Niagara Fallsp N.Y. treatment plant discolors water about

a mile downstream.

A considerable amount of foam is generated below both the

American and,Canadian Falls. The foam initially white, quickly

turns an unsightly brown dolor producing a strong "manure- type-

odor at the "Maid of the Mist" loading docks, This foam is

known to contain high concentrations of bacteria and other mi-

crobiological organisms.' The odor and development of the brown

color is due to the decomposition of the dead organismst algae

and other,organic debris contained in the foam.

At the source of the Niagara River the waters of the Buf-

falo River are of different color, This frequently causes the

color of the Niagara near shore to be of different color than

that of the rest of the river, No solution to this problem is

.foreseen.

Benthic Biology. An Ontario Water Resources Commission study

done in 1968 showed that benthic fauna population on the U.S,

side from the mouth of the Buffalo River to range 19.3 was

dominated by sludge worms and pollution tolerant snails. On

the Canadian side the benthic population contained a large

variety of clean water species.

The Lower Niagara benthic population was, for the.most part

devoid of clean water species and contained a restricted variety

of species of sludge worms indicating pollution of the Lower

Niagara.

Mercury# Mercury pollution is A new and emerging problem. The

14
first scare and recognition came in the St. Clair River in 1970

and prompted concerned agencies in the Niagara area to.investi-

gate possible users and dischargers of this material. It was

found-that many industries and institutions usemercury either

in theirindustrial processes or in laboratory equipment. With

.regard to laboratory equipment often appreciable quantities of

mercury could not be accounted for as indicated by replacement

needs.

Four major industries had until recently.discharged.sig-

nificant.quantities of mercury but have ceased using the process

or have installed corrective measures.

Investigators of the Niagara Fallsq N.Y., treatment plant

influent indicate concentrations of mercury in excess of known

sources, therefore, presenting a problem in detecting all the

mercury sources,

The discovery of high mercury concentrations in the fish

presents a dilemma... To use an example the levels of mercury

in the St. Clair River, in all the samples ever taken, was less

than'the detectable limit of 5 micrograms/liter. For years it

was thought that metallic mercury was very stable and would re-

main locked into sediments. However,, the mercury manifested

itself in high concentrations in predator fish, as much as
3000 time's the level found in water,15

Although the I.J.C. and the new Executive Agreement set

no specific standards for most metals they recommend adoptions

of such standards. It still remains a problem however, to ac-

curately- assess the impact of mercury in the environment.

Dre.dRed Materig. Most of the dredged material from the polluted

Buffalo.River and Black Rock River are'eurrently being disposed

of in diked areas which have so far been successful in contain-

ing the disposed polluted dredgings. The problems manifested

with decreased availability of land in urban@areas present

unique problems in dealing with local officials and others in

develo;ping*future disposal sites,

Progress in Water Pollution Control

In order to shed some light on current problems a brief

historical approach is necessary.@ The following table rep-

resents an historical look at quantities discharged into the

Niagara Rivers

TABLE 2

WASTE QUANTITIES-DISCHARGED TO-THE NIAGARA RIVER
1248-16

lb./day

MGD BOD COD T*SL _Sj.S@ OIL gli PHENOLS CIL FE OTHER
496 96,ooo+ 7570130 116,000- .1 *755 6o370 NH3+ 10,565
16

495*550 :4,,ooo- 245- 99730 N.H 8,120

17
1262

goo 240,000+ 213,000 880,000 813,ooo 64,500 970 1000 425*000 16000 Lead 50
Po
4 300,
sil. 42,500

370 266,ooo+ 13,200 2449000 388oOOO 26.8 1,640 273vOOO- 5v800 VH3+ 5*200
so 439000
4
Alk.87,000

To briefly describe the changes or progress is complex and

will require more evaluation than of just the figures in Table

1. Howeverg due to certain limitations these are the best fig-,

ures at hand and will be evaluated accordingly,

The only meaningful figures are those of.1967 and 1971, al-

though we know that the large increase in BOD it attributable to

population increase from 1948 to 1971, The large drop in daily-

flow from 196? to 1971 is harder to explain. One reason is that

several industries changed their inplant processes and thereby

reduced their daily flows. A second major reason is that some

irdustries have ceased operation. Thirdly$ Bethlehem Steel

which was using 350 MGD in 1967 has recently installed treatment

at their Lackawanna Plant and, therefore* was dropped from the

list. However, by adding all the industries that were either

dropped or changed flows from 1967 to 1971 still does not ac-

count for the large discrepancy* a fact that will require future

research.

On the positive sides however# we can see that there was

signifi cant reduction in total and suspended solidso cyanides,

and oils indicating that some progress has been made,. Howeverg

by I.J.C.'s own admission "the limited number of projects com-

pleted and in operation have produced localized improvement,

but have not,appreciably changed the overall.quality of Niagara
River water.119

Water Pollution Control Problems

All of the municipalities and many of the industries are

considerably behind schedule in meeting their abatement sched-

ule. Some factors contributing to the delay are listed below&

1. In order to receive federal funding and to receive

state funds the municipal sewage treatment plans

have to comply with comprehensive regional studies.

These studies were not completed until 1970.thereby

delaying any- real studies or construction by munici-

palities.

@2, In any regional planning two or more governmental

entities are involved and developing agreements

between them are time consuming. Such was the

case in the Niagara Basin.

Many more pil6t studies were required than origin-

ally anticipatedg particularly where joint munici-

pal-industrial treatment was considered and also in

all cases where phosphorous removal was necessary'.

4. In cases where municipal-industrial treatment was

considered the industry had to wait until the mu-

nicipality had completed their plans before industry-

could make a proposal which lead to further agree-

ment reaching difficulties and in some areas caused

20.
stillfurther delays*

Also not included in the above, is the fact that New York

State's 1.7 billion dollar bond issue has been exhausted large-

ly on prefinancing the federal share of treatment plant costs.

A large part of each new federal pollution control budget is

spent paying back the states for their previous prefinancing,

This proQess could conceivably cause further delayo particu-

larly when considering that the federal budget for the environ-

ment, for 1973, will be the lowest that it has been in the past

three years.

Also federal planning such as the regional wastewater strate-

gies by the Corps of Engineers and the-Federal legislation such

as the Muskie Bill and the House Legislation (Blatnik Bill) might

be causing some apprehension on the part of industry and commu-

nities, as to just what degree of treatment will be expected in

the near future. Also, the Muskie Bill has provisions for the

federal share of financing-to be increased to 70% and under cer-

tain conditions repayment of all construction previously done is

to be made on this,70% basis. dilemma exists in that if the

total federal budget.for pollution control in 1973 is $3 billion,

70% repayment to N.Y.S.p would amount to $1.2 billion itself.

This dilemma may cause additional financing delays.

.Adequate financing appears to play a very significant role

in controlling water pollution. 1n an interview with the Erie-

Niagara Counties Regional Planning Board it was discovered,th.at

plans for adequately controlling all municipal pollution were

ready for implementationt but were awaiting adequate funding

21
from federalg stateo' and local governments,.

Financing municipal pollution control facilities will only

solve part of the water quality problems in-the Niagara Fron-

tier. Industrial wastes in the region# because of the predomi-

nance of 'heavy* industry$ is a larger problem than municipal

wastes* Currently there are no direct provisions for federal

aid to.industry for controlling water pollution, To make the

industrial situation more complex there are no provisions for

economic development aid to assist regions whose industries may'

be forced to close down because of pollution control require-

ments. This problem is significant in the Niagara Frontier be-

cause much of the industry is old and operating at marginal

efficiency. This industrial problem will not be discussed fur-

ther to any extento but is.indeed a problem that requires sig-

nificant future research.

Other Forms Of Environmental Pollution

Other forms of environmental.pollution were outlined ear-

lier in this section. These include pollution of land, air,

and scenic resources' and the need for preservation of natural

areas and open space,

Almost without exception the majority of available funds

and efforts have been employed to combat water pollution with

the result that other sources of pollution have largely been

uncontrolled and unregulated. Some of the areas of other types

of environmental pollution are shown for Brie and Niagara Coun-

ties in Figures 7 and 8 and for Regional Municipality of Niag-

ara in Figure.9.

Land pollution as shown in Figure 7 is due to a combina-

t,ion of overheadpower lines and abandoned quarries. Part of

the air pollution outlined in Figures 8 and 9 is due to urbani-'

zation and industrializationg but part. is also.due to.the heavy

loads.,of traffic on certain transportation routes,

Figures 7, 8, and 9 do not take into account scenic pollu-

@tion nor the destruction of natural or open space areas,

As for the Niagara River itself it can easily be seen that

the entire length of the River is plagued by pollution in one

"e ...... SO

FAN'S
W I I, S 0 N H A it T L A IN 0
PORTER

IWISTON L 0 )C;,IK P 0 A T
CAMANIA
ROYALTON <

GARA

WHIATFIELD
P I N 0 L I 10 IN -14

N I
w 6 T il A
GRA 140 x:.
13 L A N L)
CLAAGNC9

X
ONTARIO. CANADA ALDEN

-P
S T I it

L M A
MANIILL
Legend

Areas
Affected By, Air
ALL
Pollution I ORCH ARD
PARA
AUA04A
MAUR

IVAN

COtDIN NOLLAND

SOSTON
I IDEN

- - - - - - - - - -

6 A A N 7

SANDINIA
...... NORTH OIL Ll N S
CONCORD

OL
11 A RI L@

COLLINS

-00

FiA. Air P,61lution-Erie-Niagara Co. Ref. 22

@62

N FA. N I z
it SON
HARTLAND 0

7-- -------
7
WEIGH to Ig FORT
C A M. AIA*

PEND ON

RAND
CLARENCE
tz
pl. 1=0
0
41a a Sf
WAND

feet tell
ONTARIO, @A@ADA H
,," . 11z

IIK-
AGA --L-AJNCA $111

'
T ELMA
:CA
N MARILL A:;
Legend :0
Land Pollution

I ORCH ARD WALIS
RK AURORA

OiDiff HOLLAND :0
[DIN I GET.ON

-T

ANT
tell .... 4.8 I.e. aNORTH COLLINS SARDINIA
CONC040

L
,A4
UO COU

COLLINS

Fig'.7 Land Pollution-Erie-Niagara Co. Ref. 22

LEGEND

AREAS FFECTED BY AIR POLLUTION
A

r A

2
A-

IN
REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY
OF NIAGARA

1, A F I'

Fig. Air Pollution Regional Municipality of Niagara

form or another. In addition to airand water pollution land

development along the shoreline has been unregulated and high-

ly disorganized. Competition for industrial and residential

development and recreational and conservation interest for

more water and shoreline is strong and has resulted in numer-

ous conflicting and an adverse effect upon the scenic and eco-

nomic uses of the River. In many cases the public has been

forever denied access to this connecting channel for recreation-

24
al or aesthetic purposes.

A Perspective On Water Quality

To gain a better perspective on how effective governments

at all levels have been in controlling pollution in the Niag-

ara River the historical route can be taken to find out what

conditions existed previously$ what were the attempts to solve

the problem, how successful the attempts weret and if they were

not successful, why not. Although parts of this section is gen-

eral in nature and includes other parts of the.Great Lakes Sys-

tem'the Niagara River and Frontier is certainly no exception to

the points raised.

The first recognition of potential pollution problems came

with the signing of the Boundary- Waters Treaty of 1909 in Arti-

cle 4 which stipulated that "boundary waters and waters flowing

across the boundary shall not be polluted on either side to the

425
injury of health or property on the other side.,

The first study carried out by the I.J.C. from 1912 to 1918
call.ed the Great Lakes pollution "chaotic and disgraceful.,, 26

This early study was based largely on bacterial contamination,

reflecting the almost complete lack of municipal treatment at

that time.

A later report in 1950 indicated that although corrective

measures had been partiallyimplemented to ensure safe water

supplies the.extension of sewer services and the installation

of treatment plants for domestic and industrial wastes had not

kept pace with the problems arising from continued urban and

27
industrial expansion in the Lower Lakes Basin. Changes in

manufacturing processes and commodity use had caused new and

widespread pollution problemsi urban and industrial complexes

in the Lower Lakes were developed without adequate knowledge of
the effects of multiple releases of wastes to the water,28 The

1950 I.J.C. report concluded that the waters under reference

(St. Clair Ri ver, Lake St. Clairg Detroit River, St. Marys Riv-

er, and Niagara River) were being polluted contrary to the Trea-

ty. Remedial measures were recommended along with objectives

29
for boundary waters quality control. Even though 96 percent

of the population of 3o597,900 in the combined Frontiers was be-

ing served by sewer systems and 85 Percent had primary treat

ment the bacterial contamination in certain places in the con-

necting channels was found to be three to four times the aver-
age found it 1912. 30

The recommendations that came out of the 1950 report were

subsequently approved by the two Governments to satisfy the

Treaty and were reflected somewhat in pollution abatement pro-

grams in both countries.

In its 1961 report oft the Boundary Waters System the I.J. C.

reflected.on progress from 1950 to 1959,

"Progress in achieving the objectives for connecting
channels in so far as individual communities and in-
dustties has'beeh fairly good, For example, eight
years after the Governments (1959) had approved the
Objectives the total daily discharge of wastes from
all industries hid been reduced from 139000 to 29500
pounds of phenols, from 90000 to 4,000 pounds of cy-
anides.,from, 18,000 to 2,500 gallons of oil. and from
3.1 to 1.6 million pounds of suspended solids. How-
ever, the Commissions, Water Quality Objectives are
not being met currently in all reaches of the Con-
necting Channels because the responsible authorities
and industries have not provided sufficient treatment
,facilities to keep piye with population growth and in-
dustrial expansion."

Areview of two more recent reports by the I.J.C. on the

conInecting channels one in 1967, the other in 1968 revealed

that the following wastes were being discharged into the
Channels: 32.33

@TABLE 3

WASTES DISCHARGBD INTO CONNECTING CHANNELS

loo6 Lb.Zkay

BOD T.S. SsS. OIL CN PHENOLS CL
N iagara 240+ 880 813 65 1.0 1.3 425

Detroit 693 29672 ig488 N.A. N.A. 2.0 4,750

'St. Clair 50 5t558 134 N.A. N.A, 0.2 1,777

St. Marys 24 75@ 149 L.A. E.A. 4.o 4

Total 1 9077 .9,865 2584 65 1.0 7.5, 6,956

N.A. Not'Available

With the exception of cyanides the progress reported in the

1961. report had been largely negated. The BOD being discharged

had increased from 688,400 lb/day to 1,077,000 lb/day. Obvious-.

ly if the objectives were not being met in 1961 they certainly

were not being.met in 1968. Again it is,readily apparent that

respons ible authorities had-not kept pace with the problems

.brought on by increased population, urbanization, and indus-

trialization.

In 1964 under the provisions of the Boundary.and Waters

Treaty the Governments of Canada and the United States request-

ed the I.J.C. to find out if the treaty was being violated with

respect to pollution and if it wasq to what extent, by what caus-

es, and in what localities is such pollution taking place, and

what remedial measures would the 1.J.C. recommend.

The Commission responded with a three volumes 800 page re-

port in 1969 and published a summary report in 1970. With re-

gard to the connecting channels the Commission recognizeds the

Detroit River is by far the greatest source of contaminants to

Lake Erie and that the highly industrialized Detroit-Windsor

area is responsible for most of the waste input. The Niagara

Rivet contributes over one-half of the pollutants going into

Lake Ontario and that pollutants from Lake Erie outflows are

augmented by local sources in the Niagara Basin. Organisms

that are dominant in enriched wastes were evident at inshore

locations such as the mouth of the Niagara River. Bathing

beaches in the Detroit River and near Buffalo are a direct

hazard to health. The highest coliforms fecal coli form, and

fecal streptococcus densities in Lake Ontario were recorded near

the mouth of the Niagara River indicating that the river is re-

sponsible for much of the degradation of water quality at this

location. In 1969 more than 1000 barrels of,,oil were being dis-

charged daily into the Detroit River. In 1967 more than 29 mil-

lion pounds of oil were discharged into the Upper Niagara River.

Oils discharged by industries to the eastern end of Lake Erie and

the Upper Niagara River not only destroy wild life on the Niag-

ara, but may also kill waterfowl in Lake Ontario 100 or more
miles away. 34

In summary, answering the requests referred to the I.J.C.

in 1964, the Commission concluded thats

".,,the waters referred to (Lower Lakes Basin) are being
seriously polluted on both sides of the boundary to the
detriment of both countries and to an extent which is
causing injury to health and property on the other side
of the boundary. On the basis of transboundary move-
ment .... the commission concludes that contaminants orig-
inating in one country do move across the boundary and
degrade the quality of the waters in the other country ...
the Commission finds the polluted waters lakewide in ex-
tentl that the two principal causes are wastes discharg-
ed by municipalities and industries into the above waterq,,
in all jurisdictions which share these boundary waters,"--'J

The Commission went on to conclude that "The contribution

of very large quantities of pollution materials from heavily

industrialized areas such As those along the St. Clair and De-

troit Rivers, the Maumee River, the Cayahoga River, the Buf-

falo-Niagara Falls, Rochester and Hamilton-Toronto regions has&

caused eutrophication of the lower Great Lakes;.depleted the

dissolved oxygen in the hypolimnium of the lakes; induced ad-

verse biological changest been partially responsible for the

dramatic changes in fish population; caused bacterial contami-

nation along the shorelines; increased the accumulated dissolv-

ed solids and wastes in the lakes; increased water treatment

problems; impaired the recreational and aesthetic values of the

Lakes ..... The Upper Lakes and the connecting channels of the

Great Lakes, particularly the Detroit and Niagara Rivers, hav e

a profound effect on the water quality of the Lower Lakes. Thus

it is incumbent on both countries* as a matter of urgency, to

take appropriate action to preserve and where, necessary enhance

the quality of all the boundary waters of the Groat Lakes Sy-stem
and its tributaries.-, 36

In addition the Great Lakes Basin Commission, in late 1971,

in its 'Framework Studies on Lake Erie and Lake-Ontario, summa-

rize their planning subarea 4.1 as "the planning subarea includ-

es that portion of Lake Erie within Michigan, the Detroit River,

Lake St. Clair, the St. Clair River.... The upper 10 miles of

the Detroit Rivers from Lake St. Clair to the junction of the

Rouge River is substandard in quality due to high coliform den-

sities and iron concentrationsi the lower 20 miles of the De-

troit River from the junction of the Rouge River to Lake Erie

is decidedly substandard in water quality... 6 displaying excess-

ive levels of coliforms, phenols, toxic substances, nutrients,

suspended sol ids, and residue. Objectionable color, oil, and

debris are also present." The GLBC describes planning subarea

4.4 as "the planning subarea including Erie County, Pennsylvania,

and the New York Counties of Cattarauguso Chautauquao Erie, and

Niagara. The lower five miles of the Buffalo.River is severely

degraded by major municipal and industrial waste discharges;
high ammonia, phenol, and chloride concentrations are-present.1,37

The conditions of the Niagara River are summarized by- the GLBC

.as follows: "The nutrient-laden waters of Lake Erie, wastes from

the industrial complex along the Buffalo River, and direct dis-

charges from municipalities constitute the major pollution load

to the Niagara River. Excessive growths of Cladophora in the

Niagara Riverl along with algae from Lake Erie and the Upper

Niagara River tributaries. form large accumulations below the
Falls."381

It is very clear that the desires and goals of past gen-

.erations to protect water quality in the Great Lakes System in

general and in the Detroit and Niagara Rivers in particular

have not been realized. The measures that were anticipated to

be effective in controlling pollution and enhancing water qual-

ity were not successful. It is readily agreed that the measures

incorporated over the years have been partially successfult that

is to say conditions today would be far worse if no control meas-

ures had been implemented over the past 63 years. However$ the

facts remain, and the evidence is clear,, that past attempts have

not kept pace with population growthq- urbanization# and industri-

alizations that the environment desired bee not been obtAlnec,

even thouFh that desire has existed for over 50 years. In

summarizing this section the following points are evidents

1) The Lower Great Lakes have declined in quality over

the past 60 years.

2) The connecting channels, particularly the Detroit

and Niagara Rivers and their respective drainage

basins are significant determinants of the quality

of water in the Lower Great Lakes and have been at

least partially responsible for the decline in qual-

ity..

3) Past.control measures have not kept pace with pollu-

tion problems.

4) What was said was not donel that is, Governments or

responsible agencies have not been able to conform

to Article 4 of the Boundary and Waters Treaty,

One may ask why haven't the desired goals been met. Why

hasn't, the water quality in the Niagara or any other place in

the Great Lake System been restored.

Part of the answer may- lie in the changing objectives.

Problems were-never perceived to be as acute as they have be-

come; planning did not extend far enough into the futurei more

importantly,.still, either planning was not done at all or for

.one reason, or.another plans that did exist werenever fully im-

plemented@

The primary objective of the I.J.C. report of 1918 was to

ensure safe drinking water supplies or in other words prevent

bacterial contamination.. As late as 1950 this rather simple

objective still had not been met, Also between 1918 and 1950

little concern was given.to industrial wastesl,.or to wastes that

contribute"other constituents to the receiving stream.

In 1950 the Governments of both countries started to re-

cognize that continued urban.and industrial expansion was out-

pacing pollution control attempts, In the 1961 i.i.c. report

full recognition of industrial wastes was given. A greater em-

phasis was beginning to betom6,evident as to the complexities

of the industrial pollution problem. In addition to bacterial

contamination phenols, aminonia compounds, cyanides, oils, wastes

'from navigation, and dredging were recognized-as requiring care-.

ful planning to avoid interference with the proper use of the

connecting channelsl the full scope of the problem was still.to

be recognized, The objectives at thistime were to provide pri-

mary treatment for all municipal,wastes plus specific objectives

for.stream@quality of a coliform density of 2400 organisms per

100 ml of water, phenol concentration limits of an average of 2

ug/l and a maximum of ug/l. As of 1967 the I.J.C. had estab-

lished the'above objectives plus criteria relating to pH, iron,

odor producing substances# oils and floating, solids, and highly

toxic wastes, such as cyanides and chromium. @W.ith regard...to

highly toxic wastes no:specific' criteria was set, only that-Ilad-

equate protection should be provided for these wastes if sub-

stances highly toxi6`t6 humans fish, aquatic$ or wildlife are
(t@ o.be) eliminated or reduced to safe limits.1139 The lack of

specific.objectives can be attributed to lack of understanding

at that.time of the true nature of toxic materials in the food

chain.,, It,is also noticed that mercury was not mentioned. As

late as 1969''scientists believed that mercury was a fairly- sta-

ble compouna,and could remain tied up in bottom sediments. To

support this belidf,tdxi6 levels of'mercury in St. Clair River

water samples had never been above acceptable limits. Then in

1970 the mercury scare erupted in the St. Clair River-Lake St.

Clair areas. It was then learned that mercury could accumula-

tively manifest itself in'certain types of fish, This, again

i's evidence of the lack of true understanding,of the physical,

chemical, and biological nature of industrial waste materials.

In 1970 the I.J.C. proposed new water quality objectives.

for the Great Lakes and connecting channels. These objectives

were:

"General Objectives&

(a) free from substances attributable to municipal, in-
dustrial or other discharges that will settle to
form putrescent or otherwise objectionable sludge
deposits, or that will adversely affect aquatic
life or waterfowl.

(b) free from floating debris,, oilt scum and other
floating materials attributable to municipal, in-
dustrial or other discharges in amounts sufficient
to be unsightly or deleterious,

(c) free from materials attributable to municipalt in-
dustrial or other discharges producing color, odor
or other conditions in such a degree as to create
nuisance.

(d) free from substances attributable to municipalt in-
dustrial or other discharges in concentration that
are toxic or harmful to human, animal or aquatic
life.

(e) free from nutrients derived from municipal, indus-
trial and agricultural sources in concentrations
that create nuisance growths of aquatic weeds and
algae.

Furthermoret no substance should be introduced into these

waters unless reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that

it will not lead to the violation of any of the foregoing ob-

jectives.

Specific Objectives&

The Specific Objectives are for the receiving waters except

in the restricted mixing zones at outfalls. (The periphery of

the,restricted mixing zones should be prescribed by water pollu-

tion control agencies).

(a) Microbiology (Coliform, Group)-The geometric mean of
not less than five samples taken over not more than
a 30-day period shall not exceed 1,000/100 ml total
coliforms, nor 200/100 ml fecal coliforms in local
waters.

Waters used for body contact recreation activities
should be free from bacteriag fungi,,or viruses that
may produce enteric disorderst or eye, ear, nose,
throat, and skin infections.

(b) Disso.1yed Oxygen-In the Connecting Channels and in
the upper waters,of the Lakes not less than 6.0
mg/l at any time; in the hypolimnetic.waters not
less than the concentrations necessary for the sup-
port of fishlife, particularly cold water species.
(c) Total Dissolved SoLids-Less than 200'mg/l in Lake
Eriet Lake Ontario and the International Section
of the St. Lawrence River; in the St. Marys River,
pending the results of a study of the Upper Great
Lakes, a level of total dissolved solids not ex-
ceeding that of 19701 and in the other Connecting
Channels a level consistent with maintaining the
levels of total dissolved solids in Lake Erie and
Lake Ontario less than 200 mg/l.

(d) Temperature-No change which would adversely affect
any local or general use of these waters.

(e) Taste and Odor-No objectionable taste or odor, Phe-
nols desirably absent but not to exceed a monthly
average of 1.0 micrograms/l. Other taste and odor
producing substances absent.
(f) P-H-No change from the range of levels, 6.7 to 8.5
which now exist,

(g) Phosphorous-Concentrations limited to the extent
necessary to prevent nuisance growths of algaes
weeds and slimes which are or may become injuri-
ous to any beneficial water use. (Meeting this
objective will require that the phosphorus load-
ing to Lake Erie be limited to 0.39 g/m2/yr and
the phosphorus loading to Lake Ontario be limit-
ed to 0.17 9/m2/yr).

(h) RadioactivitY-Elimination of radioactive materials
to the extent necessary to prevent harmful effects
on health. Pending the adoption of more stringent
limits, in no event is gross beta activity- to ex-
ceed 1,000 pCi/1, Radium-226 not to exceed 3 Pdi/l
and Strontium-90 not to exceed 10 pCI/l.

Additionla-Specific Objectives When required, appropri-

ate specific objectives will be established for water quality

parameters including but not restricted to toxic materials,
@oiIls,, and heavy metals." 40

The basic changes in these new objectives from the previ-

ous objectives were in the coliform group with a new objective

being 1000 organisms'per 100 ml of waters dissolved oxygen of

.6.0 mg/l. a total dissolved solids limit of 200 mg/l, tempera-

ture criteria, a new phenol maximum of 1.0 micrograms per litre,,

a phosphorous objectives radioactivity limits,, and the recogni-

tion of establishing specific objectives for other parameters

in the future.

The Executive Agreement between Canada and the United States

on Great Lakes water quality signed in April 1972 basically adop-

ted the 1970 water quality recommendations of the I.J.C. with re-

gard to microbiology, dissolved oxygeng total dissolved solids,

pH, and iron. The Agreement did not set numerical specific ob-

jectives for taste and odors phosphorous and radioactivity, al-

though general criteria were set forth for these contaminants

in the-Agreement.

The Agreement also stated interim general objectives for

temperature# mercury and other toxic heavy metalso persistent

organic contaminants* settalable and suspended materials. oil,

petro-chemicals, and immiscible substances.

In signing the Agreement the Parties agreed to consult

within one year from the date of entry into force of the Agree-

ment for the purpose of considering specific water quality ob-

jectives for the following substancess

AmmoniR Lead
Arsenic Mercury
Barium Nickel
Cadmium Oil
Certain Organic Chemicals Phenols
Chloride Selenium
Chromium Sulphate
Copper Zinc
Cyanide
Fluoride

Beyond the International Agreement there is a move on the

national level for more stringent pollution control requirements

such as the Muskie and Blatnik Bills.* Legislation such as these

will move objectives even higher.

Implications for the Study Area

What implications does this chapter leave for the study

area? First, although this chapter mainly concentrated on wa-

ter qualityt it revealed that the entire study area is plagued

with pollution of-all the primary resources... Second, the his-

torical perspective on water quality revealed that past control

attempts have not been adequate to provide the water quality de-

79,

sired; have not been adequate to keep pace with, urbanization and

,industrial expansion. Third# the goals and obje,ctive.s for water

quality have been and are becoming ever more stringent, as more

information to the effects of certain wastes on the water envi-

ronment are being discovered or suspected. A catch-up game is

being played to conform to previous objectives while objectives

are constantly being set higher. Although this historical per-

spective was not limited solely to the study areas the study

area is no exception and conforms to the perspective,

One may ask what. significance the perspective on water qual-

ity has on other segments of the environment'and for the future

in the study area. In trying to combat other forms of pollution

responsible agencies in the study area must recognize that some

better form of management must be implemented or the road to re-

storing total environment quality may be.much like the one fol-

lowed in the case of water pollution control. In planning to

provide the-quality of environment desired for the future, re-.

sponsible agencies must.recognize that objectives and goals for

the desired quality will be continuously upgradedo much in the

same way as they have for water quality, and that they must

plan ahead in anticipation of such changes.

Historically progress in pollution control has lagged in

meeting stated requirements,' It appears that it has always been

relatively easy to set the objectives, but that it has been very

difficult to carry these objectives to committment.

The attempts to determine and set objectives, although in

ha'
some cases, i s been painstakingly slows is to be applauded

Theaction'on implementing these objectives has been disappoint-

ing at all levels of governments Federalg Provincial# State, and

local. The concepts have come aboutp particularly in the past

decade rather readilyt agreements have been reached on the con-

cepts; however; if past history has anything to tell it will tell

that actual committment has lagged far behind the agreement on

concepts. How long can the people in the Niagara Frontier af-

ford to wait between the setting of objectives and the implemen-

tation of programs? It has been stated that the decade of the

70-s may be the last chance to retrive the environment. Can

the people of the Niagara Frontier therefore afford to wait 10,

20, 30 or more years for actual implementation of programs?

To remedy the situation it must be decided what the study

area will be like in the futures what pressures this will cre-

ate on the environment, what type of environment is desired by

the people in the area, and last, but most important what meas-

ures are necessary to most effectively and efficiently bring

about the desired results.

The remainder of this study will largely,concentrate on the

measures for effective and efficient environmental management at

the lowest and perhaps the most important level of,',government;

the local level. This.is not to.downgrade the importance of

other levels of government#, but is meant to concentrate study

on the level wherethe action is in managing the total urban

Physical environment.

REFERENCES

CHAPTER II

1. Brie and Niagara,Clounties Regional Planning Boards Initial
Envirgrunental Stu .dY. (Grand Islands New Yorks June 1916Y,
pp. 38-390
2. Ontario bepartment"Of Treasury And Economiese'Regional De-
velopment Branch, Design For Development Niggara Rgg4n.
(South Ontario), (Toronto, Ontario, June 1970)v p. 106.
3. International Joilni@t'Commiss3lon, Pollution'Of Lake Etiet
Lake'Ontario. And The International Sect5on Of The St.
Lawrence Rivers (Summary Report 1970)t PP. 144-149.
4o Executive.Agreement Between IThe United States and Canada con-
cerning,pollutiozi of the Great Lakes signed.in Ottawa in
April,@1972i

5. International Joint Commissions Lake Erie-Lake Ontario Advi-
sory Board iagar:a kiviLr4ollution Abatement-Progrebs
1,71he P
@,(August,
6 OR, Cit.o 1.
7. Phillips Planning'and Engineering Ltd., Environment Research,
And Anglysiss Report No, 3 (St. Catharin6s*@Ontariov Region-
al Municipality of Niagara Official Plan Studies, November$
1971)s P9 3-26.

80 Op-, Cit.r 5# PP@ 9-18o

90 International Joint Commission, Salegulrding Boundary Water
Qualitys (Summary Reports 1961).
1P a OR CitL.9 50 pp. 59-60..
11. pp. 6o-6i,
12. Op. Citas 3o pe 47.

13. =.i pe 51,
14, Federal Water,@Quality Administrations Invelligation of Mar-
cuIry In the St. glair River-Lake Erie Systemst (Mays 1970)..
15. Ops Citso 3s pe. 51*
1.6. 2p._Cit...@9, p. 22-23.

17. International Joint Commission, Lakes Erie-Ontario Advisory
Board, SUMMAEY Report-On Pollution Of The.Niagara Rivero
(October, 1967). p. 20,

18. op. citoo 5r PP. 29-32.

19. 1 id.0 pe.l.

209 Ibidoo ps 259
21. Floydt Robert, Sr. Civil Engineer Erie-Niagara Co. Regional
Planning Boardo interviewed by Donald R.- Kisicki (Grand Is-
lando New York)q May 9. 1972,

22@ O-P, Cit., 1.

@3- OP. citlo ?p Pe 3-7o

24. Erie and Niagara Counties Regional Planning Board, "Progress
Report On,International Design Study " ENCRPB Newsletter,
Vol, III, No. 5 and 69 (Nov.-Dec. l9h). p. 1.

25. Op. cit'j-9.

26. International Joint Commission, Final Report Of The
On The Pollution Of BoundMY.Wjters Conference, (Aug., 1918).

27. International Joint Commission, Report Of The 1,J.C. On The
Pollution Of Boundary Waters, October, 1950.

28. 02. Cit., 3. pp. 1-2.

29. Op. Cit-# 9, P. 17,

30. Ibid.9 p. 21.

31. 01). Cit.9 3# P. 4.

C
'32 t 150

33. International Joint Commis@sionj Lake Huron-Lake Superior-
Lake Erie Advisory Board, Summary Report On Pollutio of
a U-e'-'p
The St. MarXs River, St. Clair River, Detroit River, S
tember, 196b).

34. Op. Cit-9 3v PP. 54-107.
35. Ibid-9 pp. 136-137.

36. 1bid.0 pp. 142-1438

37. Great Lakes Basin Commission, Great.Lakel Basin Framework
S udy-Appendix No, 7, Water Quality And Pollution Control
LAke Erie, Draft No. 1, Vol. 4 of 5, (Arm Arbor, Michigan,
Nov., 1971)o pp, ZOO-201.

38* Great Lakes Basin Commission, Great Lakes Basin Framewg
Stugy-ARRendix No. Z, Water Qualit.1 And zollut! -Go-n-trol
Lake OntM@io# Draft No. 1. Vol# of (Am Arbor# 14'@ihj-
gano Feb.* 1972), Pp. ?-1.33*
@9- 29x-@v 15,, pp# 3.44,
40. Opz 211&# 3P pp. 144-249*

CHAPTER III

KANAGING FOR THE FUTURE

Conflicts Between Urbanization and the Environment

in thepast most of the emphasis on environmental quality

has been on water pollution. The problems ofmaintaining and

enhancing water quality are fairly well recognized and under--@

stood although as reported earlier attempts to restore the

water environment have only been partially successful.,

Because it has been anticipated that a large portion of

the area will be completely urban within the next 20 years or

so it is important that the conflicts between urbanization and

the environment be determined. This is particularly important

when-considering that the Niagara Frontier contains many unique

and unrenewable environmental resources such as the Falls, the

Niagara River Gorge, the Niagara Escarpment@, the Niagara River

shorelineq@the shorelines of Lakes Erie and.Ontario, tender

fruitbelts, etc.

After assessing the current conflicts and environmental

problems in the study area.the following table is constructed,

relating degree of urbanization to compatibility with the en-

vironment.

.86

TABLE 4

URBANIZATION AND COMPATIBILITY WITH THE ENVIRONMENT

LOW MED. HIGH
INT. INT. INT.
URBAN URBAN URBAN
260- 506.@. 1000- 1999- 100000
POP. PER SQ. MILE @99 999 1999 9999

HIGH QUALITY,AIR 2 2 3 3 4

HIGH QUALITY WATER 2 3 4 4

MAJOR WATER BODIES '2 2 2 3 4

,WET LANDS 3 4 4 4 4

STEEP SLOPES 4 4 4 4 4

VEGtTAT'ION. 2 2 3 4 4

NATURAL AREAS 2 3 4 4 4

MINERAL DEPOSITS 4 4 4 4 4

SCENIC FEATURES 3 3 4 4 4

FISH & WILDLIFE HAB 3 3 4 .4 4

CROPLAND 2 3 4 4 4
ORCHARDS 12 1 3 3@ 4 4

highly compatible

2--generally compatible

3 -generally conflicting

4 -strongly conflicting

In the chart the categories of highly compatibleg gene.r-

ally compatiblet generally Conflicting, and strongly conflict-

ing are defined ass

1. Highly Oompatible a high quality environment can be

maintained with little public action on a simple. low

cost basis. Preventive planning is needed to ensure

that the area does not drop to one of the other cate-

gories4 Generally, high,compatibility.will arise

Where areas are rural in naturewith*few man made

features,

2. Generally Compatible -.Maintenance of a high quality

environment requires come public action to keep un-

avoidable conflicts to a minimuml Preventive planning

important but remedial planning becoming a factor.

30 Generally Conflicting Maintenance of a suitable en-

vironment requires high expenditures,, considerable pub-

lie action, legislativet administrative, and fiscal mea-

sures. Some opportunities for preventive planning have

already passeds remedial planning is most important.

This type of conflict occurs in suburban areas facing

urbanization; urbanization and suburbanization in areas

where natural features predominate,

4. Strongly Conflicting Areas where it is already diffi-

cult,to protect ecological values. Environmental pro-

tection.will require maximum public actions major leg-

islative. administrativet and fiscal measures. Preven-

tive' planning is almost entirely precluded# urgent need

for remedial planning Md implementation. Coordination,

education# demonstration projectsl and citizen involve-

ment are crucial. These conflicts will occur in areas

where urban development is proposed for natural areas

of high ecological value.

To determine the criticality of the conflict between ur-

banization and the environment it is necessary to determine

what the current population densities arep what the predActed

,crrowth trends "d resulting densities will be within the next

few,,decadess where this growth is taking place, and the nature

of the environment that will be affected,

on the U.S. side the Erie-Niagara County Region contains a

total land area of 1*550 square miles, The .region supports a

population in excess of 1.3 million people with the greatest

urban concentration in the western portion of the region in

northwestern Erie County and southwestern Niagara County.

In 1965 the following population densities per square mile

891.

were reported..

TABU 5

POPULATION DENSITIES BRIE-NIAGARA COUNTIES

200
Densities -499 500-999 1000-1999 1999-9999 lotooe
(Persons, Pet
Sq. Mile)

Towns & Cilties.
In Range 2 3 7 1

Sq,' Miles 409.6 .48.4 89.6
Area In
117.3
@1-4
By 1990 Erie and Niagara Counties are project6d to have the

3
-following population densitie's per square mile...

TABLE 6

PROJECTED DE14SITIES

Densities 200-429 500-999 1000-19991.1999-9922 10 000
Towns & Cities 9 9
Proj. for Range

Area In Sq"
4
M*l @@4*3 01.1 5 -2
i ep 51i2

The direction that this growth will take is shown in Figure

10. The. Figure- shows that-there are three 'growth poles'. Fig-

ure 11 shows.1he approximate extent of potentially urbanized

areas by the year 1990, By comparing the regional growth trends

and urbanization pattern with Figure 12 which shows high priority

problem and protection areas and second order environmental prob-

0.10

SOMERSET

IN FAkE
WIL SON HARTLAND
PORTER

LEWISTON KPOR

CAMBRIA
ROYALTON
sc ... A
INDIAN
10

r 7

WHEATIFIE 0
-GA.A P E IN D L E T 0 N

@71 71

NEWS7EAD
GRAND 7
D
Z
AlING.;
0

ONTARIO, CANADA ALDEN

EGEND ELMA MA R I LLA:;
RESIDENTIAL GROWTH TREND :0

INDUSTRIAL GROWTH TREND
two
INSTITUTIONAL I A0.-DNA
GROWTH TREND PAGI

WALES
ORCH
PAR K AURORA.
HAMIU G
HAMBUR

EVANS @z
HOLLAND 10
COLDEN

EDEN BOSTON

BRANT
NORTH COLLINS SARDINIA
.q ING-
CONCORD
Q yz/
0
L - ------
-ING.
R UGUS CO%)

COLLINS
REGIONAL
GROWTH TRENDS

Fig. 10 - Ref. 4

WIL S N MARYLAND 0

IWISION at

M&AIA
ROYALTO

N.IWSI IAO

ONTARIO, CANADA ...

.Legend mAaIL%ArI
Potentially 10
Urbanized Areas By 1990

ACES

UAORA

NS
101
IILIII 14OLLAII

BOSTON

SAANT
c,i NORTH COILLINS ZARDiNtA
CONCORD
mp 44001",c
L
. " -G

Fig. 11 Potential Urbanization by 1990-Erie-Nia. Co.-Ref.

0OMIRSIT

N FAME
wit SON
HARTLAND 0
PORTER

LEWISTON LOC KPORT
CAMBRIA 1z
ROYALTON '-9

WHIATIF111.0
0 LI *TOM
-foe
lit

NEWST A 0
GRAND
ISLAND CLARENCE

0
AMHIRSI
WANDA

DMIARIO, CANADA ALDIN

LAM 0
Ou! CH E
TOWA CASTER
I. A h
L

ELMA
'M A I I L L A:;
Legiand :0
Iv
Pri. Frob. Areas
&3@MSec v Or .
High Pri. Protec-
ti.on. Areas I ORCH AR L

AMBUR

E VAN S
COLDIN HOLLAND 0

ROSTON

BRA NJ

NORTH COLLINS SARDINIA
CONCORD

L .14
'JGu Colk)
It ik

Fig. 12 P-,ote-.+vio-x'1 and p-roblem Areas-Frie-Niagara Co.'-Ref. 6

let areas, it can readily be seen that much of the current and

projected urbanization pattern will occur in environmentally

conflicting areas. It also should be noted that.much of the

projected growth will occur along the Niagara River and eastern

Lake Erie,

On the Canadian side the Regional Municipality of Niagara

contains a total land area of 718.4 sq. miles supporting a popu-
lation"in 1971 of 345.012. 7 The extent of urbanization is shown

in Figure 13 and the population and area of each jurisdiction

within the Regional Municipality is shown in Figure 14.

As of 1966 the following approximations of population den-

sities and areas of each weres

TABLE

POPULATION DENSITIES RMN

Density Persons
Per Sq. Mile 30-99 100-399 4007.1499 1500-4999 5000+

Area In Sq.
Mile 210 382 48 62 16

Jurisdictions Wainfleet Niagara- Niagara St. Cath-
Containing Den- West Lin- On-The Falls arines
sity In Range coln Lake Welland
Pellam
Lincoln
Grimsby
Thorold
Fort Erie
Port Colburne

The Table reflects the population densities of the major-

ity of land area within each area municipality. There are al

0 V r A

TME
IC164AL MUNCIPAWY
AF NIJGARA

Legend
Existing Urban
Development

L .6 A 9
Fig. 13 Existing-Urban Development-Regional Municipality of Niagar

IA A. 1. 0 N T A It 10

NtAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE
P.-12,501
GRIMSBY A.-49.7
p.-15,742
A.-25--l ST, CATHARINES
LINCOLN p.-109,636
P.-14,262 A.-38.6
A.-63.7

THOROLD
WEST LINCOLN
P.-15,042
p.-8,399 A.-35.0
A.-145.0 PELHAM
P.-9,949
NIAGARA FALLS
A.-44.1 P.-65,271
A.-82.8

WELLAND
P.-44,222
A.-34.3

U 1 2 3 .4 S 6 MILES

Population and Area WAINFLEET
P.-5,501 PORT COLBORNE FORT ERIE
LEGEND 'A.-83.0 P.-23,099
P.-213,88
P.-Population A.-49.8 !A.-68.3
A.-Square Mile Area
Total-Population-345,012
Total Area-7-18.4 sq.miles.
*Sourc-2 of Population Statistics:
ID71 i@r-:@Iiminary Census Reports

Fig. 14 -.Area Municipalities-Regional Municipality of Niagara

so density concentrations within most of the jur isdictions that

reDresent pockets of higher density concentrations.

Although the area municipalities in RYLN have not been pro-

jected for future population densities as have been areas in

Brie and Niagara Counties, insight can be gained by- observing

the population projections for some of the larger area munici-

palities.

TABLE 8

9
POPULATION PROJECTIONS FOR SOME MUNICIPALITIES IN RIAN

1966 1970 2001

RYIN 324.917 335,698 469#568 525,167

City of Niagara
Falls 611,898 :;64,043 100,834 1179834

,V of St.
Catharines 999936 105,403 1869547 219,676

City of Welland 41,428 43,583 98,961 115,710

Total'3 Cities 2039312 213029 386,342 453,220

If these figures are assumed to be.correct, then it is rel-

atively.clear that the growth of the entire RMN will be located

in these area municipalities.

This growth will manifest in three ways, the major occur-

rence depending on actual land use control used in the region-

al municipality. First,. some.of the urban.areas may shift in

area while remaining in the same density range, second, the urban

areas may shift into a higher density ranges third, or what is

more likely to happen is a combination of the first two; i.e., in-

crease in population density, and increase in.higher density areas.

Almost certainly a proportion of the lower density areas will move

up into a higher density range. Based.on current trends the popu-

lation increase will locate in the low and medium intensity rang-

es or population densitie's of 400-1499 and 1500-4999 persons per

square mile respectively And near the three largest area munidi-

palities. Making rough.assumptions assuming 50% of the project-

ed increase will locate in each of the two density ranges, and

using as average density of 900 persons per sq. mile (P.S.M.)

and 3tOOO P.s.m. for the two ranges, the areas.of the two den-

sity ranges will increase by 122 sq. miles and 37 sq. miles re-

spectively for the low and medium urban intensities.*

Although the above analysis shows that the main growth dur-

ing the next twenty years will take place largely in the north-

east and eastsections of the regional municipality the growth

centered on the north just west of the municipality cannot be

neglected. The towns of Saltfleet and Hamilton, represent high

density concentration and start an arc for population concentra-

tion in the Niagara Region which follows theLake Ontario shore-

line from Hamilton to St.. Catharines.and then curves toward Niag-

ara Falls with a.secondary axis running along,the Welland Canal.

The line of population concentration is shown in Figure 15. This

arc mentioned above is part of a larger are that forms part of

the "Golden Horseshoe@,.which_extends from Toronto on through Buf-

falo-Kiagara Falls to, Rochester.

Figure 16 shows the extentof urban development along with

the.extent of prime agricultural lands (Mainly tender fr uit soils

reported on.earlier),and natural areas. It is evident that the

main growth stream will be in direct conflict with these prime

agricultural lands. Referring back to the section on the pollu-

tion problem 11t,is also.evident that the main population growth

will occur in areas.that are already subject to air and water

pollution,

If we look at ..both sections of the- study arealn the total

context what ishappening is readily visible, The western por-

tion of the United States section is becoming more and more ur-

banized at the same time as the eastern portion of the Canadian

study area particularly in the north, These type of-growth pat-

terns will.almo.st necessarily create more and more pressures at

points where the value of the.environment is-most important,such

as the Niagara River$ affected portions of Lake Erie.and Ontario,

NIAGARA (SOUTH ONTARIO) DEVELOPMENT REGION

'TON
EAST
EST
FLAMB
BEVERLY urlington

Dunda,
SOUTH
DUMFRIES Ha on Stoney Creek
Parts A N C A ST E R. FLEET rimsby 141AG
Brantford ()fl I,

LANFOR
ONONDAGA- BINBR SOUIH learnsville
BURFORD RANTFOR HIMSBY CLINTON N.
TUSCARORA al,.Klonia CAISTOR ILLIIAM ails-
AKLAND INDIAN RESERVE GAINSBOROUGH 1
SENECA- 0W_
ONEIDA CAN- LAND
NORTH BOROUGH Vv.@Ilalkj
TOWNSEND CAYUGA
WINDHAM MOULTON WAINFLEET
WALPOLE SOUTH Dunnville 13ERSTOW
MIDDLETON Deft Simoe RAINHAM AYU DUN N SH A- rt
BR"E lborne
OODH SE,

NORTH HARLOrTEVILLE
ALSINGHAM

SOUTH
WALSINGHAM
TON

Motes a 4 @0 16
REGiCtLAL DEVELOPMENT BRANCH DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY AND ECONOMICS - Miles
'-((.e. Dom-mon Bureau of Statist ics.Census of Canada, Population 1966

Fig. 15 - Niagara Ontario-Region Growth-Pattern

THE 24

REWONAL MUNICIPALITY
T
0; NIAGA"

./,if

Legend 26
----------------------
r,7= Urban Development
Prime Agriculture
Natural Areas

Fig. 16 Environmental Protection Areas-RMN-Ref. 10

101

the Escarpment, prime agricultural lands, etc.

Regional Goals

Listing the goals of the region will help to clarify the

impact between what is desired and what is happening. Without

goals that are clearly defined one could say, "so what", to con-

flicts between urbanization and the environment.

The physical environment comprises all those natural and

man-made elements and their interrelationships which shape man's

physical surroundings and the quality of his life. The goals

for a physical environment are to advance the social and econom-

ic well-being of its citizens,'to provide physically-and aesthet-

ically favorable surroundings and to achieve a balanced ecology

of man with nature. For the Niagara Frontier these goals can

only be achieved through providing clean air and water and an

orderly pattern of land use and population settlement. The fol-

lowing goals reflect a search for an enhanced quality of livabil-

ity. a concern shared by both portions of the study area:

1. Economic Develo ent Goal aimed at assisting the Niagara

Region to its full potential for economic development.

In the RMN this goal includes reducing out-migration and

increasing in-migration where necessary. In Erie and

Niagara Counties this goal includes diversification of

102

the economic base for reasons of environment as well as

economy,

.2. Transoortation Goal aimed at providing increased access-

ibility between urban and rural communities in the eco-

nomic movement of goods and people and increased access-

ibility between urban centers and natural resources, rec-

reation areas, airports, etc. In Brie and Niagara Coun-

ties this goal in cludes drastically reducing transporta-

tion pollutions revitalizing public transports and pro-

viding transportation corridors that will route future

major highways* rail lines.and pipelines together between

urban areas to significantly reduce the negative environ-

mental effects inherent in the regionts.transportation

system. In the RMN this goal includes protecting the

scenianature.of 'areas of outstanding natural beauty-,

particularly along highways.

3. Environment Goal aimed at conserving the regional envi-

ronment in a manner which will provide the optimum liv-

ability for current and future generations. This goal.

transcends all other regional goals and involves solv-

ing environmental pollution problems of all forms,.con-

trolling urban areas and those of ecological value. The

103

goal calls for the reduction of air, water, land, noise,

and scenic pollution; reduction of environmental pollu-

tion by chemicals, pest controls; and protection of fish

and wildlife and their habitat.' This goal indeed is

shared by both sides of the Niagara River. In Erie and

Niagara Counties this goal included regionalization of

solid waste disposal.

4. Recreational and Cultural Goal aimed at enhancing the op-

portunities for residents and touring visitors to attain

maximum recreational enjoyment and cultural enrichment

in the.use of leisure time. This goal includes the pro-

vision of open space. In Erie and Niagara Counties this

goal includes providing facilities forall residents in

the region including central city groups; a provi
ision

that has been lacking up to the present time.

Utility Goal aimed at providing a coordinated system of

public utilities and services i
n appropriate locations

based upon service area needs and development priorities;

to improve the quality of treatment in public water and

,sewer systems in the region,.and; to establish priorities

for the provision of utilities and their future exten-

sions. This goal is shared by- both portions of the study

104

area,

Land-Use doal aimed at protecting and preserving both the

agricultural activity and the natural environment in the

rural areas of the regionj providing a sufficient amount

of housing for.all residents in the region while recog-

nizing the hazards9 limitationsi.and advantages of the

Region's natural physical features in the planning of

residential areasi concentrating urbanization in,selec-

ted centers; and halting the spread of further deterio-

ration and blight.

Since the Niagara' River is the most important environmental

resource it is fitting to also mention goals specifically- aimed

at solving the River,s problems. The followings, thens, are goals

for the Niagara Rivers

-Preservation of the scenic beauty of the Rivers Falls, and

Gorge,j

-Expansion andintensification of shoreline recreationi

-Improved public access to the riveri

-Improvement of the quality and scope of commercial develop-

ment along the .river;

.-Heighten public awareness of the historical heritage of the'

river.

105

Implications

Referring back to the chart relating degree of development

to the environment it is clearly evident that the population

densities on both sides of the Niagara River will increasingly

move into ranges that either generally conflict or strongly con-

flict with al.1 types of the environmental resources. Moreover

the growth istaking place in areas already seriously environ-

mentally polluted.

Based on the historical perspective on water quality and

noting the lack of.success with solving the problems inthis

one narrow activity the necessity for better planning, both

p.reventive and remedial, and for improved legislative, admin-

istrative, and fiscal measures, to both prevent and remedy- con-

flicts in other areas of environmental concern are clear.

The, great-need for the above measures, 'plus theneed for

coordination of services, and citizen involvement may lead to

some questions as to the adequacy of the current system of

planning and government at all levels to clope with present and

future conflicts between urbanization and maintaining a high

quality environment and hence high quality of,life. If, as in

water quality control, the system is not operating as best it

could. then what type of reform is necessary, what type of ob-

106

stacles must be overc'ome@to institute such reforms and how can

the system,best provide for the environment desired at present

and in the future; Although population growth in the area is

m,orelikely to be steady than explosive; such growth will con-

tinue to place pressures upon the unique environment of the

Niagara Frontiers on services and governments capabilities to

plan for the avoidance of'conflicts. A strong form of local

government is essential to provide the necessary'physical and

social services, leadershipt and planning.

As in the case,of water quality control progress has always

been'limited.because many governmental agencies share responsi-

bilities in this area. The success of any plan or program, re-

lating to the environments is based on its ability to handle

matters on a broad.and comprehensive basis* This is inherent

in the mere nature of the ecological cycle. Piecemeal attempts

to solve problems m 1 be successful in bringing one segment of
ay

the environment in line with society's goals at the cost-of oth-

er segments of the environment. In other words when problems are,

handled on a pie'cemeal.basis the gains from some types of pro-

grams may not outweigh the losses to the region as a whole.

And what about society's goals? The general goals have been

stated by responsible goal setting agencies on both sides of the

107

Niagara River. In addition both sides have-further refined these

goals into more specific objectives. Furthermore, the goals and

objectives,, if they follow the pattern of water quality, will be

expanded and set higher. Who will implement these goals and ob-

jectives at the local level?

Small scale local governments are ill-equipped either to

prevent or to eliminate environmental problems, or to meet de-

sired goals and objectives on a regional basis. The somewhat

widespread use of regional water and sewer systems is one ex-

ample of therealization of this fact. These types of regional

authorities are rarely given any preventive powers; they are main-

ly assigned cleAn-up, tasks. Controlling environmental quality and

providing for re,gional needs must remove itself from a remedial

position to one of,planning and managing for the future interre-

lated to many aspects of community government. It is evident

that a fragmented system cannot adequately meet the goals and ob-.

jectives in the Niagara Frontierand is a major impediment to the

speedy solution of environmental conflicts.

To some extent the newly- formed (1970) Regional Municipality

of Niagara has recognized the problems wrought by expanding popu-

lation and urbanization and the need for some degree of munici-

Dal reform to cope with problems on a broad and comprehensive

108

basis.

The next two chapters will be concerned.with government re-

form at the local level. It will discuss regional governments

in general; local government on both sides of the river, in-

cluding the Regional Municipality, of Niagara; and the necessity

for some form of regional government in managing the environ-

ment., The chapters will include remommendatio ns to removing

existing major impediments to solving urban-environmental con-

flicts an d impediments that are preventing the regions goals

and objectives from being obtained.

109

REFERENCES

CHAPTER III

1. New York State Office Of Planning Services, New Zork State
Development Plan-1, (Albanys, N.Y., January, 1971), Pp. 108-
109.
2. New Yo"rk State Office Of Planning Services* Community_kLo-
file-Western New York Planning Region, (Albany, New York,
Jan., 1969).

3. Or. Cit., 1. Pp. 78-79.
4. Erie and Niagara Counties Regional Planning Boards "Regional
Growth Concepts,"'EBCRPA Newsletter, Vol. 1, No. 6 and 7,
April-May, 1970'.

5. Erie and Niagara Counties'Regional Planning Board, Initial
Environmental Study, (Grand Island, New York* Junew 1970).

6. Ibid.

7. Canadian Urban Economics Limited. Economic Base Research And
An ly6is, Report No. 5, (St4' Catharinest Ontario, Regional
Municipality of Niagara Official Plan Studieso'December,
1971), p@ 3-15*

8. Phillips.Planning and'Engirieering Ltd.j Environment Research
And Analysis, Report No. 3. (St. Catharines, Ontario. Region-
al Municipality Of Niagara Official Plan Studiess November,
1971)o P.,3-36.

Ontario Department Of Treasury And Economics, Economic Analy-
sis Branch,, Ontario Population 4oiections 1966-2001 munici-
211 PkoJe ctions, (Toronto, Ontario, Septembero 1970),
10. O@. Cit.0 8. P. 3-30.

These regional goals were derived from various reports and
publications done by the Erie-Niagara Counties Regional
Planning Board and the Regional Municipality of Niagara.

110

CHAPTER IV

,MODERNIZING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

A REGIONAL GOVERNMENT APPROACH

TO MANAGING THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT

The "116mmittee for Economic Developmenthas generalized the

T)roblems of urban Americat including managing the urban environ-

ment by the following statement:

"The.bewildering multiplicity of small piecemeal, dupli-
cative, overlapping local jurisdictions cannot cope with
the staggering difficulties encountered in managing mo-
dern urban affairs. The fiscal effects of duplicative sub-
urban separatism create great difficulty in the provision
of costly city services benefitting the whole urbanized
area. If local governments are to function effectively
in metropolitan areas they must have sufficient size and
authority to plan, administerg and provide significant
financial support for solutions to area wide proposals.

Complex problems caused by a growing population, dramatic

technological changes and rapid urbanization are placing inten-

sive demands on the balanced system of nationalq state, and lo-

cal government. It has become increasingly evident that a ma-

Jor obstacle to solving today's problems has been a lack of

action at the community level. A major factor for this is

,that often local government lacks the kind of structure flex-

ible enough to meet public needs. While modern day problems

have become'.increasingly more complex, to a large degree, at-

tempts to solve them have operated within a framework designed

for a simpler age. This is true particularly with problems re-

lating to the physical-urban environment.

citizens in metropolitan areas are confronted with a maze

of bureaucratic jurisdictions, possibly numbering a dozen or,

more. A citizen in the study area on the United States side

may at one time, depending where he livesl be-expected to ex-

ercise an informed control over citygovernment, village and

town governments county government, school district, fire dis-

.trict, street lighting district, sewer districts, drainage dis-

trict, water district, refuse @nd garbage district, park dis-

trictq health districts, not to mention the state and federal

districts and regions, The baffling array of local units has

made it difficult for,citizens,to gain access to public.ser-

vices, to have a voice in.decision-making, has created apathy

in the public, has discouraged local actions straitjacketed

public flexibility and initiativet made regional planning only

partly effective, resulted in a lack of progress on programs

particularly as they involve the environment, and has placed

greater reliance on national levels.

,The overall course of urban development generally has been

disorderly, destructive,,and distasteful. It is the result of

a Ilaissez faire, in land use by government at all levels. Lo-

cal government has been marked by economic competition, exclu-

112

sionary zoning, and building code anarchy. State governments usu-

ally have been passive in challenging thestatus quo of local

units. The Federal role has been contradictory. While Congress

ena Icted area-wide planningrequirements and strengthened region-

al bodieso.the Federal-State highway program,, FHA, and location

decisions by various Federal agencies have more often than not

2
collided withlong term urban.developn@ent needs.

The Adver .se combination of restricted annexation and unre-

stticted incorp,orationp the mushrooming of special districts,
limitations on the fiscal power6of municipalities, the powers

.of land use delegated to a multiplicity of governments are the

result of State governments timidity to mettle into urban af-
fairs't 3,

The federal goverrmient has sought to aid urban areas but

has' only been partially effective Ln the 1930's Congress

started its'grants-in-aid -programs to as sist State and local

gov .ernmen with'their firlan'ciai needs. in the late 1960ts the

number of available -or,ograms passed.the 400 mark. In 1970 Gra-

ham Watt on behalf of the National League of Cities and U.S.

Conference of Mayorsexpressed doubt that anyone really knows

how many'Federa-l grant-in-aid programs exist, bulv- that estimates

4
range from 500 to 1000e This maze of grant programs at the fed-

113

eral level makes it near impossible for local units even to keep

tract of programs that exist.

The fact,that fragmentation exists at the local level in-

dicates a strong sense of home rule. While this attitude is

great for local pride it also results in a failure of local

units'to unite on matters of-area-wide importance, such as en-

vironmental pollution which undermines the quality- of urban

life.

The question perhaps then is the one put forward by the

Committee for Economic Development:

I*Can@6xisiting forms of government in metropolitan
areas be modified to permit solutions of area-
Wide problems and at the same time permit local
communities to manage their own affairs and main-
tain their own identities.115

unless, local government is revitalized.,buri political and

economic systems, as we now know them, will have little chance

to solve public problems effectively. Institutions must not

only be revitalized to handle today's needs, but more impor-

tantly tommorrowls.

There is no argument whatsoever on the need for reform, cam-

paigns have been mounted that stress the fact that the economic

and social interdependence of metropolitan areas has created

problems which ca n only be solved on an area-wide basis. The

114

type of reform is what has come under argument and scrutiny.

Steps Toward Reform

Centralization vs. Decentralization

Steps towards centralizing functions into area-wide govern-

ment8 is not new to history. Cities have expanded their bound-

aries through annexation, states have assumed new functions or

taken over old ones, the national government has broadened its

.role in domestic affairs largely through grant programs.

It is probable today that because of specialization, equip-

mento and professional knowledge many of the local functions

could be handled most efficiently at higher levels of government;
i,e,, state, provincialg or national levels. 6 But in the broad-

er term of efficiency, effectiveness, or providing for the real

needs of thecommunity-, the participation of citizens in govern-

ment is keener and government more responsive to local needs

where servicesare provided at the local level.. There is there-

fore a conflict in a modern democratic community between the need

for more technically efficient service and the need for partici-

pation and responsiveness, which will help achieve effectiveness.

Therefore, what is needed is a system that recognizes both

centralization and decentralization forces. It must recognize

Ide planning
a larger unit to permit economies of scale, area-wi

115

and control, and equities in finance. It must recognize a small-

er unit withlocal power over the matters which.effect the every-

day- lives of local citizens,

Forms of Governmental Reorganization

One Government Approach

Annexation. Annexation has been the most common means of chang-

7
ing governmental boundaries in urban areas. In the context.of

,this study the term@'annexation is defined as the addition of un-

incorporated territory., On the surface annexation would appear

to be a good device'of achieving an area wide government. They

:have brought an appreciable amount of land under the jurisdic-

tion of a single municipal unit. Annexations do not however

represent a device for obtaining metropolitan wide services.

First, they have taken place in urban areas already containing

a considerable number of municipalities and one or more county

governments., Second, cities that have utilized this device still

control only a small portion of the metropolitan areas Therefore

it does not appear that annexation can be considered a means for

8
providing area wide serviceso Furthermoreg there is no way to

provide a two-level system under the annexation approach.

Municipal Consolidations Municipal consolidation (Municipal an-

nexation) is also not a viable means of incorporating area wide

116

government mainly- for two reasonst First, state laws have largely

prohibited annexation of incorporated jurisdictions; Second, and

most important is the fact that even if municipalities were con-

solidated the rural sections of the region would be left unaf-

fected. Inclusion of the morerural areas is of prime necessity

in implementing land use control and resolving urban-rural-envi-

9
ronment conflicts.

City-County Consolidation. City-county consolidation is a broad-

er form of one government approach to reorganization than the two

,methods mentioned above, The process usually consists of the com-

plete or substantial merger of county government with the princi-

pal city or all municipalit ies in the county. The concept has

not been used extensively, in fact, it is only functioning in

eight metropolitan areas.@ As there is a growing feeling that

many functiong can best be performed on an area wide basis there

is also a counterbalancing feeling, and quite justified, that

some of the governmental functions may- be best handled by lower

units of government. Just because there are a considerable num-

ber of local governmental units in a metropolitan area does not

mean that they should all be replaced by a single unit such as

the city-county consolidation would provide. Furthermore, city-

county consolidations are almost always a one county affair

117

whereas in modern times some SMSA's are intercounty.

In general, the one-government approach to.area-wide prob-
lems has largely passed its usefulness. 10 In terms,of handling

regional type situations it is almost certain to be by-passed by,

other reorganization techniques.

The CooRerative Approach

The coop erative approach embodies both service agreements

.and metropolitan councils. Many factors have prompted interlo-

cal cooperation throughout the past years. First, the mutual

needs and problems of communities faced withurban. expansion,

has prompted forming agreements on services that definitely

were of an area wide nature and that do not pose too much of a

threat to local authority, i.e. water and sewage treatment.

Second, the cooperative approach has been employed deliberately

as an al ternative to the formation of metropolitan or regional

governments that would pose a threat to.local authority. Third,

the cooperative approach has been employed as the last means

available for some sort of reorganization after all other meth-
ods have been turned down by local voters, 11

In general interlocal agreements may cover a broad set of

local services and facilities including airportst building in-

spection, civil defense, construction and operation of public

118

buildings, correctional facilitiesg election services, fire pro-

tection, flood control, health facilities, law enforcement, li-

braries, parks and recreation# personnel services, planning, re-

fuse disposal, road construction and maintenance, sewage dispos-

al and treatment, tax assessment and collection, welfare services,

and water supply,

A common characteristic of interlocal agreements is that

they cover one function between two governments, or a number of

lower tier governments contracting to a higher government (coun-

ty level) to provide services for them.

Although interlocal agreements represent a means for pro-

v
*ding some functions on an area-wide basis there are critical
i

limitat ion's to this method. The first limitation is that this

type of reorganization represents another piecemeal, fragment-

ed approach to the comprehensive needs and problems of a re-

gion.; The functions generally are limited to only those of a

non-controversial nature. A more critical limitation is found

in their financial nature. In the overwhelming number of in-

stances, they involve the provision of services for an exchange

12
of money. An intergovernmental contract cannot very easily

meet the difficulty of providing services where communities

lack the fiscal resources to enter into such an agreement.

119

The metropolitan or regional council of governments (COG)

is the newest form of institutionalized cooperation in the me-

tropolis. Sometimes called a "new political animal,, a metro-

politan or regional council is a voluntary association of gov-

ernments designed to provide an area-wide mechanism for key of-

ficials-to study, discuss, and determine how best to deal with

common problems. COG's are not a government, not a mandatory

organization, they are strictly voluntary.

The councils, which are multi-governmental in membership

and outlook fill a gap or need for a unified spokesman for a

region. State and national governments increasingly prefer

to dea1 with one organization than with a multitude of local

units. To an important degree, the national government is

counting on the councils and other regional planning organiza-

tions which are a form of the councils to bring about signifi-

13
cant achievements.

Although it,is generally agreed that COGI,s have produced

increased inter-governmental communications and regional aware-

ness, judgements about its effectiveness have been divided.

Adherents of COG's feel'that they will lead to consensus while

14
detractors believe that only talk will result. One can Visu-

alize, however, that the effectiveness of COG's will depend on

120

the particular function involved. Non-controversial functions

may lead to action,.while controversial matters may result only

in discussion. Discussion does# howeverg have its merits and

should not be considered a negative result.

-The key-challenge is for councils to adopt an evolutionary

rather'thana static pattern of behavior. A@basic problem in

meeting this challenge is that members of the councils are tied

to primary political loyalties to and duties intheir own organi-

zations.

Typically, local representatives to the council are unable

to commit their' own governments to a consensus of regional poli-

.,councils also compete with other organizations for the time

and interests of its members. This is part of a problem of re-

presentation and public and political visibility, of the council

as an institution.,

I'Sofar councils of governments have tended to operate at'

a Ibw level of public and official consciousness.. For them to

be successful, their roles, as program producers and opinion

16
leaders in regional affairs, will have to be-enhanced.,,

The Two-Level Appr ach

Under thetwo-level approach area-wide functions are allot-

121

ted to an area wide government while more local functions are re-

tained by local units producing a two-tiered organization. The

majority of the two-tiered systems fall into three categories;

metropolitan district, the comprehensive urban county plan, the

federation. This type of system particularly meets legitimate

demands for centralization and decentralization. The specific

arrangements may vary to fit the economic, cultural, and politi-

cal characteristics of each area. The two level approach is an

alternative to those reform proponents who find a single level

approach too difficult to apply.

Metropolitan Districts. Metropolitan districts are the mildest

form of reorganization according to functional nature under the

two-level approach. Their areas may be wide in.extent and when

so may in fact be considered regional governments. They are,

however,'generally limited in the functions that they- control,

often exercising control over only one function and therefore

are.governments of a strictly limited scope or more properly

are regional special districts. This type of government rep-

resents no major upheaval in the existing governmental systemP

While the record of established metropolitan districts is

impressive,,they- get the task assigned to them completed very

well, the metro districts have their drawbacks. First they are

122

generally removed from public control or access many times dis-

trict governing bodies are appointed rather than elected. Some

districts allow the directors to issue bonds without voter ap-

proval and allow them to annex'territory through state legisla-

tures by-passing the consent of residents within either the an-

nexed or,annexing areas. A second major criticism takes the
form of the limited functional areas of concern, 18

The piecemeal service by service solution to problems tends

.to divide a region;@along functional lines rather than to achieve

a coordinated approach to the total complex of problems.

The Advisory Commission on Inter-governmental Relations has.

developed five criteria for the evaluation of special districts
as a unit.of gove Irnment. 19 These criteria are:

1. Effective Performance of the Service Involved.-

2. Economy- in Providing the Service;

3. Political Responsiveness;

4. Fragmentation of Governmental and Political Responsibilityl

5. Perpetuation of Existing Governmental Structure.

The Commission states that the last two criteria would mili-

tate against utilization of special districts in most circum-

20
stances. The ACIR terms the metropolitan district the "cafe-

teria" approach and concludes that this approach takes far too

123

little account of the need for equitable financing, functional

coordination, political accountability-, promotion of area-wide

interests and matching area-wide economic unity with a large

21
measure of political unity.

Attempts to meet this criticism have come in.the form of

multi-purpose districts...There is little evidence that multi-

22
purpose districts.will become common, As the district be-

comes more multi-purpose in nature opposition to it increases.

Multi-purpose districts pose a threat.to the powers of estab-

lished givernments.

Urban County. TheAdvisory Commission on Inter-governmental

Relations supports the need for stronger county governments.

They underscore the need for stronger counties as a mechanism

.below the State level and above.the localities in the following

manners

,,-When we seek effective regional answers to urban service
probl .ems., wIe, in effect are seeking an effective county
government,in a majority@ of cases;

.When we struggle with the imbalances that characterizes
urban growtho economic plight of rural areas, we conr.
front the agenda of many counties;

-When we see the consumption of valuable land on the urban
fringe, ineffectiveness of land use controls, we see, in
many instances, a weakness of many- county governments;

-When we criticize special districts we are criticizing a
shackle that limits too many counties;

-When we weigh the pros and cons Of new towns and growth

124

centers, we end up assessing the capabilities of the
counties affected;

-When we come to grips with the areawide implications of
the various environmental programs and proposals requir-
ing urgent attention, we will see a new role for coun-
ties;

When we strive to'reconcile bitter conflic'ts.between
Stb.tes and larger cities we look for an intermediary
1 1123
force, hopefully counties,

The comprehensive urban county- plan involves the simultane-

ous reallocation of various functions from all municipalities to

a county, forming a metropolitan government. The functional

shifts are comprehensive and occur at the same@time, usually

through adoption of a charter. Through this reo'rganization the

county assumes'all area-wide functions while the localities re-

main in existence to perform the functions.they do best.

One of the advantages of the urban county plan is that ex-

ipting,governmental uni ;ts are utilized rather than creating a

new level of government. For the reorganization to be effec-

tive major structural, functional, and financial modifications

to county governments must be made. Th6.county governments of-

ten imbedded into the state constitution,.and county officials

who see the reorganization as a threat to their own security
generally oppose such plans. 24,

Federation. Federation involves the creation of a new area wide

government, either intercounty or one county@. A metropolitan or

125

regional unit handles area-wide functions while local units con-

tinue to exist to handle the more local problems. Under some

plans the local units are consolidated or are made larger in

..territorial extent to make them more viable units.

This type of reorganization provides for representation on

the higher tier governing board by members from the lower tier

governments.

The'federation may be similar to,the comprehensive urban

county, plan or the multipurpose districts discussed earlier.

The enlargement ofthe local municipalities may be the only

.,difference in some cases. If the federation is intercounty in

nature it may resemble a combination of the comprehensive urban

county plan and the multipurpose districtsq however, the county

level will no longer represent a governmental unit but the'@bound-

aries of two.or more counties may- represent-the boundaries of the

new metropolitan or regional government.

Even though federation may- seem to be the logical form for

governmental reorganization few serious efforts have been made.

Aaced
to formulate plans into action. Those plans.that were p

before the voters were rejected in all cases. Major, attempts

to form federations in the United States came prior to the

1950's, the last attempt being a federation plan for Metropol-

126

itan Miami in 1955 which was converted into a comprehensive ur-
ban county plan prior to adoption. 25

Interestingly when attempts to form federations almost

vanished in the United States in the 1950's Canada started to

adopt this form of reorganization. Metropolitan Municipality

of Toronto was formed in 1954 and modified in 1967, Regional

Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton formed in 1969, Regional Mu-

nicipality of Niagara formed in 1970, Regional'Municipality

of York and the District Municipality of Muskota both formed
26
in 1971. Governments in other urban areas of Canada, parti-

cularly in Ontario are being studied and the plans for reorgan-

ization will largely be a two-level approach resembling federa-

tion or being closely similar toit.

Federation may still be a logical approach to reorganiza-

tion in the United States although it faces competition from

the comprehensive.,urban county plan and metropolitan districts.

.One of the'disadvantages frequently- mentioned is that,it would

create another level of government. In order not to create an-

other level'of government the elimination of county government

would be necessary, an action that would incur strong opposition

from county officials and their supporters.

CONCLUSIONS

This section has been devoted to a brief review of govern-

127

men.t reorganization following three approaches; the single level

approach, the cooperative approach. and the two level approach.

It would,ADpear that the two level approach# although it faces

obstaclest represents the most logical approach to solving urban

and related'environmental problems. The single level approach

does not recognize the fact that some functions can be best han-

dled at the local levell the cooperative approach is based on

cooperation, cooperation of which is not likely to come about

on controversial issues.

The two level approach itself contains three alternatives.

The first alternative, metropolitan district, should only be

considered in the multipurpose context. Un66ordinated area-

wide special districts, fragmented by function are no better

than governments fragmented geographically.' They do not permit

a genuine approach to regional problems, nor do they create a

regional system of decision making and power sharing capable of

27
dealing with political conflicts. Multipurpose districts,

more comprehensive than special purpose districts, are frequent-

ly removed from public respoPsivenesag and create another, of-

ten autonomous level of government,

In order to-solve area-wide problems on an area-wide basis,

preserv e public representation, and prevent yet another level of

128

government from being formed either the comprehensive urban coun-

ty plan or a federation with the elimination of county govern-

ment offers the best prospects.

Multipurpose districts may be left open as an alternative

if resistance to the other two methods would prevent their adop-

tion. However, in this case constituent representation should

be Drovided.

The above conclusions are in keeping with the Committee for
28, 29
Economic Development recommendationst

111. To gain the advantages of both centralization and
decentralization, we recommend as an ultimate so-
lution a governmental system of two levels. Some
functions should be assigned in their entirety to
the area wide government, others to the local leV-
el, but most will be assigned in part to each lev-
el. More important than the division of functions
.is the sharing of power. Local communities must be
assigned some power over area-wide decisions ... this
will not provide neatness and symmetryo but effec-
tiveness, responsiveness, and adequate resources.

2. In situations where the metropolitan area is within
a single county a reconstituted county government
should be used as the,basic framework for a new
area-wide government.

3. In cases where the metropolitan area spreads over
several counties a new jurisdiction should be crO-
ated which embraces all of its territory.

4. In addition to an area-wide levelg modern metropoli-
tan government should include "community districts.,,
These units might consist of existing local govern-
ment with functions readjusted.to the two-level sys-
tem, together with new districts in areas where no
local units exists.11

Even though some form of the two-level approach appears to

offer the most logical solution, it must be remembered that re-'

129

organization must be tailored to the physical, social, and eco-

nomic needs of the area. Also the new organization must be

flexible so that it itself can change to.me6t changing prob-

lems, Combating changing, evermore complex problems with

straitjacketed organizations has been the mistake of the past;

can it be allowed to be the mistake of the future?

States, Crucial Role

The Advisory- Commission on Intergovernmental Relations has

placed the greatest emphasis on the pivotal role of the States

in the federal system, believing thatthe States must play their

role forcefully if the federal system is to survive. While this

study- is aimed at more local problems and needs it is important

to include a few words on the States role because of their rela-

30s 31
tive importance, Also what is generally- said about the

States applies to the,Pr;ovinces and as will be shown later the

Province,of Ontario is;exercising its,r6le much more strongly

than are the States.

Since the 1930's with the advent of federal or grant-in-

aid programs urban areas-have found a receptive ear in Washing-

ton, In fact over the years Washington has tried to help urban

areas so much through grants that now the grants-in-aid program

has become'a jungle in excess of 500 different ty-pes of grants.

130

The reason why the federal government has been limited to the

grant programs is because it lacks the requisite authority,

through the 14th Amendment to become involved in the problems

that are under State jurisdiction.

On the structural and legal fronts, only the States can

provide leadership for urban America. Unless the States reas-

sert their responsibility-, maintain their position in the part-

nership triangle, the balanced federal system will erode. The

values of the democratic system of diversity, pluralism, pro-

tection from arbitrary majoritarianism, over centralization,

and citizen participation will no longer obtain,

Most attempts-to provide for reorganization on a compre-

hensive are ,awide basis, even though they- may contain elements

that are more favorable to public access and representation in

the affairs of the urban community-9 have been voted down due,

inpart, to the vehement opposition of local officials,and their

supporters who would be affected by the reorganization. Small-

er communities place great trust in the local officials and will

tend to support them regardless of the advantages of the reor-

ganization. This is notsurprising as their local officials may

be the only government at all levels that they- have any visibil-

ity of. The elected officials in turn will try- to block any re-

131

organization attempt if it threatens their security-. This is an

area where the States should exercise their authority- in promot-

ing and if need.be enforcing reorganization.

The ACIR has made several proposals for States to initiate

32
or legislate. One of these proposals, authorizing official

metropolitan study commissions to plan restructuring of local

government, is crucially needed in most areas immediately. Be-

fore any reorganization reform is conceived a local government

review is essential. In the face of local leade rship the state

governments'should initiate such review.' Later in this paper

we shall see how this review was the first step toward reorgani-

zation in Regional Municipality- of Niagara, Ontario.

While this section has been brief, and admittedly only

scratches the surface of reformt it has introduced some of the

problems 'and needs of urban areas. Furthermore, this section

has discussed some of the pro, .sand cons of various refo Irm. meth-

ods. 'It is important to note that the reform methods all involve

steps toward providing functions or services on an area-wide or

regional basis. It is not the need to provide certain services

on An area-widebasis that has generated conflict but the manner

in which government carries out these functions.

the Above leads to the conclusion, almost accepted, unani-

132

mously that many of the urban problems, including environmental

problems, must be managed on an area-wide or regional basis.

Politics and Criteria for Regional Government

Polillo

In discussing regional governments, and in particular try-

ing to ap pl ythe'concept to the United States 'portion of the

..study area, a number of factors enter into determining the de-,

sirability for some sort of governmental reform* The need for

regional goveirnment must be related to a set of specific mana-

gerial, administrative and programmatic considerations that ap-

ply to a given geographical area. How well is the existing sys-

tem working, what problems does the region face', will regionali-

zation help to solve the,se problems? These questions are key

clues to the desirability of reform.

Earlier in this reDort the environmental problems of the

study area,'.the need for legislative, administrative and fiscal

reform, and the need for government to govern some functions on

a broader and.more comprehensive basis were discussed. Later a

look will be taken at governments on both sides of the Niagara

River to investigatewhat steps, if any, are being taken to ac-

complish such reform. However, in talking about regional govern-

ment there is one question that should,not be completely forgot-

133

ten and that is the political desirability of the regional con-

cept. Although the political issues may not be critical in re-

gionalizing such items as sewage and water treatment they do be-

come critical when considering all the functions necessary to

control the quality of the total environment.

Although this issue is left to the political scientist a

few words about the political forces and problems are in order

if merely to recognize their existence.

The political forces to be dealt with are composed of in-

ternal and external forces. Internal forces can either'support

or oppose a regional program. What can be expected from local

bodie,s, in the way of support or opposition, that will affect

regional reform programs?

External forces are those higher levels of government, state,

provincial, or national, which must become invo lved in a region-

al.re'form'effort.

Generally speaking local groups who are in opposition to

governmental reform will be more aggressive than the local

33
groups who support the reform. The Advisory Commission on

Intergovernmental. Relations (ACIR) has put out a report eiitl_

tled, Factors Affecting Voter Reactions To Governmental Reor-

34
ganization In Metropolitan Areas. The report covered eight-

134

een reorganization efforts in the United States from 1950 to

1961. The report lists thirteen groups, mostly central city,

that normally tend to support regional efforts and eight groups,

mostly urban fringe, that normally tend to strongly oppose reor-

ganization efforts. The overall analysis of the report is that

there is a "central city versus fringe" split between the groups.

This phenomena is quite understandable when considering that many

of the fringe groups will lose their identity under reorganiza-

tion plans. The supporters of regional plans are normally- fight-

ing for marginal gains whilethose that are in opposition are

35
fighting against absolute losses. Because of the bitter strug-

gles, witnessed in most cases, between these opposing groups a

program of regional reform has little chance of succeeding with-

out the support of external forces.

Before a higher level of government can-support a reform it

must'be in favor of it. The desirability- of a more rational 16-

cal government, fewer units to control and monitor, provision of

better serviceso all can influence higher government to support

local reform*

There is, however, a counterbalancing force that would tend

to cause higher government to oppose reorganization. Eventually

an effective regional government, with highly capable leaders,

135

will become a political power in its own right. Politically they

will be in a far'better position to challenge State government

than the relatively politically impotent separate municipali-

ties. State governments, however, have tended,to mature some-

what over the past few yearsl they have to some extent become

more sophisticated, and generally more responsive to social

nee,ds'.' Realizing this they generally have come to favor the

dual objectives of efficiency and access' that a regional reform

can bring.

in this section no solutions have.been proposed to these

political issues and it is also recognized that the forces men-

tioned may be incomplete, that there may be other forces and

issues operating as well. The significant point is, however.

that in any plan to reorganize to provide a higher quality- envi-

ronment.the-se types of forces must be recognized and dealt with.

Criteria

if it is found desirable to regionalize functions or gov-

ernment then it must be determined just what is meant by a re-

gion. The.Province of Ontario has developed eight criteria

that :Ei region should possess:

111. Community Criterion - A region should exhibit a sense
of community identity- based on sociological charac-
teristics, economics, geography-, and history.

136

2. Balance Criterion - A region should have a balance
of interests so that no one group can completely
dominate the. region;

3. Financial Criterion -There must be a financial
base ade4uate to carryout regional programs at
a satisfactory level;

4.,Functional Criterion -,The region should be large
enough so that local responsibilities can be per-
formed efficiently by taking advantage of eponom-
ics of scale;

5. Cooperative Criterion Regional boundaries should
facilitate maximum interregional 'cooperation;

6. Participation Criterion Regional government pro-
posais should be developed with community partici-
pation and where possible community acceptability;

Usability Criterion -,New regional boundaries 'should
be usable by other institutions;
8. besign Criterion In cases where there are two tiers
of government within a region both tiers should be
designed with the same criter,ia.,,36

Since,efficiency and access are the two tenets to a viable

regional government# regional schemes should try- as much as pos-

sible to satisfy- the eight criteria with a consideration of the

twin'objectives. Efficiency should not be achieved at the ex-..

pense of access; nor.vice versa,

A briefoverview to see.if the Regional Municipality of

Niagara meets these criteria is in order. Earlier in this pa-

per the physical, social, and economic.characteristics of the

Niagara Frontier were reviewed. It appears from that analysis

that RMN very well met the community and balance criterion.

For the financial criterion Provincial studies indicate that

137

a population-of from 150,000 to 200,000 is necessary to support
a full range of regional programs.3? The RMN with a population

in excess of 300,000 meets this criterion.

The RMN consuming the area of two former counties with a

land area of nearly 800 sq. miles can easily be viewed as being

large enough to satisfy the functional criterion. Also being

set up along former county boundaries will aid in meeting the

cooDerative criterion. Later in this paper the amount of com-

munity- involvement will be reported on revealing satisfaction

of the participation criterion. Prior to the formation of the

RMN the Counties of Lincoln and Welland already- represented a.

single health unit. Functions such as conservation and educa-

tion were already- serviced on a basis larger than the two coun-

ties. Therefore, the usability criterion was fulfilled in cre-

ating the RMN.

The remaining criterion is that if there is a need and de-

sire, for a two-tiered governmental system then both tiers should

be designed by the same criteria. In RMN there exists a two-

tliered system, a sy-stem which promotes greater access while not

degrading efficiency-. The lower tier represented by an area

municipality council appears to have been designed on the same

basis throughout, using much of the same first seven criterion

138

as the Regional government thereby satisfying the last criterion.

Although these eight criterion may be reduced or added to

they- do represent a good framework for setting up regional gov-

ernments with the least amount of difficulty.

This chapter has been devoted to modernizing local govern-

ment'in order to eliminate multijurisdictional problems in manag-

ing the environment. The main concept has been in providing for

management on an area wide or regional basis. Now, armed with

this brief overview attention will be focused on local govern-

ment within the study area.

139

REURENCES

CHAPTER IV

1. committee For Economic Developments Modernizing Local Govern-
mentq (New,Yorkq New.Yorko, July,, 1966), p. 130.
..2.. Allen D. Manvel, Urbija America And The Fed al systems Report
M-47, (Washington$ D.C.p U.S. Advisor r_ ssion On Inter-
governmental Relations* October, 1969T..p. 21

3. Ibideq PO 2.

4. U.S. Congresse Subcommittee Of The Committee On Government
Operations House Of Representativeso He 3 On Grant-Gon-
S idation-And Intergoverr=entia CooDerat n
Congress, (Washingtong D.C.0 1969)q P. 178. . Ninety First
@5. Committee For Economic Developments Reshaping GoveMment In
Metropolitan Areast (New York, N.Y., Februarys 1970). p. 11.

6. Ibid*.

7. John C. Bollens And Henry J. Schmandt, lh!! Metropolis Its
People, Politics* Alad Economic Life@ (New Yorks Harper and
Row, Publishers, 1965)s P. 281.

8. Ibid., p* 2914

9. Ibid.* p. 293.

10. Ibid.$ P. 311.
11. Ibid.* P. 351.

12* Ibid@# pe 370*

13. =00 P. 371.

14. Ibid.. P. 371.
15. Royce Hansont Metropolitla goHacils Of GgXeUmtnts, Report
M@32* (Washington# D.C.* U.S. Advisory Commission On Inter-
governmental Relations* August, 1966), P. 34.

.16. Ibid.* P. 34.
17. Op. Cit.* 7, P. 347.

18. =id. P. 323.

140

19. U.S. Advisory Commission On Intergovernmental'Relations, The
Pr9blem Of Specil6i LDistricts In American Governments Report
A-22, (Washingtonj DoC.t Mayo 1964),

20. Ibid.0 p. 70#

21. OR, Cit .9 2t P. 79.,
22. Opg Cit.* 7o p. 347.

23. U.S, Advisory Commission On Intergovernmental Relationss Lor
A More-Perfect Union-County Rp_Qrm, Report M-61o (Washington,
3.
D.C.,* Aprilt 1971).,
"24'0 Op. Cit.t'7v. P. 347.
25. l'bid.o pe 336s
260 Ontar:io Department of.Municipal Affairs, Municipal Research
Branchq QgMparitive Analysis Of Reaional Government Legisla-
tion In_-Ontario# (Toronto$ Ontario, Novembero 1971). P. 1.

27. OiD. Cit,o,59 pe 18e

28* Ibid *p po 190

29. Op, Cit.0 1@ p.. 45.
30. OP. Cit*, 2, P. 101.

31. U.S, Advisory Commission On Intergovernmental Relations, ACIR
State Legiglgtive Programs Report m-481, (Washingtono D,C.,
August, 1969).

32. Op. Cit.g 20 p. 89o
@3- Lionel D. Feldman and Michael D. Goldricki Politicg And Govern-
ment Of Urko Canada# (Methean Publicationso Torontoo 1969),
P.' 242..

34. U.S. Advisory Commission On Intergovernmental Relations, _Fac-
tors Aff2ct*nA V ter Regetions To G2vernm@nt&j agorganization
In Metropolitan Aaas# Report M-15g (Washingtons DoCoo May,
1962).

35. Cit.0 339 P. 243*
36. Hon. W. Darcy McKeought ILesign Fol; Development-Phase Twos
(Torontos Ontariot Dec'ember 2o 1968)o Pp. 1-3.
37. S.J. Claskyp @Sck"WMd T9 The Development Of Regional Govern-
ment In Ontarioo (University of Windsorp February, 1970). p. 20.

141

CHAPTER V

LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN THE STUDY AREA

For the area as.a wholep the density of'population has caus-

ed many common problems such as.the pollution.of the air, water,

and to-.some extent land. As the area is becoming more urbanized

demandslare also being generated for more recreational land and

g
eater bublic access to the lake and river shores. Demands for
r

thelse,@types. of resources are being generated not only from with-

in the region but also from outside the region.

The use and problems of the environment is not the responsi-

bility of Any one single local unit. This is true particularly

in the.U.S. Study Area where government is highly fragmentized;

it is not so true in Regional Municipality- of Niagara where a

regional type government has been formed.

As long as government remains highly fragmented, there can

be no proper understanding of its role or activities. Progress

in solving the problems of the environment has been limited be-

cause many governmental agencies share managerial or environmen-

tal control responsibilities particularly on the United States

side..

Where.fra,,Tmented types of g it appears
,overnment exist,

that some structural reform of government is essential to en-

142

surelthat the role of government is understood, that it remains

subject,todemocratic control, and that it has the capabilities

for effectively controlling pollution and enhancing the quality

of the environment.'

Itfurther appears, after a general survey- of much. of the

literature, "that it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the

use.of land and resources, like common problems such as pollu-

can only be tackled satisfactorily on a regional basis...,,

it is interesting to note that all of the local government re-

view.@,studies going.on in Ontario are recommending a push toward

regional government. As of November 1971, four regional gov-

ernments have been formed with another ten approaching the re-

gional government stage. The scope of the program can be meas-

ured by the fact that these areas,represent a population of 1.9

million or approximately forty per cent of all Ontario people

living-outside,of Metropolitan Toronto.

New York-State, which contains the U.S. portion of the study

area, has.moved in some areas to dealing with problem's on a more

comprehensive basis with the formation of stronger county- govern-

ments. However, as to date, only nine counties in the entire

state have strengthened county governments,

The Federal U.S. government has given significance to region-

143

alization.by funding regional planning boards like the Erie-Niag-

ara Counties Regional Planning Board. This however still lacks

the effect of a regional government,

For government, a measure of its effectiveness is its success

in meeting change with sound and positive action. Earlier in

this'study the changes of urbanization,.population growth, land

,use, goals and objectives, concepts of living, and others in the

study area were reported on. Also the conflicts that some of

these changes would have on the environment were discussed.

The 'question to be answered now is if the governments on both

sides are capable of meeting these changes with sound and posi-

tive.action,and if they, are not then what possible changes could

be instituted.

it is,the intent at this time to suggest changes in govern-

mental functions that will make government more effective in

dealing with problems more or less specific to the study area.

In the past regional government has come to be viewed as a cure-

all for problems. It can accomplish the dual objectives of ef-

ficiency and accessibility-. Centralizing some local government

functions-into,a regional structure can overcome many ineffi-

ciencies inherent in a fractionalized sy@stem. Local representa-

tion on the regional government may allow for a more meaningful-

144

dialogue between local residents and the regional government in-

suring that the regional government will be responsive to local

needs.

Regional government is nott however a cure-all for all prob-

lems. Some functions are best handled at the regional level;

some-best at a local level. For a regional government to be

effective and not just another cumbersome level of government,

a clear distinction must be made regarding functions that will

be regional in nature and those which will be left under local

control. This distinction is sometimes hard to resolve. There

is also the problem of local autonomy- to be resolved.

The Ontario Economic Council also brings up two other inter-
esting problems involved in :iegionalization.3 The first is that

most-theories on regional:government neglect the financial as

pect of providing municipal services. While it is generally

agreed that-the tax base of many municipalities is inadequate,

that a regional government might well improve the current situ-

ation in,equalizing assessments and collection of property tax-

es, the fact that,both tiers of government would remain in a

weak financial situation without the assistance of a state gov-

ernment has largely been ignored.

ImDact of regional governments on existing higher levels of

145

administration has also been largely ignored in regional gov-

ernment proposals. Inevitably the regional governments will

become centers of political power and may come into conflict

with higher levels of government.

Perhaps unfortunately, these last two points will not be

taken up in this report in any- depth. This is due to the per-

sonal limitations of theauthor and also because this is a more

comprehensive study; indepth analysis of these two areas will be

left to the political scientist.

This study, will concentrate more on those functions of gov-

ernm;ent that affect the environment and related activities. Whet-

her recommendations on reform takes the form of a regional gov-

ern-ment or perhaps just an environmental management agency the

same type of Droblems, i.e. local autonomy, distinction and dis-

tribution of functions, sharing of power, equalization of tax

base,',etc. will have to be dealt with.

Regionalization ofgovernment or of certain functions is a

compromise between local control and higher level state, provin-

cial, or federal control, It can provide the efficiencies and

access that the mote common.state-municipality structure has

historically been unable to provide. It is very evident that

while society has changed the structureof local government has

146

remained fairly stagnant. The federalt state, local municipal-

ity relationships that worked fine for an agrarian society is

no longer strong enough or flexible enough to cope with present

and emerging problems. While arguments as to the type of reform

needed, whether more centralization, or more decentralization,

vary widely- it appears that regionalization, even though it in

itself is not a cure-all, may be the best compromise available.

While there is no doubt that local government plays a vital role

in a rapidly changing society there also is no doubt that local

governments.are frustrated due to lack of resources and from

having to operate in a framework that is no longer relevant to

contemporary society and the demands of that society. A revi-

talized system appears to be essential for solving current prob-

lems and for providing wellbeing and high quality of life for

future generations@

Revitalized local government structure for modern manage-

ment of the environment has been recommended by: the Advisory

Commission for Intergovernmental Relations, the Committee for

Economic Development, the provincial government of Ontario,

and numerous authors of metropolitan texts.

The Regional Municipality of Niagara

The Regional Municipality of Niagara (RMN) is a two-tiered

147

governmental system consisting of a regional tier, governii@g on

a broad scope the former.Lindoln and Welland 'Counties, plus a

local tier,consisting of 12..area municipalities.which govern on

-a-local basis. Formerly there were 26 municipalities within the

two counties; under the reorganization these were reduced to 12.

In setting up the AMN.the Ontario Department of Municipal

Affairs realized the great need for 'coordination between both

tiers-.of government.

"The need for continuous coordination betweenboth
tiers of government in the region cannot be over-
..emphasized. Issues facing the entire region will
affect local area municipalities. Similarly-, de-
..cisions made by the area municipalities may often
affect the region,,, Local water, sewers, road, de
velopment and other,decisions cannot be separated
from related decisions at the regional,level*.,,5

To provide.this type of coordination the Regional Govern-

ment is headed by a Regional Council composed of 29 members

including the.chairmano Membership-on the Council comes from

@'within the area municipalities; members are directly elected

to serve on the Council and their number is determined by the

population of the.area municipality. Population, and members

from each area,municipality, ares

148

I!ABLE 9

MEMBERSHIP AND REGIONAL COUNCIL

AREA
MUNICIPALITY POPULATION MEMBERSHIP

'St. Catharines log,636 May-or 5 members

Niagara,Falls 659,271 + 3 members

Selland 44", 222 + 2 members

Fort Erie 230099 + 1 member

Port Colborne 21,388 + 1 member

Grimsby- 15,742 1 member

Thbrold 15,.o42 + 1 member

,Lincoln 149262 + 1 member

Niagara-On-:-The-Lake l2t501 + 1 member

Pelham 9#949

:'West Lincoln 89399

01
Wainfleet 5.5

0 ftoials serve on the Regional
The system ofhaving local fl

Council has.the disadvantage of perhaps increasing their work-

load, 'Out this disadvantage is greatly outweighed by the offi-

cials becoming better informed on. issues facing both regional

.,and local governments.

The following table represents theresponsibilities of the

149

Regional Council and.those of area municipalities:

TABLE 10

REGIONAL AND LOCAL FUNCTIONS OF RMN

Area Municipality

Regional Local

Supply & Purification x
Distribution x
Const. & Maint of
trunk & Di.st.' ains, x
Local Dist. Mains x
Regulation & Stds.
for local H20 x
Inspection of all
water mains in Region x

qewage-Sy tem

Treatment x
Const. & Main Sanit,
and storm trunk sewers. x
Separation of storm & Costs shared (25%o max.
san, sewers regional contribution)
Local coll. of
sewage x
Const. & Maint.
local san. & storm sewers x
Regulations & stdg.
for 'all sewers connecting
to Regional System x
inspection all sewers x

Roads & Traffic

Arterial Roads x
Planningj Const.
@maint. powers Power of a local council
over land within 150 ft.
of a metropolitan road;
may prohibit or restrict
gas pumps within 150 ft.
of a regional road.. Prov-
ince payB 50%,of road-im-
prov,ements may pay up to
8o%

150

Regional Local

Local Roads X,
Traf f i bdontrol x
On access to 'regional
.roads - may- close mu-
nicipal roads that in-
&-re
tersect@. 4;ional..road
with OMB approval -veto
power overarea traffic
control by-laws

'Sidewalks x
Parking x (regional roads) x (local
roads)
Health &We lfare,,

Board of Health x
Municipal financing
o,f health unit x
General'welfare assto x
Homes for'Aged x
Child Welfare x
Juvenile.Del., X
x x
Nurses Da-
y. nursery
Ambulance Service
Mental Hospital x

C x
Board of ommissioners X

Finances

x
'Tax Collection
Regional Tax Levy X
LocAl Tax Levy x
Regional & Localborrowing x

other Functions,

..Solid waste x
(may make arrangements
to have region handle
waste disposal)
Fire x
Appointments to
conservation authority X
Park lands, x
Recreation & Comm. Centers x
Expenditures for promoting x
regional area
Public Transportation x
Aid to Agricultural Bodies X

.151

The main:-functions necessary- to protect and enhance the en-

vironmental resources have been delegated,to the regional gov-

..ernment. The regional.government not-only- has the power to,

plan but it' also can implement its programs.

The most important functions with regard to the physical

environment,.are those functions that either directly affect-the

quality of environment such as pollution control, parks, recre

conservation, land use,.planning, or those.that indirect-

ly affect the'environment through either fiscalior administra-.::

@ti6n.capabilities to carry- out programs or that affect growth

patterns such'as water and sewer distribution and roads,

Direct.EnvironmentaliControl Functions RMN

Sewage Treatment. -The Regional Council has the-responsibility.

....,for design, construction and maintenance, and extension of seW-

age treatment. plants. The Council has authority to-collect fees

to.pay all 'or part of,the costs of construction and operation.or:

such facilities,on approval of the Ontario Municipal Board.

Parks, Recreationi and Conservation. The Regional government has

responsibility@ for the regional park system and some related rec-

reation and,c.onservati.on. The parkso recreation, and conserva-

tion system is rather complex in Ontario;' therefore it was nec-

essary for the Regional Council to distingiHsh which parks are

152

regIional in character. Also the Province is di .vided into.con-

.@servation authorities; RMN being part of the Niagara Peninsula

Conservation Authority-. The Regional Government represents all

area municipalities on the Authority-.

Fiscal'Capabilities. The Regional Council has sole authority

for obtaining financing of capital expenditures for regional

.or local purposes. It can therefore obtain financing at the

least possible cost and provides for a unified, long range

capital wor ks program in a rational settingof @riorities,
p

In. other words the Regional Council has sole authority over

all capital expenditures done for either regi..onal.or local

purposes.

Control.'of Growth'Pattern Functions

Plannin With regard to framework planningthe regional area

is a joint plann1inga.rea with local area municipalities being

subsidiary planning:areas. In regional planning'the Regional

Council exercises the duties and responsibilities of a planning

board. The local area municipalities are considered to be the

planning board for their municipality-. The Ministers powers of

approval under the Planning Text may be delegated to the Region-

al Council. The Regional Council of Niagara is to submit an

Official'Regional Plan to the"P@ovincial Government before De-

153

cember-31, 1973i,, Local plans must conform to the regional plan.

The Regional Council is responsible for developing and up-

dating a comprehensive land use and development plan for the re-

gion recognizing that local planning boards cannot be expected

to create.an integrated plan that will provide the broad scope

necessary for sound-and continuous planning at the regional

.level to resolve land use conflicts between specialized agri-

cultural, industrial, and residential land uses,

The.Americc Counterpart to this region4l,plaming body is

the Erie and Niagara Counties Regional Planning Board.

Water Treatment and Distribution. The supply- and distribution

of;W@ater, including major mains', on a wholesale basis is the

exclusive r.esponsibility*of the Regional Council. The distribu-

tion o@,local mains is left to the area municipalities.

MaJor Sanitary-and Storm Trunk Sewers. The design, construction,

and maintenance of major sanita ry and storm trunk sewers and

drainage outlets is the e:xclusive responsibility of the Region-

al Council.

Regional Roads. The Regional Council is responsible for the

construction, repair, and maintenance of arterial@roads and.

highways, including all former county and suburban roads, lo-

cal area municipalities are responsible for local roads.

154

Benefits of-the RMN Regional S@stem

The Regional government in RMN therefore not'only has the

power to act on abating current problems on a broader scale and

with more financial and admini,strative power than do local gov-

ernments but also has the power to control growth patterns.

This power t,o.control the pattern of growth is-very important.

If aregional.go,vernment has the power to direct growth away

from high priority'problem or protection areas then it in ef-

fe'ct has the power to pro,tect.a. large part of the physical en-

vironment.

The local area municipalities are left with control over

some functions; they- are still,responsible for providing such

items as fire protection, police protection, local streets,

lighting@ garbage collection,, local water distribution, local

sewer distribution,,and local parks. These are-services, by

being of'a,local 'nature, are handled most efficiently through

local control.

The.l.ower governments also have an outlet for grievances

against the Regional Council. They can appeal decisions made

by the Regional Council to the Ontario Municipal Board which

is at the Provincial level. This appeal system prevents the

Regional Council from becoming too powerful.

155

The Regional Council is further checked in thatits com-

prehensive plan8:must conform to the Provincial plans for the

.entire Southern Ontario Region. Much of what the regional

government does must be approved by such agencies as the On-

tario Municipal Board, the Department of Municipal Affairs,

and the Ontario Water.Resources Commission (now.within the

'Dept. of Environment), among others. Any- plans that the re-

.gional governme.nt.develops can be voided by unfavorable com-

ments by one of these higher agencies as to not meeting the

overall goals,of the Province.

In essence, the regional government.systemt as applied in

RMN, provides for n'ot,more government, but less. True an addi-

tional tier of government has been added, but the number of

jurisdictions have been reduced significantly. Moreover by en-

trusting those functions that affect the' environment most sig-

nificantly- to the'regional-government the' chain o'f responsibil-

ity has been greatly simplified. In governmental systems where'.

amultitude of agencies and governmental units interact it is

often-very difficult to distinguish who is responsible for

what. By regionalizing the mostimportant functions this prob-

lem has been greatly reduced in RMN.

Because the regional government actually has the combined

156

powers'of all the twelve area municipalities,',it has the capa-

bility, to'plan and implement onl,a much broader,. comprehensive

J
Scope, and with greater.,fiscal authority.

Benefits are also derived from the Provincial level in

that now,the Provincial agencies do not have.to deal with 26

individual jurisdictions, but, with onlylone regional govern-

ment.',,j. Likewise the,tasks of the area municip
palities,are sim-.

plified..- No longer need they plan, finance,,construct and

operate major programs. They are thereby released to provide

for and be attentive to more specific community-,needs.

The formation of the RMN also enabled theregion to reap

benefits,.in gr 'ants payable under the Regional Government Act.

6
This increase.in benefits was estimated to be.$1,300,758.

The concept of regional government forthe RMN seems to

have been initiatedwith few obstacles, seems to be set up to

function quite well, and symbolizes the near ideal municipal

reform in Ontario.. .

The sy-st-em was implemented with relative easepartially

because the@people in the area were among the first to real-

that"the old system.:must be altered to meet the'deman-ds

7
of modern times. The region was fortunate 'in having local.

citizens and politicians wi th the insight and courage to seek.

157

effective solutions to the problems brought on by, rapid popula-

tion growth.

In 1963 'the publiewithin the region, realizing that prob-

lems accompanyi ng rapid urban growth could no longer be remedied

by piecemeal, single municipality action.formed 'The Niagara Pen-.

instila Municipal Committee on Urban and Regional Research, to

study the problems.and consider research on the system of munic-
8
ipal government inthe region.,

As the result' of this initiative, seven years later, the

first regional government in Ontario was formed and was na3@ed

the Regional Municipality of Niagara. It appears that part of

the success of this.venture was due to the keen amount.of pub-

lic inter'est'in the affairs of their government.

However, to say that.the regional government was formed and

is functioning without any problems.would be a mistake. The

next section of this chapter will be to.investigate, some of the

problems'experienced by the regional government in the hope that

knowledge,of these-problems will better enable the formation, of

some similar ty-pe of government in the U.S. study area.

Creation of RMN

It may appear that the formation of RMN was an immediate and

simple task,,that it was placed upon the public with relatively

158

little discussions This is far from the truth.* The Province of

Ontario has been studying municipal reform for' a.number.of years

and specifically- the Niagara Region since 1963. The Pro vincial

government has approached municipal reform with "deliberate cau-
tion.11 9

Subsequent to a preliminary study- of the areao locally in-

itiated in 1963, the.Minister of Municipal Affairs announced a

full scale lo6al government review to be headed,by' Dr. H.B.

Mayo. The initiation of this study was brought about by- the

work of a local committee known as "The Niagara Peninsula Munic-

ipal Committeeb@on Urban.and Regional Research.,@.-: The study cov-

ered Lincoln and Welland counties. The-stud y was conducted with

full@public involvement through hearings and widespread coverage
by.the press," television, and radio.' 10 The btu d.ywas completed.

in 1966 at which time the Department of Municipal Affairs request-

ed all ',concerned to make a serious study of the report and submit

their views to the Department. After careful review of numerous

briefs, a proposal for a regional government was made by the

Minister on January- 23, 1969. An intermunicipal committee.was

formed which worked out the details of the new system with Prb-

vincial officials. On October 6, 1969, municipal elections were

held and the new regional government went into operation on Jan-

159

1, 19?0.

It appears. therefore that the formation of the regional

government was a very well planned, very well.publicly involv-

ed, step-by-step affair. The Province actively'sought local

citizens and groups to get into the action of-deciding what

.kind of local government they should have. This dimension of

democracy is a basic tenet of Ontario's municipal reform pr o--

gram. Regional.governments are only- proposed in areas where

there appears to bea great need and then only- following,a

.12
good, deal of study, ainalysisq and discussion. This type of

approach applied during the seven year stud' pe riod experienced
y

in RMN probably.was largely responsible.for-avoiding many, of

the conflicts and obstacles that would normally,have arisene

It is also,important to note that although the establishment of,

regional governments in Ontario is done by the Province, the

need for some type of'governmental reform was,first recognized

by theloqalcitizenry@in RMN. In other words local government

reform was clearly desired by the people,

The reasons why- there existed this keen public interest are

probably variedland can only be guessed at. There are two ma-,..

jor theories one could make: either the people in the Niagara

Region were. far-sighted enough to visualize present and on-

160

coming problems.that would require local governmental reform, or;

the situation in the area was at crisis proportions and the need

for reform was essential.

The ihitial Mayo report sampled what the local people con-,

side.red to be the problems, of the region. Some persons inter-

viewed thought.the only problems were minor,.While others con-

sidered the.wh.ble region in a mess. A minority of city spokes-

men. felt that @there were no regional problems, only problems in-

te'rnal'to.the@,city (possible local autonomy feelings).

In order of.frequency mentioned, the problems were listed

as:

The common problems such as water.pollutio.n

2. Need, for overall or joint.planning

3. Provision of joint,services; e.g.-policling, welfare

4. Lightening of the financial burden on localities

5. Devising a new form of government for the area

6. Promotion of industry-

7. Decline of farm lands

8. Relations between cities and townships.

9. The loss of local "autonomy" and decline in power of
rural townships. 13

Whether this list of problems represents a "crisis situa-

161

tion" is a matter of debate, however, several interesting points

can be made-about the ordering of the problems. First, the com-

mon pollution,problems,.of which much of this study is about,

headed.thb list. This has certain implications for the U.S.

study area and also represents a keen awareness of the public

.,about the condition'of their environment. Second, the desire:

for joint@planning and services received a high priority. This

desire is almost a,necessary environment for reforming govern-

ment on a br.oad basis. items 5@and 8 go along,with each other

and to a certain extent are tied in with the need for joint func-

tions. Lastly, and quite interesting, is that loss of local au-

tonomy received.the lowest concern of all, although it still was

a concern to.be dealt@ with. It also is important to place par-

-ticulai'emphasis on the fact that the abo@e: list of problems was

made in 1963, a full seven years before the formation of the re-

gionallgovernment.1

Although there is sufficient evidence to.argue. that the time

was ripe for change there.were several other problems that had to

be worked out such as agreement on boundaries,,the form of.the.

regional government, the distribution of powers, and the method

of representation. Although it is not the purpose here to docu-

ment how all of these problems were resolved, a summary may be

162

helpful,

The distinction of boundaries was greatly- simplified because

of the geographical nature of the Niagara Peninsula, being bound-

ed on three sides by water. This left.only the.western boundary-

to be determined which was done along existing county- lines. The

form of the regional government, a regional council composed of

members from each municipality seems to be the one that provides

for good democratic representation. The' distribution of powers,

as outlined earlierare those that can be best handled on an

is. The powers left to the local area municiDali--
arealside bas,

ties are those that commonly initiate the most pressure from lo-

Cal residents on the local government. Let the garbage collec-

tion system..fail, the snowplow skip a street, the chuckholes on

local streets remain unfilled, the street lighting remain inade-

quate; these are all problems that will''cause the average local

citizen to seek'remedy- from his own local government, There-
fore,' the Ifunctions that are nearest the hearts of local resi-'

dents have been retained.under local control. This two-tiered

system avoided many of the conflicts and problems that a single

tier regional government would have created.. The election to

representation on the Regional Council is both direct and in-

diroct being composed of the head of council of each area mu-

163

nicipality and an additional representative for each 20,000 popu-

lation.to be directly elected. This guarantees that every munic-

ipality will have representation' while representation by popula-

tion will assure more democratic representation,

While it appears that the formation of the RMIN may repre-

sent an example of adequate and methodological planning it must

have certainly had problems particularly- withregard to the 14

jurisd ictions that lost their identity- under the reorganization.

There is also a problem surfacing on the equitable distribution.

of tax revenues. The City, of St. Catharines may desire to opt

out of the regional government based on a brief presented by the

Mayor and Members ofIthe area council to the Ontario'Municipal,
14
Board. The main feature of this dissent appears to be in,the

distribution of tax.revenue.s as St. Catharines is the largest

urban center in the regional municipality.

Local Government U.S. Study Area

m rican por
.The A el tion of the study area,is,composed of Erie

and Niagara Counties, New York,' Erie County is composed of

citi es, 26 towns, and 15 villages. The town boundaries are

contiguous so that every portion of the county outside of the

corporate limits of a city is included in a town. This is not

unique to the study area, but is representative of the entire

164

State of.New York. Municipal corporations are,villages and cit-

ies. The'@Collowing is a.,table of cities, towns, and villages

in Erie County.

TABLE 11

CITIESt TOWNS, VILLAGES OF ERIE COUNTY.,

CITIES TOWNS. .,VILLAGES

Buffalo Tonawanda Kenmore
.Tonawanda Grand Island Williamsville
Lackawanna- Amherst Akron
Clarence Sloan
Newstead Depew
Cheektowaga 'Lancaster
@Lancaster Alden
Alden Blasdell
West Seneca Hamburg
Elma Orchard Park
Marilla East Aurora
Hamburg Angola
Orchard Park Farnham
@Aurora North Collins
Wales Springville
Evans
Eden
Boston,.,
Colden
Holland
Brant
North Collins'.'
Collins
Concord
Sardinia

In 1966 in addition to the cities, towns.f,and villages men-

tioned above Erie County contained 30 school districts, 33 fire

districts, 51 fire protection districts, 315:street lighting dis-

tricts, 11.0 sewer districts, 78 drainage districts, 148 water

districts, 9 refUse and garbage districts, 2 park districts, 2

165

consolidated health districts, county- districts, 6 housing au-

thorities,,and 4 urban renewal agencies,

Niagara County contains 3 cities, 12 towns, and 5 villages.

The following is a list of cities, towns, and villages in Niag-

ara County:

TABLE 12

CITIES, TOWNS, VILLAGES NIAGARA COUNTY

CITIES -TOWNS VILLAGES

Niagara Falls Porter Barker
North Tonawanda Wilson Wilson
Lockport Newfane" Middleport
Somerset Youngstown
Hartland Lewiston
Royalton
Lockport
Pendleton
Cambria
Lewiston'
Wheatfield
Niagara

In 1968 in addition to the cities, towns, and villages men-

tioned Niagara County- contained 10 school districts, 2 fire dis-

tricts, 12 fire protection districts, 14 street lighting dis-

tricts, 14 sewer districts, 6 drainage districts, 40 water dis-

tricts, 9 refuse and garbage districts, 1 consolidated health

district, 2 county districtso'4 housing authorities, and 2 urban

16
renewal agencies.

In -total the two Counties of Erie and Niagara contain 64

govornmental units, plus the two County Legislatives, nu-

166

@merous special districts',

At first glance it. is relatively easy- to realize that the

muc
study area on the American side h more complex as far as

jurisdictional. bodies are concerned than is the RMN. With the

it is relatively simple to find out who does what and who

is responsiblefor what. The'situation on the American side

is not so clear. Even the Erie and Niagara Counties Regional

Planning Board,.(ENCRPB),proba'bly the most..agressive regional

oriented agency in the U.S. study area, concluded their 1970

17
Initial Environmental Survey with the following three points:

1. One agency must assume overall responsibility (con-

trol or rIeview) for regional environmental action.

Emphasis,mu,.st be placed on action rather than studies

which'may or may not refute previous..@tudies.

3,1 Needed immediately, and apparently- not anywhere avail-

able is a documented structure of enviror tal manage-
Lmen

m6nt; who is-responsible for what and.how do they exer-

cise their authority- in the Erie-Niagara region.

The Planning Board based their conclusion on a survey of,

19 agencies with varying degrees of environmental responsibil;6

ity inthe region. Of the 19 responding agencies the follow-

ing patterns were revealedi

167

1. 18 agencies were active in providing.'information;

2.,17 agencies see themselves as being active in the

functional area of waste disposal;

Agency-concernof every primary natural resource is

gre ater for pollution than it is for building quality;

4. In general, agencies appear to be more.oriented to gen-

erating information than controlling, reviewing, or.de--

veloping action to affect the frontier area;

Development appears to be the least common activity.

That multiplicity of government in both Erie and Niagara.

Counties has.led to certain inadequacies was brought out by

same survey. The following obstacles to solving environ-

mental problems were listed by respondents to the questionnairet

-tack:of implementation of studies;

-Lack of publ ic concern;

-Lack,of,bufficient funds;

-Home rule impedes consolidation;

-Exorbitant sewerage and sewage treatment plant costs;

-multiplicity of planning agencies;

.-Lack of uniform.penalties for water pollution;

-Apathy of taxpayers to bear the cost of pollution;

-Lack of regional cooperation;

168

-No citizen interest orrepresentation;

-Lack of leadership;

-Narrow minded local leadership irresponsive to any-thing

except home rule;

-Lack of aggressive programs on environmental issues;

-Lack of innovative regional concepts-greenbelt and

.Multipurpose utilities;

-No intergovernmental agency coordination;

-.Lack of municipal leadership;

.-Inadequate municipal resources;

-No true, regional approach"to problems;

-Home rule attitudes;

-Property tax differential;

-No'decisions, only studies;'

-Lack of political leadership.

The above indicates that there is a multiplicity or organi'

zations,providinig various amounts of services, and that this mul-

tiplicity has limited the amount of effective programs, resulted

in duplication of services, and resulted in a very evident state

of confusion to the local citizen.

If one looks back at what was said earlier on regional gov-

ernments and particularly the RMN he would find that the list of

169

problems and obstacles that helped to promote-the RMN as the

first regional government. in Ontario also exist in Brie and

Niagara,CountieS, New York. The only differenco.is that con-

dition@s [email protected] study are.a are moresevere and more

critical than those that exist in RMN,

Whether the time is ripe for.s6me type of governmental re-

form in Erie and Niagara Counties or not may be a debatable.,mat-

ter,.but a'certain amount of evidence exists that it is. The

survey-done by the ENCRPB and the-conclusions reported above

certainly indicate that a better system of environmental man-.

agement-is needed. Many of the functions of government either

directly or indirectly control the quality of'the@en'vironment;

this-may"Andicate that governmental reform is necessary.

Speaking specifically on the Niagara River, the ENCRPB

statess

A little doubt over the need for a unified and
There s
comprehensive management system for the restoration
of the Niagara River. Progress in this direction has
been limitedo however, because many, governmental agen-
cies share managerial and/or environmental control
over the river and its shoreline.1118

The 1971 International Joint Commission report on the,

Niagara River listed four main reasons why g1l of the munici-

palAties and many of the industries were considerably behind

schedule in treating their waste discharges. These have been

170

reprinted earlier in this report butsome of the main'points

bear repeating. Development of comprehensive regional plans

took approximately two'years to complete and.municipalities

tended to proceed slowly- until the plan was formalized. The

regional plan required in many- instances two ormore govern-

mental entities to develop a joint project. Development of

19
necessary agreements was particulUlZ time consuming. More

pilot plant studies than anticipated had to be carried out.

(It also appears that there may, have been some lack of coordi-

nation between various pilot plant studies. This can conceiv-

"ably arise when each municipality has to hire its own consul-

tant). Industries.were unable to proceed with their plans

until., municipalities had defined their needs,in cases where

joint treatmeht,was being considered..

Another problem has arisen in that the.,comprehensive re-

gional;;:wate.t.and sewer plans were done.by a consultant before

20
the. ENCRPB had adopted a regional growth plan'. Since water

and sewer plans directly affect growth patterns the cart has

been applied before the horse. Fortunately the ENCRPB is now

correcting the regional water and sewer plans to conform as

much as possible to regional growth plans.

171

Regional_@Agencies

The.realization that a comprehensive regional approach was

necessaryto cope with problems,, whether in the Erie-Niagara

Region or any other.region in the United States,'came from the

federal level. When Congress investigated urban problems in

the-early 1960's it found that local governments weie severely

hampered by:exces8ive costs and jurisdictiona:l,problems as they

sprawled across local boundaries. Congress realized that finan-

cial'aid was necessary to keep local governments viable and that

federal monies would not be used efficiently Unless they were

'coordinated with a comprehensive regional plan. Therefore the@

Congres's instituted five criteria that must be met in order.for

a particular project to become eligible for federal funding.

These criteria aret

"That the projec is'part ng.ran e
t of a lo 9 develop-
ment.progran or plan for that public,facility or
service.

2., That@the development'plan encompass all problems
and requirembnts@of a region.

3. That -the project is a part of or consistent with
short range plans of a regional planning.program
in meeting immediate necessities, and can be ex-
pected to serve long range needs.

4. That all development program's are incorporated
into and form a composite or comirehensive re-
gional development plan for the economical,
efficient and orderly growth of the region.

.5. That the comprehensive planning process be con-
tinuous and designed to define and meet region-

172

al goalsand 'objectives under the.policy direction
of local. elected officials.1121

All five ofthe cri,teria-had an effect on r.egion al efforts.

The last criteria., however, is,most, important to this analysis.

This criteria had,the effect of grouping the 64 local govern-

ments into, a" two county region and the,establishment of a sin-

gle comprehensive planning agencyi in 1966 the Legislatures

of.Erie and Niagara Counties by a joint resolution created the

Erie and Niagara Counties Regional Planning,Board.

As the Planning Board is the only regional and comprehen@-!

sive agency in the region it is desirable to briefly describe

the'functions, activities, and powers of the Board. Early in

the history of'@the Board its major work objective was the pro-

tection of local applicant certification for federal aid and

satisfaction of the Federal planning requirements. Under the

Intergovernmental Cooperation Act the Board was designated as

the review agency, for applicants for Federal funding in@Erie

and Niagara Counties.' The Board was required to submit its

plans, programs,,and,qualifications for review by the Depart-

ment of Housing and Urban Developmentin October 1970 for certi-

fication that the Board had fulfilled the requirements that Con-

gress had mandated to obtain HUD grant and loan moneys. The

Board consequently was certified and this meant that there would

173

be no interruption in the, flow of HUD monies to'local munici-

palities.

initial Studies in the work program-of the Board involved

economic and, population projections, inventory studies of land.

Uses, public utilities, parks, recreation areast open space hous-

ing, regional-growth pattern report, development goals and objec-

tives, and regional land, use. In addition tothe above studies

the, Board produce's studies and plans in the following areast

transportation,@housingtthe environment, project review proce-...

dures for federal grant programs, and various feasibility studies.

for the region.

One misconception,about the Board is that it acts on appli-@

cations or. federal aid to local municipalities. This is not

true. The Board does have the power to review, make comment

and recommendations-on the application.as to wh ther or not the
e

project is consistent with the regional criteria as' mandated by.

Congress. Therefore, the Planning Board does have some indir.*

ect power over what the municipalities do within the region@as,

@.@many- of the, local projects such as water and. sewer, roads, and

recreation,, are done with federal assistance.

R@_-g@_onal Planning Board vs. Regional Government

The Erie-Niagara Counties Regional Planning Board (ENCRPB)

174

is a planning organization; it is not a governmento does not

have the power to'provide services and functions other than

planning,does not have the power to impose,tax levies, and is

',to th@ public. The benefits of the
not'direptly responsiblei e

ENCRPB are that it develops and promotes programs on a regional

comprehensive..basis. Unfortunately it does not have the author-

ity, except through indirect means to implement its.programs and'.

plans.

In solving problems related to existing environmental pollu--

tion the Planning Board has little authority with which,to act.

It can survey and report on.the current problems, trace sources

of,pollution, and,can recommend courses of action. The Board

car. recommend. that communities develop joint.facilities, and ih-

directly, can force them to,do so. Admittedly these functions are

of,,great significance,:but what is needejd is some power and au-

thority- to act.

As,far'a .s'solvinglcurrent .problems is concerned action is

left,.to,the State-local system; a system that for a number of

reasons has been ineffective in the past.- All of.the problems

of this type of system mentioned in Chapter IV and the first

Dart of this chapter now obtain.

The ENCRPB is relatively effective in developing compre-

175

hensive regional plans such as for water and sewer. 'However,

any t
ype of. regional system involves agreements between local

municipalities as to sharing of.costs and other responsibili-

ties. Earlier,.in the report on water pollution, it was indica-

ted that reaching agreements between local municipalities was

particularly time consuming. Furthermore local governments,

even though they have a comprehensive plan to follow are still

left to obtain their own financing, consultants, etc. Faced

with inadequate resources, both in terms,of'personnel and fi-

nances,. the local municipalitie"s are often incapable of carry-

ing out these.tasks.

if some form of regional j6v'ernment were ins,tituted.to carry,

out programs for solving current problems such as water pollu-

tion the foll.owing-advantages could be foreseen. Because the

regional government would have the power to raise its own' reve-

nue it'could do its own planning, design, construction, and op-

eration. Agreements b6tween municipalities'would no longer

have to be negotiated since the entire region would now be.

sharing in the costs.. This is.not unrealistic.since the whole

region shares in the benefits also. Likewise the obtaining of

financial arrangements could be handled more effectively by a

regional government. A regional government having a broader

176

tax base and being more viable is almost always more likely to

arIrange for financing at a lower interest rate. In the matter

of hiring consultants to design municipal facilities, a region-

al governmento having more professional staff, would be in a

position to choose from a wider range of consultants. Likewise

-trger volume of
better consultants would be attracted by the 1..i

work available, therebyreducing the possibility of inept con-

sultants being hired.

Another area that regional governments could operate more

,efficiently is in the area of obtaining federal grants-in-aid.

A statement from the National League of Cities and U.S. Confer-

ence of Mayors indicates that ithas become as expensive to put

together an.applidation for a $10,000 grant as a $1 million

,23
grant,;* Now if a regional government were allowed to apply

for,block grants on,a regional basis the saving are obvious.

..In solving problems related to controlling development and

enhancing the' quality of the environment the Planning Board is

only partially effective. Again, it has only a limited amount

of control and then only over projects that.involve federal

funds. While this control is an incentive for the majority of

municipal projects to conform to regional plans it does not

cover all the projects that affect the environment and has lit-

177

tle or.1no control over private development. A regional govern-

@ment, if granted land.use control authority, would have the cap-

ability- of controlling development in areas that are either high
pri6rity protection areas or where high priority problems exist.

The,ENCRPB.through its Initial @nvironment Study has already de-

fined these areas and has recommended that development be dis-

24
couraged-Anthem. Actual implementation of the regional land

use plan is largely left'up,to local zoning ordinances..

Another,important defect with the ENCRPB.is in dealing with

matters of,an interr.egional nature. In this regard:it'is limit-

ed in the same.way- as COG's in that it cannot speak as a spokes-

man for, the, jurisdictions within the region, A regional govern-

ment on. the' other hand could be empowered to do so and therefore

could work onjoint programs with other regions.

Lastly the formation of a,Regional Planning-Board does, lit-

tle to,,solve the maze' of jurisdictiohs, confrontihg@the citizen*,

It does little to clear up the,jungle of governments that a,..

I -port and t
citizen is taxed to sup hat in the democratic system

he is ex,nected to exercise control. over. A regional governmen't

coiild possibly eliminate eighty per c.ent-of the local jurisdic-

tions that confront the voter, making the government more visible

,and more responsive to the electorate.

178

Onecould possibly go on in greater detail but the fact of

the matter should,be clear by now that a regional planning board@

although,effective.as'far as its legal authority- is concerned,

lacks some. significant benefits.that a regional government would

possess... If the above is not clear by now then perhaps the fol-

lowing case will be more convincing.

The ENCRPB through'a Technical Advisory Board is working on

e
an nt rnational Design Study" for the Niagara River. Although

.the Study is not complete the Board has made certain preliminary-

environmental improvement program recommendations for the Niag-

ara River. The Board calls for treating the Niagara River as a

s,ingle.resource management unit by one agency. To carry out

this task the Board cites several alternatives among them being

a state created agency such as the Adirondack Park Agency or

25
broadening the powers of the ENCRPB.

The"'citing of the need for a more powerful,agency to handle

environmental.]matters'clearly points up thefact that the ENCRPB,

by its own admi,ssiono is not authorized to carry out its pro-

grams ina manner to truly protect and enhance environmental

quality. Furthermore these recommendations also bring to sur-

face the fact, that h as been stressed all along in this chapter,

that all of the other governmental units in Erie and Niagara

179

Counties, N.Y.0 are,not capable, as presently organized to car-

ry out.a comprehensive environmental quality program. Something

more than presently exists is needed, something beyond the cur-
y

rent'in,stitutional system.

The regional goals have been stated by the ENCRPB for the

two counties. These goals have been futher refined into objec-

tiveq,@ The'goals and objectiVes are clearly desired by the peo-@

ple of the'.region, Th6re.is, however, no agency or@governm6nt

in Erie and Niagara Counties that can carry thegoals and objec-

tives to.implementation. The responsibility'for managing the

regionai environment is' still left to numerous local governments.

rm s
Major fiscal@ le'gislative'p' and administrative refo il needed

One agency,must become responsible for theregional environment

of th6,two county area,

The:remai,nder of this' chapter will discuss the feasibility

of and"providf@ the franework for a way to accomplish this reform

in the Erie-Niagara Region. The Province of Ontario has found

a way to accomplish this reform and has implemented it in the

Regional Municipality of Niagara. Thepurpose here will be to

hypothetically implement a similiar type regional government

into Erie and Niagara Counties.

180

Political Feasibility- For Regional Government In Erie-Niagara Co.

From the comments made by the ENCRPB and reported on earli-,,

er it would indeed seem that conditions for some type of reform:

are.ripe., Howeve.r establishing this reform is another matter'.

Home ruld appears to be strong much stronger than it was in On-

tario. Although the same complaints in the common problems,. pol-,

lution,,'lack of leadership, lack of cooperation, lack of'finan-

cial resources exist.in Erie and Niagara Counties as.existed in.

Lincoln and Welland Counties prior to the formation of RMN,there

appears to be-little local movement toward governmental reform.

The only comprehensive body- that now exists in the regionj the

Erie and Niagara Counties Regional Planning Board, was formed

as a necessity,to meet the external forces placed by the fed-

eral government. It is to the. credit of the region,- however,

that'the ENCRPB was.,the first Reg ional Planning Board to be

credited by,.HUD,in New York State and among the first nation-

ally. It still remains, however, that the incentives were ex-

ternal rather than internal.

The general political forces mentioned earlier will cer-

tainly come into play particularly in the Buffalo area. This

area will especially undergo central city- vs. urban fringe con-

flicts. These conflicts will not be dealt with in detail here,

181

butwill have.to be resolved before reorganization.

The Provincial government appears to be main stimula-

tor for local governmental reform in Ontario, although in cer-

tain' instances, as in RMN, the impetus for reform was first gen-

erated locally, However the fact remains that the Provincial

government has.reasserted its right over control of local gov-

ernment.. The cities and municipalities in Erie'and Niagara

Counties are-similar legally to those in RMN in that they exist

at the will-of the State just.as those in RMN exist at the will

of the Province. The State of New York has not however exer-

cised its powerb.over municipalities to the extent that Ontario

has. Political forces in the'United States, through state I.eF,-

isla.tives, iray be such that itImay never be able to do so.

There are@wayd that the State of New York could provide in-

centives and.impetus'for governmental reform. The first step to

be taken would be to: authorize a local government review much

the same as was.-done@ in RMN prior to its creation. Before lo-

cal residents can be convinced of the need for reorganization

it is n Iecessary that a well documented study.be, made as to what

the local government capabilities are, what problems face the

region, and what the benefits of reform would be. Also includ-

-ed in this study would be alternatives that reform could take,

182

preferably along the. lines of theitwo-level' approach presented

earlier. This local glovernmentreview, funded.by the State,

could be aided to a large extent, by the staff of the ENCRPB.

.-To a certain extent reform towards regionalization appears

tobe happening incrementally in.Erie and Niagara Counties. The

joint resolution. between the Legislatures of thetwo counties to

form a regional planning board is one example.. The county Leg-

islatures have realized that what is.done in one county gener-

ally affects the, othe'r,county and vice-mversa. To this extent

water.and sewerage. facilities, recreation, open space,ltranspor-

tation, solid..wastes,' and land use, are being planned on a re-

gional basis'.

Some.governmental. functions within the two.counties also

have been placed on a regional basis. The counties have con

solidated.their health units. They have also.formed countywide

air poilut,lon.,control divisions, Erie.County has a countywide

parks and,recreation.division. Both.counties have heaith,de-

partments that-see themselves active in control, review, and

information.regardingall types of.environmental pollution.

Pursuant to section..10?a of the Clear Air Act the counties of

Niagara and Erie were designated as the Niagara.Frontier Intra-

state Ai r Quality Control Region by the federal government.

183

Earlier-in'.this chapterwhen obstacles for solving' envi-.

ronm,ental pr'oblblms,.in Erie-and'Niagara Counties.were listed,

many Of the obstacles indicate that many of@the':local agencies

and pups Would favo governmental
gr r reform. In fact.agood,

strong', progr6ssive'regional government could eliminate almost

every on4,of. the obstacles listed.

Therefore, perhapsonewcould say_@that regionalization is

growin incrementally.,in the two counties. It'is well accept-
9

e .dhowever,.that when @n..e..or two functions are placed on a re-

gional level few.political,obstacles will arise. But when mul-

tiple functibns.are taken over then there appears to be a dir-

ect relationship'.bet.ween the number of functions regionalized

and the opposition en6ountered.@

Federal and State incentives also:have a.very significant

role. toplay. in prompting governmental reform. In part the

reason why theformation of the ENCRPB encounteredlittle oppo-,

sitionwas because some type of..regional body like ENCRPB had

..to be.formed so.that local municipalities could, continue to re-

ceive@theijr@fair. share.of federal funds. Local.gov6rnments,

tiieref6re,,,'Ic,[email protected]@oppose such a move. It is to the cre-

dit.of the two County Legislatures that a two-county regional

planning board was formed, instead of implementing regional

184

planning on, a strictly County, by county basis,

it
appears then that there are two opposing forces operat-

ing in Erie and.Niagara Counties. one force that is dissatis-

with the problems of the area and the'lack of governmental

action on them. This group would be the easiest to convince

that.reorganization would have outstanding.merits over the cur-

rent system.

The second. force;.the home-rule group would tend to oppose

..reorganization.basedlon the endangerment of the security of lo-

Cal officials-.and thevisibility ;of their community-. This group

'Will be thehardest to convince of the merit.8-of reorganization.

This group would particularly have to be shown-that under-the

two-level reorganization approach -for the most part- the commu-

nity would not lose i@s identity; that area-wide functions taken

over by-the upper tier'would reduce many of.the *burdens on the

lower tier;and..allow,them to be more responsive to local needs,

that consolidation of the special districts would make govern-

ment more responsive 'and visible to local citizens; that there

would be savings in their personnel and financial resources if

a,regional government could apply for federal grants on a re-

gional basis; and that a perform@ance of certain functions on a

regional,.-scale would lead to economics of scale, etc.

185

The federal grant procedure requires comment. In review-

ing Subcommittee Hearings on Grant Consolidation and Intergov-
26
ernmental Cooperation a main argument for grant consolidation

was that local municipalities after devoting most of their re-

sources to competition for federal funds, negleicted some of the

local needs.of the local citizens. Centralizing the grant ap-

plication procedure into a regional government has its obvious

@advantages in'this matter.

,Admittedly- this section on political feasibility has been

superficial, @but it has pointed out some ofthe political fac-

tors to.be.de.alt with. Some of the conflicts may be eliminated

or at..least.lessened if,"in a reorganization attempt the fol-

lowing poin.ts.were considered:

1. Initiation of a. 6tate-funded local government

review in Erie and Niagara Counties listing

among other things; the municipal services and

functions in the region, present trends and the

pressures.on local government, review.o.f what

local-people consider to be the problems of the

region, local government units in the region,

alternative forms of government including the

status quo, and recommendations for reform

186

.,.2. Initiation of federal and state support for re-

organiZation,.Withput which any, reorganization

attempt is likely to fail, including.financial

incentives for regional governments

3. A straightforward easy' to read document, includ-

ing an economic analysis, of'the advantages of

forming a regional type government in Erie and

Niagara Counties.

4. Full public representation and part*-cipation

through the media and through public hearings

at all stages of the reorganization attempt

starting with the local government review and

continuing through the implementation of the

governmental reform,

Thes'e,are.just a few steps that must be taken in order to

be successfulin any reorganization attempt, more could be add-

ed, but the'main point is to convince the local citizenry- of

the advantages of a regional concept, advantages that should

far outweigh any disadvantages.

New forms of government are hardly- ever-set up except to

meet crisis situations. Whether a crisis situation exists in

Erie-Niagara Counties is perhaps open to debate. Certainly

187

with regard to the environment a crisis situation does exist.

For reform totake place.or be effective persons in position

..of power-(state, federal,) must believe strongly in'reform.

Itis uncomm,on,for reform,of local government to be.demanded

by local government.

A Note- On Local AutonoMy

@Th6reis a go-od.deal of,talk about local."autonomy." A

..serious belief in it leads to the following considerationss

1. The range and quality of services offered by

municipalities varies'widely depending on (a)

tax.r.esources of the area (b) willingness of

governmlentsg and the public to spendand tax.

It is because of this wide variation*that much

of'the,State and Federal assistance is. given

to local governments;

2. Cooperation between local municipalities may-

range from nothing, perhaps even hostility, to

full cooperation in-allmatters. Autonomy,.in.

short, means that local governments are largely

free. to.go their own. way If one believes in

good local government it is hard to visualize
how one could believe in full,local autonomy. 27

188

It may be necessary- that the. formation.of some type of a

regional government may have to come about t.hrough,a step type

approach, possibly, spanning a period of fifteen years or so,

Perhaps as a.first step the County- governments might be

strengthened. This would be in keeping with the ACIR report

28
m-61 entitled, For A More Perfect Union-County Reform, and

also would avoid many of the immediate political problems that

the formation of a regional government would.rreate. The

strengthening of the county governments may1well take the form

of the comprehensive urban,county plan alternative as discuss-

ed earlier in Chapter IV.

.I do not view the strengthening of county.governments in

Erie and Niagara to be the ultimate step. Based on the fore-

going analysis-.it,is concluded that,the.ultima.te would be the

formation of aregional government from the t1wo'Counties.

This regional government formation may be acc.omplished more

readily if,f,irst the two county governments,were strengthened.

Although the two strengthened county- governments would be

a step in the right direction it will have certain drawbacks in

itself. The county governments, as they now exist and as most

county governments are, are more responsive to rural areas. If

these two count,V, governments were made more powerful, along the

189

lines:of urban-county# they would be more politically powerful

in their own right. They may then impede with more strength

the possible.formation of a regional government between the

"two counties,

The problems of leaving the system as two strengthened

county governments may be summarized in the following three

points;

19 The region of Erie and Niagara Counties is a

unit; to leave its government divided@into

two .would perpetuate.the difficulty of.co-

:ordination, and of treating common problems

"on a co
mm6n basis.

2.0 Problems of citizen representation would be no

more.acute under a comprehensive'r6gional reor-

'ganizati6n than-would-be under strengthening

.,the.two counties. Indeed equitable representa-

in dealing with common problems on a common

basis would be more difficult on a two county ba-

sis,then it would be.with a single regional basis.

A proposal to form two urban county governments would

causesome upheaval now, while further upheaval would

again be required to create one regional government.

190

Fr9A#Work'F6r @A R gional Gdver=ezit

'For-,Eriei -'And Nigg&ia; Countiesp N.Y.

'It. is the intent of this section to present, in the opinion

of this author, and based on conclusions derived.from.a short

term research, what the ideal would look like-, in other words

what a regional government would look like in Erie and Niagara

Counties. It is fully realized that this m. ay- represent the

ideal and that in actuality a less stringent method of reform,

perhaps along the lines of the multipurpose district or the

comprehensive urban-county plan may be the only acceptable al-

ternatives that can be politically implemented. These two al-

ternatives are the only acceptable ones in that they are the

only proposals that provide a two-level system of government and

that take a comprehensive approach to comprehensive problems.

The approach taken here involves the creation of a new area-

wide, intercounty government. This approach has a considerable

similarity to the comprehensive urban county and metropolitan

multipurpose district arrangements. The ideal approach, federa-

tion, if applied on a one.county basis, would differ from the

comprehensive urban county plan in that the former calls for re-

placing the county government with a new metropolitan agency

while the latter remains the county- government. Whether a new

191

agency is formed or the county government is strengthened there

would be substantial reorganization in structureq therefore dif-

between a one-county federation and the comprehensive

urban-county plan may be minor. Of course# in terms of inter-

county reorganization the federation is the only one possible.

Federation and metropolitan multipurpose districts can both

be'used either in 'one-county or intercounty situations. However,

federation.often involves the enlargement of local boundaries to

make them more inclusive and viable, this is unknown to the mul-

tipurpose district concept.

since 1955 support for the federation concept, an area wide

municipality plus lower-level, possibly enlarged local munici-

palities has almost completely vanished from the United States

scene despite the not uncommon belief that it.is the logical form
of governmental .organization for a number of SMSA's. 29 However,

in 1953 the concept gained strength in Canada. with the formation

of Metropolitan Toronto. Subsequently several other areas were

formed along:the federation concept including the Regional Munic-

ipality of Niagara which wa s reported on earlier. The concept

seems to be working well in Ontario and there has been no move-

ment back toward a fragmented government approach even from

those groups who initially opposed the reorganization attempts.

192

Metropolitan Toronto is erhaps the only-one that has been in
P,

existence long enough to completely assess its gains and limi-

tations. In Metro Toronto changes that have.emerged since its

creation have been in the,direction of a more comprehensive re-

form, as witnessed by more functions being assigned to the area

government and%.the reduction of lower-tier governments by one-

30
half,

Perhapait is time to try this concept again in the United

States, but this time.learning from the mistakes of the past

and borrowing some experiences from Ontario. This sharing of

ideas and experiences is not novel, it has existed as long as
both countries'*have. To be sure many of the Ca .nadian reorgani-

zation att empts.were made with knowledge of the failures in the

United States. Similarly United States organizationst particu-

larly the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations are

looking at C anadian experiences. This is witnessed in the ACIR's

recent pamphlet entitled In Search of Balanc e-Canada's T--@ergov-
31
ernmental ExReriences.

To facilitate the establishment of a regional government in

Erie and Niagara Counties some of the latest.Canadian experienc-

es particularly those for Metro Toronto and those for Regional

Municipality of Niagara should be used.

193

it is of:course fully realized that the. political and tra-

ditional systems of Canada and the United States are importantly

different. LeBlanc and Allensworth states

$$it would be a mistake to attempt to use,the Toronto
experience as a guide (for good or bad) for metro-
politan areas in the United States, 32

Their statement is both true and false. One definitely

does not assume that the political situation.is the same in the

United State.s.as in Canada and any proposals made must make ree-

ogniti on of this fact. The main difference is-that the Province

of Ontario exercised unilateral control over metropolitan areas,

created regional governments, and assigned functions without a

local popularvote. While it is theoretically true that State

governments in the U,S. have the same authority they are gener-

ally reluctant and sometimes politically incapable of changing

local government structure and powers. Metropolitan change in

the.U.S. must come about through local voter approval. This ap-

provaladmittedly has been a roadblock to reform programs of the

past. In other words, American state governments may- have the

legal authority but do not possess the power or desire to become

involved in metropolitan,government. State governments, in real-

ity, are more reflections than manipulators of local power struc-
tures Apparently this is not the case in Ontario,33

194

The statement that government reform in Canada cannot be

u8ed as a guide is false as much as.it is true. Every book or

pamphlet written on metropolitan government referenced in this

paper has included a discussion on regional or metropolitan gov-

erInment in Canada. It is true that the Canadian examples can-

not be used without mentioning the political differences; it is

equally true that one can gain some ideas, experiences, and prob-

lems that government reorganization in Canada also had to face.

Many of the problems faced in Canada are the same as those in

the U.S.; the major difference being that perhaps local people

in the U.S, will have to be more convind6d of the merits of re-

re community involvement
organization-there will have to be mo

and participation.

In summary, experiences in Canada can be used as a guide,

in some matters, but 'used'wisely noting differences between the

two countries,

This section will present a framework for a regional gov-

ernment in Erie and Niagara Counties patterned somewhat after

the Regional Municipality of Niagara. This approach appears to

be the most logical for solving problems that are common to the

two county, region; it is patterned much along the lines of the

federation approach.

195

The framework presented here, because of certain limi.ta-

tions and the complexities of the issue, will be of a general

nature.. The idea is to shape a two level system of government;

one that recognizes the need for both a community- level and a

metropolitan level. This will enable regional issues to be de-

bated and policies adopted for the good of all, citizens in the.

area while retaining a measure of independence when deciding

issues that are contained.within their own jurisdictions. As

stated previously the specifics of the regional government may

be varied.to fit the economicp cultural, and political charac-

teristics of Erie and.Niagara Counties, It would be folly here

,to state the specificsi this can only be done after a rigorous

local government review as recommended earlier. However, a few

general comments may be made to set the stage for general pur-

pose regional.government, the form concluded by this author to

be the ideal-formodern environmental management..in Erie and

Niagara Counties.

Regional Level

First, the 'regional level would cover.the.entire territory.

of Erie and Niagara Counties. This is in keeping with a state-

ment made by the Committee for Economic Development.

"In cases where the metropolitan area spreads over

196

severall-counties or@towns, a new jurisdiction
should.b,e crVated which embraces all of its
territory. 34

This is4lso in keeping with the Bureau of Census descrip-

tion' of Erie and Niagaira Counties as the Buffalo SMSA. Also

the Legislatures of both Counties have recognized that the

two counties are a unit in jointly forming th e ENCRPB.

The area wide level would be governed by a regional council.

The regionallcouncil will be composed of the heads of the remain-

ing local communities plus an additional member for a certain

number of population. These members would be directly elected.

This system will facilitate representation by population and

will guar6Lntee:that every citizen is represented. Guidelines for

the number of population to be represented by one member could be

determined by the state.

An alternative to this method of representation on the re-,

gional. government has been made by the CoMMi .ttee for Economic
35
Development... They suggest electing delegates representing

legislative districts on a one mang one-vote..basis instead of

representing-the community units as such. They state that rep-

resentation based on community units rarely produces an area-

wide point of view but rather a bargaining process through

which the various smaller units try to protect their parochial

197

interests.

There [email protected] problem with this approach in 'that cer tain com-

munity levels might not have representation. The solution may

rest in allowing the heads of lower-tier governments to sit on

,the council while electing additional members representing leg-

islative districts on-a one man-one vote basis. This indeed is

siPmilarto the.system used in RMN where members on the Regional

Council onboth directly and indirectly elected. In RMN the

members directly elected represent a population of 20,000'.

This would produce an extremely large council in Erie and Niag-

ara Counties, Therefore perhaps each directly.elected member

in.these counties should represent a population of 40,000.

Community-Level,

.To provide for access to government* to retain independent

visibility and to satisfy proponents of centralization and de-

centralization.a community level of government should be re-

tained. The,boundaries, however, should be changed to.make the

local government more viable. Although much of the literature

ongovernment organization places heavy emphasis on appropriate

size of the community level there is little hard economic evi-
dence what the optimum size should be. 36 The provincial govern-

ment of Ontario suggests a minimum lower tier population of be-

198

tween 8,000 and 10,000.. The size of the lower tier must meet

two criteria. First, be large enough in population to be ef-

fective in.providing 'services and second, be small enough to

be accessible andrespons"ive to the local people. Meeting

these two criteria will vary from area to areag thereforet

flexibility to..size should be permitted although the minimum

used by Ontario seems to be valid as.a minimum. 1985 popula-

tion projections made,by Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory and

by the New York State Office of Planning Coordination (now

Office of Planning Services) for the towns in Erie and Niagara

Counties could,serve as a guide for determining the size and

area of the community tier, These projections are shown in

Fig. 17.

Structural Orr-anization Of Lower Tier

The lower-tier governmental level may well.consist of

existing local governments with their functions revised for

the. new two-level system. The structure of the new community

level governmentashould not be.imposed fromwithout but should

be determ.ined,by local people working within broad state guide-

lines.

The total land area of Erie in Niagara Counties is divided

into cities and towns. The town boundaries comprise all the

199

land area outside the cities of Buffalo, Tonawandag Lackawannag

Niagara'Fallss North Tonawanda, and Lockport. It is suspected

that many of the towngovernments in Erie and Niagara Counties

already possess a strong community identity. There are only a

few towns in the area that do not possess' the minimum popula-

tion suggested above, In most cases these low population towns

could be*combined with adjacent towns of similar low population.

Therefore it might be suggested that the lower-tier communities

be organized along existing town boundaries with some combina-

tions.. In most cases 'thens existing town boundaries will not

have to be changed. The town governments might then be main-

tained as@the governing bodies for the lower-tier level*. Fig-

ure 17 shows the city and town boundaries along with popula-

tions in, each. ,

The Cities

One question that the Ontario government had to face was

whether or notto include cities in the regional government for

Niagara. They concluded that indeed cities must become a part

ofthe regional government.

In early days the separation of cities from rural areas

made good sense but not today. Today's trend towards urbani-

zation and influences of the city extend far beyond the bound-

200

dO.

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201

aries or the dityO To leave cities out of the regional govern-

ment Would perpetuate the conflicts,of rural vs. urban. There-

foreq to be effective theregional governments must include the

cities.

The inclusion,.of the. citiea should cause no great problems

with the exception of Buffalo.-. The population of Buffalo, ap-

proximately,5000009 is rather large compared to the other'cit-

ies in.the area. It may be ad,large that isolation and aliena-

.tion of some groups Within the'aity, particularly minority

groups is occurring. This causes a diminishing in the sense of

community within the city., Therefore* it may be necessary to

establish commupity-digtricts, or boroughs, within the city,

if only as a matter of establishing a stronger sense of commun-

ity. Groups that feel alienated within the city now, will feel
-even more so'..once a regionIal government is established.if.they':

are not represeritedt,on the regional council...

The Distribution Of FMctions

Jn an age where.it has become increasingly difficult to

divide powers between national,, statev and local levels it is-

also difficult todivide.functions between a regional level.

and local level. It ist however, possible to.outline some

basic arrangements between regional and lower-tier governments

202

particularly in those areas that affect the regional-urban en-

vironment, The key appears to be in the sharing of power and

responsibility over functions rather than in allocating a fun6-

tion entirely to one level or the other.

Plannim.'

An obvious function for regional-government is comprehen-

sive regional planning. The area has already realized this by

forming the@Erie and Niagara Counties Regional Planning Board,

,The planning board would necessarily be under the control of

the regional government. Planning must be a divided function

because of the division of responsibilities for services.

calize,d'planning is needed for coordination of urban

functions in. order to produce effective overall local programs

and for the guidance of local development within accepted area-7
38
wide guidelines prepared by the regional plarming board. Low-

er tier governments must establish their own'-planning agencies

where they are not now established. The regional government

must have the right to veto local plans, a right not now pos-

sessed by the Erie and Niagara Counties Regional Planning Board.,

Theeffects.of adequat.9-.planning at both levels with regard to'.

the physical environment have been discussed previously and

need-no repeating.

203

Land Use Control

Zoning is land use control by physical,plaxming to bring

.about physical results for public welfare. Zoning is regula-

tion under police power of land use, and density of popula-

39f'
tion,

261i is hard,to avoid-the conclusion-that the use of
land and resources, like common problems such as
.Pollution, can only be tackled satisfactorily- on
a regional basiso and that it will not be so tack-
led by,a mult* li ity of units with varying degrees
of planning.-4@ C

The ENCRPB has produced a regional land use concept plan

for Erie and Niagara'Counties.' This plan specifies broad are-

as of.industrial;,;ind residential activity. The ENCRPB does

.,not,, however.have control over the zoning process but must

J. 41
implemeni its plan.through the following devicess

@-Advice to.c'ounty and local governments in the location

and. timing. ofl,public facilitiesi

-Technical planning assistance to county and local gov-

errunents i

.scoordination of regional and county planning work pro-

grams;

-Adoption by the county legislatures of functional plans

which reflect ENCRPB,plansj

-Increased participation of citizens and their officials

204

in the planning process.

In the framework presented here'it is suggested that zon-

ing for land use, be a divided responsibility; that the regional

level adopt the plan,'of the ENCRPB, but that the community lev-

el have some say over zoning in their own area in order to con-

trol their own character. The regional level,, in adopting the

ENCRPB plang, would be zoning broad areas which local communi-

ties could zone into smaller sub-areas.

The.regional level must be- given veto powers over the com-,

.munities zoning powers in regard to.some aspects such as pre-

venting community level zoning from becoming an institutional

block against minority, groups.

Transportation

Because of- its naturet transportation ca Innot be planned

solely as an intra-metrop.olitan basis. The ENCRPB is already

involved toa large eitent in regional transportation planning.

through its'two report.st Urban Trgnsportation And Land Use Co-

ordination and Evaluation Of. Transportlition PlMMing and Its

,Impact On Regional Development, Transportation policies of

course also.involve State and Federal participation. It is

.necessary that the regional government handle the planning,

design, construction$ and maintenance of transportation con-

205

sidered to be.of regional importance. Thetransportation system

must be handled on a comprehensive basis because it is one of

the functions that largely determines where growth will take

place,

Because transportation is so important to community develop-

ment the formulation of area-wide transportation policies must

involve community level participation. While. the planninig and

construction of regional roads should be mainly, the responsibil-

ity of the regional level there are certain aspects of a trans-

portation system that affect local residents'.onlyt among these

are local streets, sidewalksq etc. These should be left under

the jurisdictions of the lower-tier governments.

Water Supply And Sewage Disposal

Although a:co'mprehensive plan for water and sewerage has

been develope&by the ENCRPB for Erie and Niagara Counties the

remaining activities under this function are left to local gov-

ernmeiits'and.special purpose districts,

Water supply and,distribution...and sewage disposal are

area-wide functions'in the same manner as transportation. The'.

distribution system will largely control where growth will take

place; the distribution and treatment systems, if done on a re-

gional basis,:can be strongly supported by potential economies

206

of scale.

Water supply and sewage disposal can'be adivided function

or it can,be done solely,by the regional government, The Re-

gional Municipality of Niagara has divided the function with

treatment'and trunk lines the responsibility of the regional

government and lateral lines and house connections the respon-

sibility of local governments. This division of responsibility

is suggested for Erie and Niagara Counties with the intent of

leaving the local governments to perform as many non-area wide

functions as possible.

Solid Waste Collection And Disposal

Again this function can operate with a sharing of power.

The disposal,.of.solid waste is belcoming increasingly a region-

environmental priority. Landfill sites are growing scarce

and need to be managed professionally. Incinerator'costs are

expensive and usually can only be efficient when o'erating under
p

the economies of scale that a regional basis can-provide.

The projections for solid waste disposal in the two counties

is that by 1.990l' the region will be generating approximately 9.2

mil lion tons of refuse per yearo or enough to fill up 22 city

blocks to the height of the Empire State Building. There are 43

disposal sites in the regiono varying from incinerators to sani-

207

tary land fills to open dumps which violatelthe. State Sani-
42
tary Code. -With these figures there is little need to

justify solid:vaste management on a regional basis.

Collection is another matter. There is a consensus Of

opinion.that.co,llection should be performed wholly at the lo-

cal level. There' is little spilloverof costs and benefits

to collection at the local level. Therefore, it is recommend-

ed-that coll.ectioh,b6 handledlat'the lower-tier level.

Aj@ argument often used against regional'management of d i S!

p6sal B'ites is'.the extra costs involved in transportation.:,

These costs,cah'be reduced by, the use of. transfer stations

whiefi"Icould act as a dumping sta.tion.for local municipalities.,

These transfe@r:.stations could also compact'the wastes before

shipment!it the'landfill method is to be usedo-,

Parke Recreation'.' and conservation.

With more time for leisure, demand for adequate recreation

is:increasiz@go, Recreation specialists'generUly believe that',

at least'10 acres per 1000 population of recreational area must

be provided-in a well-@balanced city.park system, plus an addi-

tional 10P 20o or more acres per.each 1000 persons of scenic

and natural. parks outside the city but under the control of

43
county, state,.or other non-municipal authority, This.addi-

208

tional non-municipal acreage maybe classified as regional park

land. The existing standards in Erie and Ni agara Counties are

44
15 acres of r.egional.park land.per 1000 persons, Under these

standardso and planning for approximately 1.7 million people in

the Erie and.Niagara Region# the regional park needs would be

i5lp 500acres' and municipal.pari.'needs would be 17,000 acres,

The current inventaryAs that New,York State-owns 59000 acres

of park and recreation land in 'the Erie-Niagara Region# Erie

County owns 5,000 acres* Niagara'County owns 1000 acres, and

@.local municipalities 4ot,:provi4ing'sighific_ant acreage'of park
45
or recreational facilities. WhileAt' may be hazardous to make,

assumptions,on@'the.se.,[email protected]'l@d appear that park and recrea-

tion landlin the region is inadequate and that park land acqui-

sitiqn is necessary* The question to be asked is whoshould

@make the,adquisitioria'and who should-ma4age the,park system.

The-pre'oiint..park-and,.recreati-on.ey2stem-id complex with

facilities!being,,prov-i4ed.at, federal,., atatek county,, and muni-

cipal levels. .Has the -presents stem,worked? The answer is
y

yes and.no.. Certainly. park'. and recreationfacilities have been

provided and may be the best.that could be developed with lim-

ited funds. But in evaluating previous park, recreation, and

open space plans for the region the ENCRPB has stated that

209

these@plan,%,: which relied on standards..drawn up at the-national

level, have violated good senset have assumed that every family

is"highly mobile, have neglected the,young,, the seniorg and low-

er.inco.me.classes and has been too restrictive to integrate into

a comprehensive plan.. The F.NCRPB went on to "lash out at the

false economy in'. human:ter-me..inherent.in not adequately plann-

ing to'serve the recreation needs of all the"various groups of

46
people who make up the region's population.,, Another prob-

lem with'the current system in the region is that if federal

and state governments have,provided a largenumber of facili-

ties in the areaq-the county level tends to fall behind in

providing recreation 1,::i,t thearea is well. supplied with coun-

ty parkst municipal.-governments tend to. fall behind in provid-

ing local.parks and recreation, @The problem is that state,

county, and, community:recreation do not always.serve the same

recreational need for various groups within the region,

Based on the above information it-is*therefore concluded

that -the regional government become responsible for a complete

park system to serve theneleds of all the people in the region.

This. can, be. done in sever al ways 'and could be worked out later

but theprincipal feature is that.one organization must become

responsible for the provision and coordination of the park,

210

.open space, and recreational facilities in the region. The re-

gional government would assume the responsibility for channel-

ing federal and state efforts into programs that.meet the needs

of.all groups. Some local parks may remain under local juris-

diction,

Air Quality Control

There is little needto reiterate the severity of air pol-'

in the Erie-Niagara Region. It is well known that the

region is' one of the most seriously air polluted areas in the

United States. The most permissive New York State standards

are being exceeded.in Lackawanna and South Buffalos Niagara
Falls,.North Tonawanda$ and Tonawanda. 47 Anyone driving

through the region can attest to the severity of the air pol-

lution'prdblem.

Air pollution control is currently the responsibility of

the Erie and Niagara,Counties Air Pollution Control Divisions

which.are funded through the Air Pollution Control Office of

the Environmental Protection Agency. Air pollution control is

clearly a regional matter as evidenced by the designation of

the Niagara Frontier Intrastate Air Quality Control Region on

May 19 1969 which consists of the entire counties of Niagara

and Erie.

211

Since the: regi has- b
on een clas%ified,by'the federal govern-

ment.as an air quality control region and because'of the trans-

'county effects of:air polluti-6n.itis concluded region-
that the

.al.government should a Issume,resp6hoibilities for monktoring and

abatemeii.t.progra.Ms., This,is in keepiAg-..,,,@Vith the, Advisory Com-.

misision,,.on:@,Intergovernmental!Relatio'ns who;-.Ptat

n-The "str
'ong consens4s.1,of -eLir.-pol'lut,ioh,..contrb,l,dx
Perts
isin 6' area of pollut on
seems to@ be. that"- 0 the- sources
and effects frequently 6*e_rlap!3' the boun "daries of lo-
cai''governments units, ppllution.al control activities
should be performed by an agency with a..real jurisdic-
tion encompassing that f., ber of municipalitie.s'
and perhaps evene 0 Mum
C
The regional: government must:,,,. however'!.,' ovide- addeas to

community involvement .,in, air, pqllUti.on control, It, must act.

Ity,level.
an outl'et.for ievances,An@itiated'at-the communi
as

It must be the initiatbrof.public- hearings on air, pollution

cases.that are'inflicting,danger.to the residents,of the re-'

gion.

CARital Borr6wing

One function thatIs often sidestepped:in proposals to

allocate functions tojone level of government or the other

is theisquin debentures for the fi4anc al
g of Uw of capit

expenditures. This could be a,,divided.responsibil.ity but

the full benefits would be reached.only if the regional gov-

ernment assumes sole responsibility for this function. It

212

is therefore, concluded that all debentures be issued by the re-

gional government for both regional and local capital expendi-

tures. This scheme has double benefits; First, capital will be

obtained easier and at the least possible cost and; secondg the

regional government will have the,authority- to control the capi-

tai budgets of the lo*er-tier jurisdictions providing a ration-

al setting'of priorities.

Other Functions

There are a variety of other general'purpose government

functions that.could be covered includingi education, fire,pro-

tection', police.. welfare, health, housing* etc. It is not the

purpose here to provide the framework.for the division or shar-

ing of these functions. tThis is due to the limitations of this

report and because this report is more concerned with those func-

tions that affect the physical environment.

'The other,functions are ones that, reformers had hoped'would

be one of the greatest benefits of regional governments but for

which most reform methods have seen fit to avoid. These are al-

so some of the functions which have caused the most debate and

controversies particularly between central city and suburban

and rural groups. Howeverp the basic pattern of assignment

contemplated is illustrated by those functions already discuss-

213

eds Thegreatestnote to be made here is.the conclusion that

nobard lines can.be drawn between functions; that the empha-

sis should be,onthe sharing of power and responsibility.

'Therefore, somewhat reluctantly, the complexities and

discussionof some of the other vital functions will be left

to writers with more knowledge and less limitation than those

faced by the current author.

The Problem.Of Taxes And Financing In Reorganization

The problem that most governmental reform will have to

.face and,which some have avoided is.the problem of equitable

taxation. 'The problem.of taxation is important because t is

a measur6lof,governments,willingness.-to tax and spend to pro-

vide for an adequate living environment for present ana future

generations. A regional government like 'any other government

@must be @[email protected] adequate tax base if it is'to be df-

fictive. Regional needs must bd.met with regional funds. The

problems of the higher density centers do not respect the town

boundaries in Erie and,Niagara Counties.. The public.must be.

convinced of the true natureof the regionsproblems and that

financial support must@be given notonly to:solve lo.calprob-

lems within the lower-tier boundaries but also to solve re-

gional problems. In earlier days, when communities were more

214

separatedo taxing and support of only the local government may.

have made sense; but this is not the case today@

The main problem is with the property tax.. While som&au-

thors have claimed that the property tax amounts to 70 to 75

per cent of local government revenue this is not true in New

York State. In..1958 the real property tax amounted to approxi-

mately 50 per cent of local government revenue; in 1968 the per-
centage decline d t.o approximately 30,per cent.49 While it is

agreed that the property tax may be diminishing in importance,,

30 per cent of the local government budget still represents a

large sum of funds.

Re.al property tax suffers from two major sources of inequ-

ity: unequal assessment and under assessment, Its administra-.

ti,on has been described as inequitable. inefficient, incomplete,

or corrupt. -There is no more vivid illustration of the need for

50
reform of local institutions* The property tax differential

across Erie and Niagara'Counties has been listed as an obstacle
to, solving environmental problems. 51

While the importance of providing an equitable tax base

cannot be underestimated it is difficult and complex to assess

the current taxing situation. There are many factors that cause

differences among property- taxes. The City of Buffalo real es-

215

tate taxes cover schooll expenditures while other communities

levy separate school taxes. Some of the larger cities rely

partially on city dales and use taxese while,other communi-

ties rely more heavily on the real property tax. Thereforej

the following,table-showing the property valuation based on

state equalization rates and the property tax collected by

rand.omly'selected cities and towns in Erie-Niagara Counties

should be;use'd with some discretion. It does.appearg how-

ever, that the amounts-paid based on property valuation do':,

vary,widely in the region.

TABLE 13

PROPERTY TAXES FOR SELECTED COMMUNITIES- *52,

COMMUNITY' 'PROPERTY VALUATION PROPERTY TAX ---TAX/jOO0 VAL,

City of Buffalo' 11,512 000,000
34,48.4,00-0 3.010
City of Lackawanna 387,00010,00 :208719000 7.42.

City, of Tonawanda- -98,000,000 1,1-119000
--11-35
.Town of Alden 34,oQo,--ooo 54,ooo 1.60@
Town of Amherst -463,000,000 lt342,000 2. 90,
Town of Aurora 78,000 - 000 66,ooo 0.845
Town of Boston -25,000,900 151-000 -.0.6o.

Town of Brant 11,0009000 27,000 2.46

Town of Cheektowaga -455,000,000 834,ooo 1.83

Town of Clarence 102,000,000 16o,ooo 1.57

Town of Coldeh .120P00,000.
48,Ooo 4.o
City of Niagara Fall,s 5259000.000 6,379,000 12. 2
Town ofLewiston 84,ooo,ooo 192,000 2,28
Town of Lockport 32,000,000 156,ooo .4.87

Town of Wheatfield 57,000,000 135000 2,37

Based'on'1965 assessed taxable valuation-by-,the 1965-state equalization rates

215b

.,Although the table is not conclusive evidence that the

property tax....situation. is ine,quitable in Erie-Niagara Coun-

.ties it would certainly lead one to suspect so.

it is not-the purpose here to go into greater depth on

the -taxing 'situation. The problem is too com lex and lengthy

to accomplish. anything here except to mention that the problem

'exists. Whether a regional or metro government can accomplish

the assessment, administrationj and collection of taxeO,in,,a

more efficient and equitable manner is perhaps up to specula-

tion.' No governmental reorganization plan has yet to untangle

the jungle. Metro Torontog long benefiting from alarger juris-

diction,,indreAsed professionalization of assessors,, and automa-,
tion, has failed to compile a distinguished assessment record.. 53

The Mayor of.St'., Catharines. a municipality in.the Regional

Municipality.of Niagara, has presented a brief for opting out

of the,regional government to the Province based,on taxation

matters he feels are unfair to the citizens of St. Catharines.

Three American cities, Nashville, Tenni Jacksonville, Flal and

Indianapolis. Ind; who have recently.consolidated city and coun-,

ty governments have also failed to solve the problems of the

property tax. In fact Unigov, the new name for government in
Indianapolis has aggravated the matter by increasing the taxing

21 5c

54
units from 61 to 75. The urban county comprehensive plan used

by Dade Count.ilro Florida (Yliami) has not solved the problems of

taxess

It can only be hoped that regional goverment proposals

find some way of solving the tax situations it is conceded

that a regional goverment might well improve the situation at

least insofar as assessment and collection are concerned. But

the problem is deepiero, it carries into state, and national lev-

els. Perhaps revenue sharing and other means of financing lo-

Cal govermentwill 'greatly diminish the property tax as a main

source of revenue for local goverment,

Alternatives To The Intercounty General Purpose Approach

A drawback to what I have presented in.this chaptero a re-

gional government for Erie-Niagara Counties,, N,Y., is.its po-

11tical feasibility, Therefore@ in order to satisfy those who

would say that this,w'ill never work I!will suggest some alter-

natives.

Urban County

This firstalterpative is to reorganize.along the lines.of

the urban county comprehensive plan as briefly discussed earlier.

The alternative is simplel simply divide the framework presented

215d

for the regional government by the two countiest utilize the ex-

isting,county legislatures as the new county.governments, and

reallocate functions along the'same lines as presented for a re-

gional government,

This method utilizes the existing'structure, existing bound-

aries, ahdAoes not call for the dissolution' of the existing

counties. It-will have many'advantages and.is more of a politi.-

,Cal reality. .'The two-level:approach can still be maintained,

indeed it must big maintained. Other recent governmental reforms,

@of this nature, as in Nashville# Tenn,v Jacksonvilles Fla., and

Indiahapolisq Ind,, are all suffering from internal stress be-

cause they were organized as a one level government with no com-

munity level..

What this alternative does not do is to treat regional

pr6blems.and.needs, on a regional basis. It should be perfectly

clear by now that the two counties form one regionj leaving the

counties divided will make it more difficult to treat regional

problems with regional solutions.

Multi-Purpose-District

A second alternative would be the formation of metropolitan

districts to handle such functions as sewage and water, trans-

portation, and planning. The metropolitan district was discuss-

21 5e

ed earlier in ChapterIV, The advantages of this approach would

be its political,feasibility if limited to perform one or only a

few functions, The disadvantage is that the.distriet is usually

removed from,,the people and is-usually allowed to perform only- a

limited number- of functions. The Metropolitan Sanitary Dis-

trict.of Greater dhicago, the Detroit Metro Water Department.,

and the Seattle Metro are examples of metropolitan agencies who

are doing outstanding jobs but are limited to only water and

sewage. In addition these districts, whenrembved from general

government 'are usually given only remedial pow6 rs.and little if

any preventive powers.

Some'theorists feel that this is the best wayo within the,

political and technical context of the Great Lakes SMSA,sg, to

solve certain problems,. This may,be true.. Others feel that

after the single purpose agency solves one problem citizens

may be willing to allow the agency to undertake additional

duties. There is no indication that this has or is about to

@..happen;.thi,s may be classified as wishful thinking.

Therefore, it issuggested that the metropolitan district.2

approach be only used when the first two alternatives have al-

ready been turned down by the, voters. If it is used it should

be implemented to be as multipurpose as possiblel possibly

215f

through the broadening of the powers of the.Erie-Niagara Coun-

ties Regional Planning Board,

Numerous other alternatives could be advanced, They all

will, however, fall into two categories; either reorganization

of-general,purpose@ governments,,'orp providing for special pur-,

pose agencies. or commissions. The route taken in this chapter

has been to r,eorganii.e general purpose goverment on the belief

that enVironmental quality control cannoit be, accomplished -on.a

special purpose ad hoc, basis but must be an integral part of

overall community development,

215g

REFERENCES

CHAPTER V

l.. Henry B. Mayo, Preliminary Re-port-Niagara Peninsula Committee
On Urban And Reaional Research, (Grimsby., Ontario, October,
1974@ -P. 13.

2. Ontario Economic Council, Government Reform In Ontario, (To-
ronto, Ontario, Februaryo 196939'Pe 290
3. Ibid.', pp. 43-440-

4. Ibid.

Hbno'u@rable W. Darcy McKeough, "The Regional Municipality Of
LincolhAnd Welland." Address given at thelown of Niagara,
January 23, 19690 p. 18.
6. The Re'gional,Municipality of Niagara, Illustration Of The In-
crease In Grants Payable Under The Regional Government Act
Over The MuniciRal Unconditional Grant In The Area MuniciRal-
ities In The Region Of Niaaara, (St. Catharines,,Ontario,
@April, 1970).'p. 4.

7. [email protected]., 4, p. 1.
8. @bid P. 1.

9. @OR, Cit.', 2, P. 37.
10. OP._Cit1.g1.4v pe 4o
11. W. H@ Palmer, The Progress Of The Regional Government Program
In Ktario, (Toronto, Ontario, October, 1970). P. 5.

112. Hon. W. Darcy- McKeough, "Local Government Reform Why We Need
.: 'It, What It Means,, And Our Progress So Far,,",Ppeech deliver-
ed',to the Kiwdnis Club, (Owen Sound, September 10, 1970)9
p
10.

13. 012. Cit., 1, Appendix 11C. 11
14. Brief of The City of St. Catharines On Regional.Niagara Im-
plementation presented by The Mayor and Members Of The Coun-
cil Of The City of St. Catharines to the Ontario Municipal
Board, March 22, 1971.

15. New York State Division of the Budget, Office at Statistical
Coordination, New York State Statistical Yearbook, 1971,
(Albany, New York, 1971), po 1-7--8'-.
16. Ibid.

215h

17. Erie and Niagara, Counties Regional Planning Board Initial
Environmental.-Study, (Grand Island,, N.Y.., June pe
70. 1 7-6T,

Erie and..Niagara Counties.Regional-Planning Board, ,Inter-
national Design Study0' "ENCRPB Newsletter, Vol. III, No.
5 & 6, .(November-December, 1971)0

19. International Joint Commission, Lake Erie-Lake Ontario@Ad_
visory toardo The Niagara River-Pollution Abatement Pro-_
gress'1971, (August, 1971), p. 25.

200 Robert..Flo Erie-Niagara Counties Re-
yd, Sr. Civil Engineer
T
ional Planning Board,'Interviewed by Donald R. Kisicki,
Cornell University', May 9, 1972).
21. Eri@ and.Niagara Counties Regional Planning Board, News-
letter, Vol. II, No. 9 & 10, (March-April, 1971).

.22. Ibid.

23. U.S. Cb,ngress, Subcommittee of the Committee On Government
Operations,.House of,Representativeso Hearings On Grant
Consolidation and Inter.-overnmental CooReration, Ninety-
First Congresst,(Washington, P.C.,'U.S. Government Print-
ing Office,. 1969), p'. 178-@

Op, Cit.s .16* p. 29.

25. Erie and.Niagara Counties Regional Planning Board,.Interna-
tional Design Study-preliminary Environmental Improvement
Programs, (Grand Island, New York, 1972).

26. Op. Cit.$ 21.

27. Op. Cit., 1, pe -25.
28. u.s. lAdvis6ry C mmission.On Intergovernmental Relations
0
For A.More Perfect Union-County Refomo Report M-61, (Wash-.'
ington, D. C@. , April, 1971), p.
"294 John C. Bolleris and Henry J. Schmandt, The Metropolis Its,@:
PeoRle, Politics, and Economic Life, (New'York, Harpe d-
Row, Publishers, 1965)9 P- 336.

30. Ibid. Pe 3480

31, U,. S Adviso sion On, Inter @nmental Relation I
ry Commis . . . govei s., n,,
Search of-, Bn 3 ance"Canad:6'L'I's Intergovernmental tx@eriendes
T'Washington, D.C., 197.1):*

32. Hugh L. LeBlanc and D. Trudeau Allenswortho The Politics Of,
States and Urban Communities, (New York, Harper and Row,
Inc. 1971). p. 225.

215i

33. Ibid.
34. Committee For Economic Development, Reshaping Government
In Metropolitan Areas, (New York, N.Y., February-, 1970), p.45.

35., Ibid.', p@. 47.

36. Ibido

37. Barton-Aschman Associates, Inc., Evaluation Of TransRorta-
tion Planning And Its Impact On Regional Development,
(Grand Island, New York, Erie and Niagara Counties Region-
al Planning Board, August, 1969), p. 28.

38. U.S.,Advisory' Commission On Intergovernmental Relations,
Performance Of Urban Functions: Local and Areawideg Re-
port M-21, (Washington, D.C., September, 1963), p. 22.

39, Daniel R. Mandelker, Man ing Our UrbanZnvironment-Cases,
Text and Problems, (New York, Bobbs-Merrill Company@, Inc.,
1963@# Pe 34.

4o. Op Cit., 1, P. 13.

41. New York State Office of Planning Services, New York State
beveloDment PI&D-1, (Albany,.New York, January, 1971), P.
114.

@42. Erie'and.Niagara Counties Regional Planning Board, "'Solid
Waste Management Study," ENCRPB Newsletter, Vol..III, No.
4, (October, 1971), p. 20
43. OR. Cit,. v 36p po 98*

440 Erie and Niagara Counties Regional Planning Board, Open
Spam Parks. Recreation And ORen Space Study, Staff Report,
No. 3, (Grand Island, New Yorko June, 1969), p. 8.

45. Erie and NiagaLra Counties Regional Planning Board, Eftgjonal
Recreation Implementation Study and Plan, (Grand Island,
New York, September, 1971)o P. 5.
46, Q2. Cit., 42 pp. 1-2.
47. 2P-.Cit-p 16t po 23*
486 Op. Cit-@ 360 P* 1800

49. Op, Cit., 14, p. 179.
50. Committee For Economic Development,)Yiodernizing Local Gov-
2rnment, New York, N.Y., July, 196 pe 57o-
51. Qp-o -Cit., 16, p. 60.

21 5i

52. New York State Bureau of Planning Research, Co,mmunity -Pro-
file Western New York Planning Region, (Albany, New York-,
TU y

53. Lionel D. Feldman and Michael D. Goldrick, Politics and
Government Of Urban Canada, (Methean Publications, Toronto,
1 -@ -6 -9 ) -,p @_ T65-.

54. Michael J. Sniffen, "Metro Government Hasn,t Solved The
Problem Of Taxes," New York Times, (June, 1972).

216

CHAPTER VI

INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT OF NIAGARA FRONTIER

The purpose of this section is to view the combined study

area as a unit. to a limited extent certain previous sections

of this report have touched on this subject. The intent of

this section is to go into greater detail on the interests#

goals, and problems shared by the two separate study areas

and the vehicle by which the two areas may cooperate on joint

matters.

In the next few decades the urban areas of both countries

will grow closer and closer together until perhaps one large

metropolitan-urban unit emerges. In fact the combined study

area has already been recognized as a metropolitan area inter-

national in.territorial extent, thus being involved in deci-

sions of international importance. The region's location

gains added significance from its international position as a

maior contact point between the United States and one of Can-

ada's most heavily urbanized sections# that of Southern Ontario.

The late President Kennedy in his address to the Two Houses

of Parliament in Ottawa on May 17, 1961 stateds

,#Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us
friends. Economics has made us partners. And neces-
sity has made us allies... Thus ours is the unity of
equal and independent nationso cotenants of the same

217

continent, heirs of the same legacy, and fully sovereign
associates in the same historic endeavor*.*,"2

Although Kennedy was speaking of the nations as a whole the

words are even more significant to the frontier areas. The two

study areas not only share the same history and geography, but

are close en ough and interrelated enough to share and be affect-

ed by common problems particularly common environmental problems.

In the Niagara Frontier international environmental problems are

not only academic words but real facts* Certainly if concern is

generated for global environmentg for the environment of the

Great Lakes Systeml then concern for the international environ-

ment cannot be more acute than where the land masses and urban

masses of two countries are separated only by a few thousand

feet of water.

The closeness of the land and urban massess the common prob-

lemst made even more common by transboundary movements of pollu-

tants9 the common interests such as regional development and con-

cern for a high quality environment, lead to the conclusion that

the Niagara Frontier is an environmental and economic unit,, its

division being political not geographic.

Political boundaries are not recognized by pollutants in the

air and water, by fish that swim in the water, nor by environ-

218

mental aesthetics. Furthermoreq in modern times political bound-

aries are less evident in regional economic development particu-

larly with regard to United States and Canada. Not only do com-

panies based in one country establish branches in the other but

people may live in one country while being employed in the other,

Not only does economic development take place across the border

but the Niagara Frontier is located so that the number of people

within easy driving distance determines to a large extent the de-

mand for facilities at that site, these people may or may not be

residents of the same country in which the facility is located.

To illustrate the case of accessibility between the two study

areas figures 18 and 19 are presented showing areas within one-

3
half and one hour driving time respectively.

Because of the close proximity and ease of accessibility it

may be beneficial to look upon the Niagara Frontier as a unified

system neglecting the fact that an international boundary exists.

As the last chapter viewed governments on both sides of the Riv-

er in a regional context it may be beneficial to now view the

entire Frontier in the same manner. The purpose of this chap-

ter will be to do the following:

1. Report on in more detail the common problems and
interests that might lead to mutual accommodation
between the two separate study areas.

219

Bowmaqvi I I e Porl Ho
-Vb@,R K howo
0'.
Arthur ...... .... .

< ..........
PEEL
WELL I NWGT
Bromplop\
..........
0
T- --7r rarljo

...... ..... -x:
\h
Guelp
0
Pt. Cred I
AL00
............ ......
.. .. ... .... ...
A' k
Pakitille ......
Nitchener
..........
... ...... Iv r
\Pr eston

...........
............
Galt
r i r
X.
und

oris a mill
agora n th
WEN j -cke
Brantford .... Lo kport
re, by StV-thorin
BRANT@@ Niagara ails
L- N .
L
N 1

Batavia
H -Qgersyj4t--
'Pf4@D I kMLA-NJX
"(r I 4k@ L 9 Beac uffolo
sinicoe q) nnyiNA- cr sla ..... N.Y.

)RFOLK

w an

...........
.............

U. S. A.
A K E 19 1

4 0 8 16
-- - -1-R
Scale i n Miles

LEGEND

GRIMSBY AREAS WITHIN ONE HALF HOUR'S
xWjEW6QWj= NIAGARA ON THE LAKE DRIVING TIME FROM SELECTED
NIAGARA FALLS POINTS IN THE REGION
0 CRYSTAL BEACH

LONG BEACH

FiF, 18 Ref 3

220

80 a vill!e
-YVR K
Ihowo o
01.
Arthur

Y.
F
PEEL
WE'L L I N*G T
\< Brompto/n/\ kT ..........
-T
610

Guelp
ON/
R L,0(0
A K jE :j::@
4,on
Poliville
0 N T A R, 0
Yre sl on
Golt

und

Paris a I n
I r on the oke
go
Brant rd WEN earnsville i ckport
Cotharines
BRA4 A y S I I Niogoro Fal
L- - - -T- N. Y.
NIAGARA Niagara Falls
w e!iTo-n d,
-"__ ! 0 1 otow
H.agersyj 48 1 T
4@ Ct falo
'-fU L Beacl'I cr@stai sea
SiAcoe Dun
... @,nf
P1. Col

ORFOLK
t..D

......... .
..........

f: Row

X., -

..........
....... ....
1. A K U. S. A.
......... ...
X-

4 0 a 16

Scale in Miles

LEGEND

GRtMSBY AREAS WITHIN ONE HOUR'S
m"wo"o- NIAGARA ON THE LAKE DRIVING TIME FROM SELECTED
NIAGARA FALLS
POINTS IN THE REGION
0 CRYSTAL BEACH

1-CN3 BEA::H

Fig. 19 Ref. 3

221

2. Determine types of functions politically and
legally possible* that might add to more ef-
ficient management of the total living envi-
ronment of the Frontier.

3. The form that some type of formal (informal)
cooperative structure might take.
4. How the structure mentioned in (3) would fit
into a comprehensive overall Great Lakes Man-
agement organizationg such as a strengthened

Common Interests

The common interests of both study areas goes beyond the

common resource pool of air and water discussed throughout this

reports indeed the common interests extend to a full range that

form a sense of community within the combined study area. To

explain more fully the common interests one might investigate

some of the factors that lead to thinking of the Niagara Fron-

tier as a community.

First, th e study areas on both sides of the Niagara River

share the same history. Without the navigation of the Great

Lakes and without the early development of hydropower it is

very doubtful that either side*w*ould exist as they do today.

In fact all of the urban centers in the region are located ad-

jacent to water bodies whether it be Lake Erie or Ontario# the

Niagara River, or Welland Canal. Therefores, both sides owe

their existence to a utilization of the common water resource*

In more modern times the picture has changed somewhat.

222

Navigation and,transportation on the Great Lakes System is still

important to some industries in the area, while the location

factor of being near a source of hydropower no longer obtain,

Navigation and transportation have become a factor more than of

a strictly commercial nature through a combination of recreation-

al and cultural activities. To cite an exampleg one could use

the Welland Canal. The Canal's history and its mechanics make

it an interesting featureo attracting many visitorsi, both Cana-

than and American, to the area. At lock 3 in St. Catharines, a

viewing area,, picnic facilities,, and information center have been

set up with an estimated 609000 visitors during the summer tour-
ist season,4

The common interest of recreation is one that bears ampli-

fication. Referring back to figure 19 it is seen that within

one hour's driving time a person can travel.from one extremity

of the frontier to the other, This means that essentially all

points in the region are accessible to approximately 2 million

people within one-hour's driving time.

Parks, recreation,, and open space form an important and

complex function in the region. In recent years it has become

recognized that the physical and mental health of an urbanized

region requires that provision be made for relaxation, exer-

223

cise, and release from everyday pressures.5 Furthermorev in a

study done,by the RMN based on experiences in Toronto, it has

been found that a large percentage of the urban population de-

mands outdoorg water oriented recreational activities. This

places the Niagara Region in a vital position as a result of

its high potential for further water based recreation since a

large population lives nearby in urban centers of Torontot Ham-

ilton, Buffalo-Niagara Falls-Lockport, N.Y. and St, Catharines#
6
Niagara Falls, Welland# and Port Colborne,

Increased demand for recreation is also related to rising

per capita incomes and the desire for a higher quality environ-

ment. Since in the combined study area the majority of the

population lives in urban areas, and incomes have been rising

at approximately the same rate as for the na tions, and demand

for a higher quality environment has been expressed on both

sides of the border, the implications for high quality recrea-

tion in the region are clear. The assessment of and need for

more high quality recreation on both sides of the Niagara River

is being invest igated to the credit of regional bodies involved.

Regional recreation appears to have more implications and

potential for the RMN than for Erie and Niagara Counties. This

@is probably due to a number of factors including the more unique

224

nature of the Niagara Peninsula and certainly the lower popula-

tion densities on the Canadian side. Whatever the factors are

the facts are clear that many Americans travel to the Canadian

side for both day recreation and also for cottaging. The re-

verse does not appear to be true. The Niagara Parke Commission

data reveals that American visitors accounted for 50-65% of the

visitors to their parks and that approximately 17% of these came

from New York. In addition to day-type visits a large number of

the cottages bordering Lake Erie in the Town of Fort Erie and

the City of Port Colborne are American owned.. This cottage de-

velopment provides an important percentage of the total tax

assessment in these areas amounting to 35 per cent and 15 per

cent for the Town of Fort Erie and the City of Fort Colborne
respectively,7 Two implications are evident$ first American

recreation is,an important market potential for development in

the Niagara Peninsula and second$ water pollution in Lake Erie

has resulted in decreased demand for further cottage develop-

ment along the lakes

The tourism element of recreation is also very important to

the economics of both study areas# particularly in the Falls

area. The Niagara Falls and related developments are the most

outstanding inter-regional facilities in the Region and provide

225

the basis for a significant portion of the regions, tourist eco-

nomy. Both sides of the River benefitl the Canada-United States

border presenting no artificial barrier to the movement of tour-

ists. Again the RMN appears to benefit more from American visi-

tors than vice-versa where expenditures by United States visi-

tors are believed to approximate 75 per cent of total tourist

expenditures in the RMN. Tourism has been responsible for ap-

proximately 10 per cent of the gross provincial product and in-

come generated in RMN from tourism is estimated to be about six

times higher than the provincial average. The Niagara Parks Com-

mission has indicated that between 12 and 13 million visitors

visited the Canadian side of the Falls area in 1969. This com-

pares to an estimated visitor attendance on the American side of
9
7.5 million-people in 1975.

Although the RMN may be a large supplier of recreation to

people on the U.S. sides it is dependent on the dollars spent

by the vacationers and partially on the tax assessment provided

by vacation homes. The RMN is certainly also dependent on its

relationships with the large market area of the Buffalo SbISA*

A substantial proportion of the outputs produced in Regional

Niagara is sold to markets outside the region. 16 per cent be-

ing exported to the U,S. In fact only 5 per cent of Regional

226

Niagara,s products are consumed within its boundaries. 10 Cer-

tainly the Buffalo SMSA containing approximately 1.5 million

people would be a factor for industry to locate in RMN.

It may be interesting to note that the study areas on

both sides of the border contain approximately the same percent-

ages of the labor force employed in manufacturing, trade, or

services as shown by the following tables

Buffalo-Niaaara Falls-SMSA RMN

Manufacturing 38.0 37.9
Trade 17.9 13-5
Services 21.6 23.5

Therefore, there is a sense of community interest between

the two sides on factors that affect employment in any one of

these three industries,

Up to this point this section has shown that each area is

somewhat dependent on each othere that the two portions of the

study area have a sense of community of interests regarding his-

tory, recreation, tourism, and economic development. But along

with the community of interests there is also a community of

problems.

Common Problems

Common problems could be defined as those that affect the

common pool resources of air and water in the region. Land may

227

also be considered as a common p'ool resource even though it is

largely individually owned. Various types of land use not only

affect the aesthetics of the environment and recreational poten-

tial but also. regional economic development. In fact the utili-

zation of all natural resources affects regional economic devel-

opment.

The common environmental problems have been related to ear-

lier in chapter II. These common problems affecting all the

primary resources of the frontier have resulted from the econom-

ic-exploitive ethic of the past which stated that the greatest

good is to control and exploit nature in order to produce pro-

jects and generate wealth. This ethic has been practiced on

both sides of the Frontier and has resulted in the problems of

the present.

It has become increasingly clear that man can no longer

follow either the economic-exploitive ethic or a maximum-use

ethic which states that the use of a primary resource as a

waste receptacle is a legitimate use. What appears to be

emerging as the most logical ethic for man to follow is not a

preservation ethic which would oppose the use of natural re-

sources but an ecologic-human ethic, which recognizes and ap-

preciates the primacy of man, his legitimate needs and wants,

228

and the need to fit and reconcile man with his environment both

12
as an individual and as a community.

What does the ecologic-human ethic mean for the Niagara

Frontier? Firstv it means that the entire frontier; on both

sides of the river must solve the present problems created by

the earlier ethiosg problems created by development and utili-

zation of the envir onment without regard to its necessary role

in the ecologic cycle. Second, as a community the Niagara Fron-

tier must preserve and enhance the environment not only for the

benefit of present citizens but also for the benefit of future

generations. Third. the frontier must plan for future develop-

ment in such a way not only to provide for the economic needs of

the citizens but also to provide for a high quality life for the

community. These three goals apply- to both sides of the border.

Furthermoreq what one side does will affect the other side and

vice-versa.

Evidence of the statement that what one side does affects

the other may be obtained through the transboundary movement of

pollutants. It was shown in chapter 11 that the major source

of water pollution in the Niagara River is in the,Buffalo-Niag-

ara Fallsq N.Y. area and that pollutants from these sources are

transboundary in nature particularly in the Falls and Lower Ni-

229

agara River area. This water pollution not only affects the

municipal. industrial, and recreational use of,the Niagara

River on both sides, but perhaps more importantly affects the

tourism aesthetics in the Falls area to viewers on both sides

of the River. Sources on the Canadian side are also emitters

of pollutants but because the United States side is greatly more

urbanized and industrialized it is responsible for the major harm

created by water pollution as it affects both sides of the study

area,

As the United States sources of water pollution harm the

Canadian side more than vice-versa sources of air pollution on

the Canadian side affect the United States side more than vice-

versa. This is due to the direction of prevailing winds which

travel in a northeasterly direction. Therefore, air pollution

generation in the St. Catharines, Welland, and Niagara Falls,

Ontario areas affects the quality of the environment particu-

larly in the Niagara Falls# N.Y. area.

Visual aesthetics on both sides of the river affects the

recreation and tourism values of both portions of the study

area. Visual aesthetics are not only affected by industrial

development, but also by commercial development. A report re-

cently issued by the International Joint Commission urged both,

230

countries to work together to prevent high-rise construction

13
from blighting the American Falls. The report noted three

new projects planned for the Canadian shorei a 14-story hotel,

a 24-story condominium and an elevated monorail overlooking

the Falls. On the American side$ the report said, new build-

ings are expected to sprout up near Niagara Falls convention

center, which is now under construction.

The report went on to say "If this process were to con-

tinue unchecked, there is a serious risk that the viewing

towers, high rise buildings and commercial structures would be-

come such dominating elements in the scene that the appeal of

the Falls themselves would be diminished." The report called

upon the two countries to recognize that "mistakes that are

made on one side are suffered principally by the country on the

other side.', Although the report was addressed to national gov-

ernments on both sides ultimate enforcement of any resultant

proposals would depend on local governments in the Falls area.

The statement that mistakes made on one side are princi-

pally suffered by the country on the other side is an important

,statement for this section. Without any doubt this is certainly

true with respect to development along the Niagara River. This

is also true to a large extent beyond the river. Certainly not

231

all the water pollution in the Niagara River is discharged dir-

ectly to that body but is also discharged within the drainage

basins on both sides. Certainly also, air pollution is not

only river wide in extent, but is more correctly frontier-wide,

Recreation, tourism and regional development are also not lim-

ited to the Niagara River but again the mistakes or solutions

made by one side do affect the other,

A common problem not often considered as an international

situation having transboundary effects is the economic effects

of the regional environment. Almost every area that has envi-

ronmental problems would like to attract "light-type" industry

which does not seriously affect the environment. But to do

this the region must attract highly skilled technical and pro-

fessional manpower.

The ENCRPB surveyed what effects the regional environment

played in recruiting professional and technical personnel and

thus retaining and attracting light industry. The survey con-

cluded that "there is a definite environmental input when per-

sons, consider job positions, an input which does not work to

the advantage of the region. This input is especially impor-

tant with highly trained persons, who are both more mobile than

the general population, and in greater demand, thus allowing

232

considerations other than financial." The report went on to say

that the region possessed significant and potential environmen-

tal assetsbut that they are not well publicized nationally to

the detriment of personnel recruitment.

This survey was only concerned with Erie. and Niagara Coun-

ties region but there is an international implication. If the

regional environment is important to the recruitment of highly

trained personnel and if the flow of people is not restricted

by an international boundary, then does not or should not the

environment of the international Niagara Frontier play a signif-

icant role in economic development? Furthermore$ would not pub-

licizing the international regional assets aid.in personnel re-

cruitment? The answer to both these questions is of course

yesq but the real fact is that the two separate areas do almost

nothing in terms of publicizing the entire region# though it

may be to the.benefit of both.

Therefore, it should be clear that decisions made on one

side of the frontier could and in fact do affect the other

side. The international boundary is little more effective in

isolating one area from the other than are local jurisdiction-

al boundaries.

233

International-Intraregional Cooperation

To Manage Community And Regional Environmental Priorities

Earlier in this study the pollution problems of the Niagara

Frontier was discussed along with urbanization trends citing the

need for administrative, legislative, and fiscal reform in order

to avoid conflicts and to provide for a high quality environ-

ment in an urba n setting. Later the concept of regionalism was

discussed with a review of the Regional Municipality of Niagara

and the setting of a framework for a regional government for

Erie and Niagara Counties, N.Y. Up to this point in this.chap-

ter some of the common'interests and common problems that exist

.between the study areas on both sides of the Niagara River were

discussed. All of the above now leads to the present section

on international intraregional cooperation.

Here the term intraregional is used because it has become,

evident that the combined study area does truly represent a re-

gion even though it is divided by an international boundary. A

region that is a community sharing a common history, common

geographyt fairly common social and economic characteristiess

and common interests and problems.

The discussion on common interests and problems might lead

one to suspect that since the two areas share mutual interests

234

there might be areas of concern that would be mutually advanta-

geous for both areas to cooperate one The setting up of some

form of a multipurpose regional government for Erie and Niagara

Counties is necessary to provide for international-intraregion-

al cooperation. A regional, government in Niagara, Ontario aim-

ply could not cooperate well with the existing 64 local juris-

dictions on the United States side. It could cooperate to some

degree with the ENCRPB but as was shown earlier the ENCRPB can-

not truly speak for the governments in its area. Certainly

then, if there were one regional government opposite to the

RMN cooperation between the two would then be structually

ideal. In the event that a regional government in Erie and

Niagara Counties could not be established then the internation-

al-intraregional system would still be operative if the two

county governments were strengthened along the lines of the com-

prehensive urban county plan. At any event intraregional coop-

eration cannot exist at the present inbalance in local govern-

ment jurisdictions and possibly could not exist if any more than

two regional governments existed on the United States side.

Because decisions made on one side of the frontier mutu-

ally affect both sides rethinking of existing arrangements for

getting things done in the light of present and prospective

235

events is essential. Now and innovative techniques are required

at all levels of government including the regional level. Gen-

eral purpose regional governments are necessary because&

nIt has become fully evident that pollution control
cannot be administered on a special purpose's ad
hoe basiso It and all other water (environmental)
management problems must be considered as part of
the Regional Governments, responsibility for land
use plannings the location of industry, housing,
schools, recreations health facilities and all
other p)ter-related,matters of regional develop-
ment. 0 JL D

To accommodate the above a step toward forming a regional

governments of a general purpose nature, on the United States

side has been made in the preceding chapter,

Now# with the formation of a general purpose regional gov-

ernments on both sides,the institutional model for the manage-

ment of the Niagara Frontier takes on a new shape. Regional

governments on both sides will eliminate many of the problems

of a common pool resource, problems that would normally arise

if a large number of users retained independent rights to the

use of the resourcesp problems that would'normally arise if

voluntary agreement or willing consent of every user would be

required in joint action involving the community of users.,

In the article Principa-1-for Partnership-Canad& and-the

United StStes the following statement is mades

"There is a mutual advantage to developing a more

236

effective working partnership.o.,not only a willing-
ness to exploit acceptable opportunities for joint
understanding but also the willingness of each gov-
ernment to examine existing hindranVgs to coopera-
tion with a view to their removal."J-0

Since there is probably no place in the Great Lakes System that,

cooperation in managing the physical environment is more criti-

cal or more feasible the attempt in the previous chapter to re-

move an existing hindrance to cooperati on, that of fragmented

government, is in keeping with the above statement.

The environment of the Niagara Frontier represents a clas-

sic example ofa common pool resource offering the possibility

of many joint and alternative benefits if users can avoid some

of the negative spillovers engendered by the very nature of the

complex open environment which does not recognize an interna-

tional boundary. Hypotheticallye the stage is now set, with

two workable governments$ one on each side of the Niagara Riv-

er to reap the joint benefits and avoid the negative spill-

overso Now international-intraregional cooperation can take

place.

The question now to be asked is what types of cooperation

would be or could be made possible?

Surveillance

Information Exchange. Probably the simplest function that gov-

237

ernments on both sides of the river could cooperate on is an in-

formation exchange. An exchange of information could be done

informally and would not disrupt any existing governmental re-

sponsibilitiesV i.e., there would be no loss of sovereignty.

Since everything done in the Niagara Frontier.is of concern to

people on both sides of the border a flow of information is im-

portant.

The important concept of information is that it is data of

value in decision making. Information plays such a vital role

because of the rapidly changing nature of society, which has cre-

ated problems of an interdisciplinary and interregional nature.

In modern society there is an increasing demand for providing

for needs other than material goods. Public services such as

protecting and preserving the environmento providing for open

-space and recreation, enhancing regional development all in-

volve decision making by public policy, This public policy must

be based on adequate information of the needs and aspirations of

the particular area involved.

In the Niagara Frontier, needs and problems are not restrict-

ed to one cou ntry or the other, but are international in nature.

Public policy decisions made on one side affect the people on

the other side. Decisions that affect the quality of life in

238

the entire rontier should not be made on a unilateral basist

the two areas are plainly too interacting.

Agencies on both sides of the river are excellent pro-

ducers of information on the physical, social& and economic

characteristics of their area.

The following studies have been or are being prepared by

the RMN and the ENCRPBs

TABLE 14

STUDIES ACCOMPLISUg.D_ BY RMN AND ENCRPB

RMN ENCRPB
Agriculture Study Initial Environmental Study
Environmental Study Land Use
Land Use and Development Study Economic Analysis
Economic Base Transportation
Transportation Study Economic and Demographic
Servicing Study Predictions and Analysis
Community Facilities Study Housing
Preliminary Goals and Objectives Open space, Parks$ Recreation
Regional Growth Patterns
Regional Water and Wastewater.
Study and Plan
Preliminary Concept Plans
and Regional Development
Goals
Populationj Inventory and
Analysis of Existing Data.

Therefore, it appears that a very adequate information base ex-

ists on both sides of the river. The idea now is to provide a

mechanism for the joint exchange of this information.

Not only are the above agencies producing information but

they are in fact producing regional plans for all of the com-

.239

munity and regional priorities listed above, The problem here

is that all the studies and plans are based solely on either

the RMN area or Erie and Niagara Counties. All the maps and

diagrams show only the facilities. problems, or characteristics

for that particular area with little regard for what exists on

the other side of the river. This is surprising and unfortu-

nate.because of the many common interests and problems shared

by both sides of the river.

,The'main problem with the System as it now exists is that

based on the studies made by the two agencie's plans are being

prepared for.two million plus people on one side and for a

half-million plus people on the other side with little thought'

or concern,for the 2.5 million people in common let alone the

megalopolis belt from Toronto to Boston of which the Niagara

Frontier will certainly be a significant part.

In summary then it is suggested that the free flow of in-

formation should be the first function to cooperate on and

should be facilitated by every means possible. This flow of

knowledge will help to assure that all participants are aware

of what their opposite numbers are doing at all times, what

the levels of responsibility on the opposite side are, and

how their decisions may affect decisions on the opposite side.

240

Joint Information Collectign. Along with information exchange

joint information collection could readily be facilitated in

the Niagara Frontier. This implies joint undertakings for re-

search# monitoring, and analysis.

There is often a misconception that research is carried on

only by state# provincial, or federal levels. This is not true.

Research and monitoring are carried out at all levels of govern-

ment includingthe regional (local) level. The amount of stud-

ies and plans developed by regional agencies on both sides of

the Niagara River testifies to a tremendous amount of research

done by these agencies and their consultants.

Conventional monitoring, as carried out in water pollution

studies done by state, provincial, and federal levels comes too

late. It is done after the damage has already occurred. Moni-

toring for the purpose of predicting future problems before

they take place can be best carried out at the regional (local)

level.

Joint research and monitoring activities will not only pro-

vide for a rich exchange of knowledge and ideas but will help

to insure that common problems and interests are recognized and

treated in a manner in line with the community of interests be-

tween the two areas. This would be in addition to economies of

241

scale resulting from joint efforts and the joint pooling of pro-

fessional staff. The financial and Staffing arrangements for

effecting'a joint international Niagara Frontier research and

monitoring team sh6uld,be no more difficult to negotiate tium
those between any two intragovernmental agencies. 17

Publig Hearjggs. The collection and exchange of informations

if it is truly to be used as information rather than just datas-

has to be utilized for some purpose* i9e. decision making. How-

evers'prior to any decisions made by regional governments* in-

deed during the preliminary stages of drafting any plans# ex-

pressions. of public opinion from citizens and organized private

agencies shoul d be obtained. This will enable full public access

to the process by making their expressions and opinions a matter

of public record, This need of public input cannot be overem-

phasized as it is part of the democratic process. The way to

carry out this process Is through public hearings.

However$ at the present time there is no mechanism by which

citizen opinion on one side of the border can be made a matter

of record at public hearings on the other side. It is doubt-

ful that public hearings held# say at St. Cathariness would be

advertised in the Buffalo-Riagara Falls* N,Y. area and doubt-

ful that citizens in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls# N.Y. would be

242

invited to be heard and submit material for the record. Of

course the vice-versa would be true also.

At pres,ent.there appears to be a dividing line in commu-

nication created by the international border. This again is

unfortunate because of the transboundary effects of public

policy decisions.

Thereforeq it would seem important for a full exchange of

ideas and opinions, not only of politicians, experts. and ad-

ministrators, but also from the general public, that through

an international-intraregional agreement advertisement of pub-

lic hearings should appear on both sides of the border and cit-

izens of both sides should be invited to participate and submit

material for the record,

The underlying principle should be that where the collec-

tion and exchange of informatione and the involvement of cit-

izens are concernedp the international boundary ands indeed,

all other barriers to the free flow of knowledge should be

18
eliminated.

Information Services. To involve citizen participation and

community interest and to make the information effective to

the public there is a need for the dissemination of technical,

and administrative knowledge through pamphlets and of all the

243

media.

Often the information produced by the individual. regional

agencies and by other agencies as well is too voluminous and

technical to provide information for the public. It is not

necessarys or even desirables that much of the detailed infor-

mations plans and concepts produced by a regional agency for

use by people within their own area be distributed throughout

the entire frontier. It is importantv howevert that pamphletso

etc. be distributed that explain the general concepts of the

proposed actions. This dissemination of information is not on-

ly necessary for regional (local) actionsm but there is also a

need for a body to disseminate information on states provincialt

or federal programs,, as they, affect the Niagara Frontier. There-

fores an international body in the Niagara Frontier could cooper-

ate on providing joint pamphlets on the effects of higher-level

governmental proposals on the frontier. The end result would be

to make local people more aware of the decisions that,are being

made at higher levels.

A recent example will put into focus the need for an inter-

national body to disseminate information trom higher levels to

the more local level. The recent signing of the Executive

Agreement on Great Lakes Pollution between the U.S. and Canada

244

committed governments to spend millions of dollars on pollution

control, part of which would have to be financed by local gov-

ernments. These local governments were not consulted and had

no input into drawing up the Agreement. While the Agreement

for the most part is not appreciably more stringent than New

York State and Ontario water quality standards the implica-

tions are clear. The fact that federal governments on both

sides of the border can commit local governments to a course

of action without consultation with these local governments

means that the communication system between local government

and government at higher levels is not operating effectively.

If an international-regional body was formed in the Niagara

Frontier representing over 2 million people it is assured to

have more of a voice and be recognized more in.international

affairs between the U.S. and Canada.

Another example illustrating the need for this information

service is the current method of reporting on international

problems in the Niagara Frontier such as water pollution, In

order to.carry out its investigations the I.J.C. must draw up-

on the services of federal agencies in both countries. The

work produced is a product of the priorities, constraints.

funding, and biases of the participating agencies. Furthermore

245

the reports largely remain in federal, provincial. or state cir-

cles. They generally are produced with little public input and

are rarely given regional discussion or debate.@ In addition

,little attention is given to the,historical significance of the

data or to the obstacles that prevent solutions to problems.

The perspective on water quality, in Chapter Ilt points to the

lack of adequate reporting to show what is really happening,

over the yearsp in the Niagara Frontier*

machinery to provide full exchange of information and for

undertaking joint research and monitoring projects would cer-

tainly be a movement in the right direction and may be good

enough to stand by itself as a cooperative effort to jointly

manage the Niagara Frontier. There are other functionsg how-

ever, that may be considered if only to stimulate discussions

and thought.

Medilltion

The above cooperative functions between regional govern-

ments on both sides of the Niagara River may be termed a sur-

veillance role, i.e., information gathering, data interpreta-

tion, and dissemination. In addition to a surveillance role

an information exchanging role is necessary and complementary

to surveillance.

246

The next cooperative role may be thought of as a mediation

role which includes surveillance and information plus a more

active role concerned with the development of joint programs to

attack common problems,

Jgint RecoMendgtjonp. One of the functions a mediation role

may take is the issuance of joint recommendations to be sub-

mitted through parallel channels to both countries respective

higher level governments.

Because regional (local) governments are more knowledge-

able about the problems and needs of their areas they are in

the beat position to make recommendations to their respective

state# provincial, or federal agencies. Again,, however# there

are benefits of preparing joint recommendations on common prob-

lems and needs, This may result in making governments on both

sides aware of the common problems and needs of the frontier.

Joint recommendations, endorsed by both regional governmentsm

would tend to recognize and promote the international impor-

tance of the regional priorities. It would tend to create an

atmosphere that monies spent in the area will not only aid the

citizens in one country but will also aid citizens in the other

country as well, promoting a better international partnership.

Even if joint recommendations could not be achieved the inter-

247

national body could still be the stimulus for submitting para-

llel and separate recommendations.

Promulg&tion of Regulations and Standgrds.. Forming joint rec-

oinmendations would be the least restricting area under the me-

diation role. It would not present a danger to overtaking

some of the functions of the existing governmental structure.

However. joint cooperation under the mediation role may take

on more demanding restrictive functions. These functions in-

clude the promulgation of regulations and standards and there-

fore must include closer coordination and mechanisms by which

to resolve conflicts.

Mediation could take place on setting air and water qual-

ity standards and criteria that are higher than those called

for by state or provincial governments. Mediation may take

place in setting construction and zoning standards and regu-

lations along the shorelines particularly on the Niagara Riv-

er. This might also include visual appearance and landscap-

ing standards with emphasis on zoning and subdivision con-

trols particularly along the riverfront.

Standards and criteria through zoning control may extend

beyond the riverfront. These might be placed in effect in

preserving scenic open space corridors particularly those of

248

a historicalp recreational,, end cultural value to citizens of

both sides of the bordero

The areas that could be covered under a mediation role be-

tween regional governments on both sides of the river could go

on at some length. These areas ho"aaver would have to be joint-

ly ,mediated" between the respective governments. Therefore it

is not proper at this time to go into any greater depth on the

mediation role.

ConjLol

The setting of obJGCti'VSSD st&nde=ds0 and regulations has

always been relatively easy,, This can historically be seen in

the perspective on water quality presented earlier. Enforce-

ment is another wattero being difficult on a national scenep

and very difficult, almost impossibleo on an international

scene,

A control function would include the functions mentioned

above plus an oversight functiono An international organiza-

tion, as well as unilateral government can only exercise con-

trol functions through legal mandate. On the international

scale the legal mandate would probably be a treatyo At any ex-

tent an organization exercising a control function could initi-

ate civil court actions when appropriate.

249

It is not intended, at this time, to suggest giving,the in-

ternational-intraregional organization a control function of its

own, but that the organization could refer matters of such a na-

ture as to be handled under the control function tc a higher

level bodys perhaps a strengthened I.J.C., or a separate Great

Lakes Council.

Planning

Planning is a technique or process to determine which steps

need to be taken to accomplish stated goals. Planning covers old

and new problems. indeed planning should be done to prevent the

occurrence of anticipated problems. Planning must be continuous

because society is dynamicl it must not be done in a vacuum be-

cause so many factors are interrelated.

Planning to a certain extent has been done in a vacuum in the

Niagara Frontier. The following statement has been made in a pre-

liminary report by the ENCRPB on the Niagara River:

"At the present time, signigicant planning relating to
functional systems is a multi-agency responsibility.
Agencies doing planning have a somewhat narrow goal
orientation to adequately plan for the river system
as a whole. The environmental program requires simul-
taneous planning of the major functional systems along
the entire river, as well as specific geographic area
planning.-,19

The ENCRPB was speaking mainly of the U.S, side of the riv-

er, At present the Regional Municipality of Niagara side cannot,

250

evaluated because the official plan for RNN has not yet been com-

pleted. It appearst howeverg that planning.along the Niagara

River will still be a multiagency responsibility with the RXN,

the Niagara Parks Commission@ and Niagara Peninsula Conservation

Authority being the primary planners,

Whatever the planning conditions are along the river and

even within the two components of the combined study area the

international planning situation is clear,, There is no joint co-

ordination of the planning functions between study areas across

the river. Planning for the problem areas of water qualityo

fish and wildlife protectionp water based recreation, air qual-

ity, economic development, tourism,, protection of historical

landmarks, open space and scenic corridors, all of which are of

primary interest for the international situation in the Niagara

Frontier are dons exclusively on a unilateral basis with little

thought to their international significance. Both sides are

planning in a vacuum with regard to each other.

Rethinking of planning policies is necessary notonly to

recognize the consequences on the immediate Niagara Frontierg

but also in light of the emerging Great Lakes Megalopolis.

There is time to prevent the Niagara Frontier from becoming

another western Lake Briee but the time is short.

251

Planning agencies on both sides of the River must recog-

nize that their plans are not only of concern to the citizens

within their own boundaries but of concern also to those citi-

zens across.the River,

Thereforeo it is cmcluded that some joint planning input

be established by agreement of agencies delegated planning re-

sponsibilities on both sides, It is also concluded that re-

gional organizations aid a higher Great Lakes Agency (Strength-

ened I.J.C. or Great Lakes Council) in the coordination of Fed-

eral,, stat'e/provincialo interstate, local and non-governmental

plans within the Niagara Frontier.

The planning function of the now international-intrare-

gional organization could also recommend and set up both short

range (covering perhaps 5 years) and long range.schedules of

priorities for the frontier and to set the basis for the joint

collection and analynis of basic data relating to these priori-

ties. It would also carry out other planning functions as

agreed upon by the regional governments.

Form of CooRergtive StEuctme

"Environmental studies clearly indicate that air,
land, and water within environmental entities..*
should be managed within the context of some de-
signed future, and by institutions which can carry
regional inventory, planning development, use and
management,, in a z=ner recognizing that the air*

252

watere and land resources are integrally the environ.
ment whldh surrounds us a2l...20

So far this paper has shown that the air, water, and land

resources are common pool resources to the entire Niagara Fron-

tier and that because of urbanization, industrialization, in-

creased recreation demandso and rapidly changing technologies

the environment.should be jointly managed within the context

of a designed future,

The task now is to suggest a mechanism to ensure that

joint efforts will take place at the regional level and that

this mechanism will be recognized and utilized in conjunction

with a higher level Great Lakes Agency (Strengthened I.J.C. or

Great Lakes Council) and form an integral part of such an agen-

cy.

A number'of alternative arrangements could be suggested to

provide the mechanism mentioned above, It may be simpler how-

ever to first note the factors that constrain this mechanism

and then choose the best alternative available.

The first constraint is that the "status-quo,, is not ac-

ceptable. This has been shown earlier in this chapter, There

is currently no mechanism by which a higher Great Lakes Agency,

if initiated, could issue common directives 'to joint regional

agencies,

253

The second constraint would be that the mechanism would

necessarily have to respect the political integrity of both

countries. This constraint eliminates any proposal that would

call for the political and administrative unification, integra-

tion, or federation of the two portions of the study area. While

this type of union was suggested for Brie and Niagara Counties

it could not be recommended on an international basis.

Working within these two constraints a wide range of alter-

natives would still be available. It may be wise to further re-

fine the criteria that this new mechanism would operate within.

It should be noted that this international-intraregional organi-

zation is expected to carry out only surveillance and mediation

functions thus leaving the control function to respective agen-

cies on both sides or possibly to a higher level Great Lakes

Agency.

Therefore an association of governments on both sides of

the Niagara River designed to provide an area-wide mechan-

ism for key officials to study, discuss,, and determine how

best to deal with common problems is needed. It should be a

continuing agency to furnish research, plans, advicet recom-

mendations. and coordination.

It is concluded thent based on the above and in chapter

254

IV that. a regional council of governments might be formed be-

tween the Regional Municipality of Niagara and whatever region-

.al opposite number on the other side finally emerges. The new

association might be called the Niagara Regional Council. This

council would have some authority to carry out their decisions

on frontier-wide issues, but would mainly make recommendations.

to respective state, provincial, and national agencies as well

as to an international agency such as a strengthened I.J.C. or

Great Lakes Council to carry out the proposals of the regional

council. This would be a moderate method of attacking problems,

one based on voluntary agreement with no major threat or dis-

turbance to existing or proposed governments in the frontier.

In fact, now that a hypothetical two-regional governmental sys-

tem has been developed for the frontier there need only be the

two regional general purpose governments involved in the inter-

national organization.

Councils of Governments

The use of the council of government approach originated

in 1954 with the establishment of the Supervisors Inter-County
Committee in the Detroit area. 21 Councils in other urban areas

were subsequently created in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Salem,

Oregon, Seattle, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Washingtons DX.

255

Up until 1965 these were 'the only metropolitan councils in

existence. Then$ expansion was prompted by two stimulants. In

1965 federalhousing legislation (Sec. 701 of the Housing Act.

of 1954) was amended to make COG's eligible for 2/3 financing

by the U.S. federal government. Second, in 1967, the Demon-

stration (Model) Cities and Metropolitan Development Act, sec-

tion 204, stipulated that federal grant applications must be

reviewed by an area-wide agency that performs metropolitan or

regional-wide-planning. COG's were designated as one type of

such an agency,

Another stimulus to COG's was the support given to the Na-

tional Service to Regional Councils by grants from HUD and the

Ford Foundation. The current activities of the National Serv-

ice include% (1) clearinghouse for information on the organiza-

tion,, programs., and progress of regional councils, (2) consulta-

tion with local officials to assist them in developing COG,s

(3) information on federal and state agencies and their effects

on regional activities and conversely alertin g federal and state

agencies to the needs of regional councilso.and (4) evaluation

of such councils and local government structures as they are

developing in order to improve techniques of intergovernmental
cooperation and communication. 22

256

Typically the councils that have been formed to date have

involved cities and counties. Howevere state agencies or even

23
private citizen groups may be represented on the council.

What is suggested here is a council between regional gov-

ernments on both sides of the frontier. However, to achieve

this international cooperation any type of government agency,

or even citizen group may be represented. Therefore, the coun-

cil approach is very attractive in that it is flexible to the

form of structure that its membership may individually possess.

if a regional government as suggested for Erie and Niagara Coun-

ties could not be established then the international regional

council could still function well if only strengthened county

goverment were achieved. The international regional council

could still function even if nothing were done in Erie and Niag-

ara Countiesg could function through the ENCRPB, but would have

to operate at a lower level due to the multitude of fragmented

government upon whose voluntary actions the success of the coun-

cil would depend. Furthermore special purpose governments, of

which there are many in Erie and Niagara Counties, do not nor-
24
mally join in regional councils., This would leave a large

gap in any effectiveness the international regional council

might achieve. Therefore, it is desirable that this council be

257

composed of regional general purpose governments in the area.

A main advantage and disadvantage to the council approach

is that it is based largely on voluntary cooperations both as

to initiating programs and to membership, Members have in the

past been free to withdraw from the council within 60 days no-

tice, This freadomo where members can choose to join or not to

join, or withdraw is the weakest element in the council approach.

It has proved to be an effective deterrento in some instances, to

discussion and action by local officials, particularly in contro-
25
versial functional areas.. It im however this voluntary coop-

eration that makes the council easy to implement since initi-

ally it does.not pose a threat to the powers of existing govern-

ment at all levels.

In general the council approach has received mixed respons-

es from political scientists, Some political scientists believe

that regional councils can serve a useful purpose# their chanc-

es of success being greatest when they consider non-controver-

sial issues, where the solution will not adversely affect any

member and when the proposal costs the member little or noth-
ing. 26 A generally favorable comment came from the Advisory

Commission an Intergovernmental Relations stating that the coun-

cils may have the political capability to become action organi-

258

zations in some areas. with the ability to perform operating pro-
grams, 27 This political capability to be an action organization

stems from the fact that regional councils may be so effective-

ly linked formally or informally with organizations that do have

executing powers that they may be influential in the area-wide

28
decision making processes,

One statement on councils of government that has not re-

ceived'any argument is that they are in a state of rapid growth

and transition. LeBlanc and Allensworth in The Eolitics Of

States And UrbW Communities states thats

"Today councils of governments are certainly in a
state of transition moving from metropolitan dis-
CUSBion groups to institutions grasping for an
independent power base within the metropolitan
area.... 29 all signs point to their continued
growth.,"

In a similar manners Royce Hansong after making a case

study of Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments specula-

ted whether the organization was "transitional rather than per-
30
petualo"

To sum up the effectiveness of councils of governments Le-

Blanc and Allensworth states

,,....the fears of some that councils of governments
are not effective institutions for the advancement
of metropolitan-wide leadership, policy innovations
and more or less independent action programs should
be allayed, at least for the time being.1131

259

It is worthwhile to look back at the preceding chapter on

what was said.about reorganization in Erie and Niagara Counties

in order to avoid misconceptions, In the preceding chapter,

COG's and ENCRPB, a form of a COGO were not found totally effec-

tive in solving the environmental and other problems evident in

Erie and Niagara Counties. Now in proposing an international-

regional organization a COG has been suggested and it also has

been noted that its formation may lead to action programs, At

first this may sound contradictory but really it is not,

There are 64 jurisdictions in Erie and Niagara Counties,

Forming an organization that is based largely on voluntary

agreement between them would be most difficult. Earlier, it was

shown that the need on this one side of the frontier was for ac-

tion programs and that the ENCRPB., itself admitted that it lack-

ed authority to implement action programs. A need for a region-

al governmento two strengthened counties or intercounty, is

clearly evident.

When investigating an international-regional organization

the situation is markedly altered. We are no longer dealing

with unilateral politics but bilateral,, binational politics.

politics which must recognize the political identity of the two

countries. The ability to initiate action programs always thought

260

to be a deficit in organizationsD particularly river basin com-

missions, may not be Critical in the international-regional

sense. Indeed these types of programs would necessarily pose

a threat to existing government at all levels on both sides and

may prevent the establishment of such an organization if it

were initially to be given such powers.

In summary the use Of a council of governments as a Cooper-
ative structure between the two portions of the.study area has

several advantages. First, the general consensus among politi-

cal scientists is that it is probably the best cooperative me-

chanism available where unification of political and admini-

strative responsibilities is not possible. There is practical

evidence that any arrangement spanning the international border
must recognize this fact. 32 Secondly, it would be relatively

easy to establish as it does not conflict with established au-

thorityq at least initially. Such conflict would almost defi-

nitely exclude a more progressive organization. Metropolitan

reform in the United States for area-wide general purpose gov-

.ernment has almost always met with failure because of political

forceso forces that would be exponentially stronger in an at-

tempt to provide more aggressive control across the Niagara Riv-

er. Thirdly, it has been suggested that regional. councils of

261

governments may become action organizations. incrementally, par-

ticularly when the councils are effqctively linked to organiza-

tions that do have executing powers, A council between region-

al governments on both sides of the river would necessarily have

this effective linkage, In fact it would not be a linkage at

all, but would be inherent within the structure.

Other Activities

The main activities of the international COGO basically

surveillance and mediation plus 'some joint planningg have been

described earlier. There are also a few other activities that

the COG could consider that do not normally fall within any spe-

cific management function.

First, the international COG might consider joint promotion

of the Niagara Region. Much has been said earlier about the

common interests between the two sides of the frontier, among

them being regional economic development. It would appear that

if governments on both sides would prepare joint promotional ma-

terial based on regional assets then both sides would benefit;

not only from the economies of scale of the venture but also

from promoting a broader base of the regions, assets, particu-

larly the recreationalg historicalt and cultural assets on both

sides of the river. This is particularly important for promot-

262

ing off season tourism where now both sides suffer because of

seasonal fluctuations.

Second, the international COG could engage itself in Iob-

bying at the local, state/provinciall and national levels, The

international COG could act as a proponent at the various levels

of government on both sides as to the international significance

of their decision making.

Third, the international COGO if empowered to do sos could

act as a review agency, on proposals submitted to it by various

governmental levels. The ENCRPB and indirectly the RMN current-

iy act as such a review agency for their respective jurisdic-

tions. An international COG could blend a transboundary flavor

into the review process on activities that have been described

to be international in nature,

Membership

Typically the members of a COG are cities and counties, al-

though occasionally other local governments (including school

and other special districts)# state agenciess and even private
citizens designated by civic organizations may be included. 33

The membership on this international COG would certainly

best be determined by the local governments or people within the

area. Howeverp a few comments, sketched only in a very general

263-264

way, may be in order.

The main membership would consist of elected officials from

the regional governments on both sides or of strengthened coun-

ty government officials on the New York side. Membership from

other bodies within the region may be permitted and should be

determined at the local level. It is important that mechanisms

be available for public participation in the international COG.

This may be done through advisory groups. or having channels for
34
appeals. It may also be done through direct membership of

private citizen groups on the council.
There appears to be no general structure formula for the

councils of,governments, The international COG may,contain a

general assembly (actually a ratifying unit) plus an executive

committee who would submit proposals to the joint assembly.

This form would be used if the ultimate membership on the

council becomes large. It is not necessary that the interna-

tional. council become this formal however. It may be suffi-

cient to provide a framework for representatives from govern-

ments on bothsides (hopefully regional governments), who al-

ready are elected to represent the people, to come together to

combat joint problems and recommend programs for the enhance-

ment of the regions environment.

265

Legal Status

Theoretically, councils of governments can be private agen-

cies existing by general agreement between local governments or

they can be governmental organizations operating pursuant to en-
abling legislationt lawss or authority, 35

In the initial stages the international council may operate

without legal statute, operating through a member government

rather than a separate and distinct identity. Legal status, how-

ever,, could facilitate organizing and operating the council and

make clear the powers of the group to engage in joint activi-

ties or to hire a joint staff or consultants, Also some form of

legal status is necessary for the receipt of state (Provincial)
or Federal financial assistance. 36 Therefore it appears best

that the international council receive legal status from state,

provincialg and federal governments.

In order to set up the legal foundation for the council

parallel legislation may be required. If the region were inter-

state instead of international the problem would be simplified.

New York State statutes authorize local governments to enter in-

to regional councilso, in metropolitan areas that are interstate
in area. 37 On the federal level Section 701 of the Housing Act

contains advance Congressional approval for interstate compacts

266

38
for metropolitan areas that are interstate in nature,

While neither piece of legislation mentions foreign nations

the intent of the legislation would be carried out in the forma-

tion of an international council of governments for the Niagara

Frontier. Both pieces of legislation recognize that the prob-

lems of metropolitan areas do not respect state boundariesi it

is no less true that the problems do not respect international

boundaries. Since the Niagara Frontier has been described as a

metropolitan area international in extent# it is clear that the

intent of both pieces of legislation would be carried out in

the formation ofa Niagara Regional Council.

A piece.of pending legislation that does recognize the in-

ternational significance of metropolitan problems is S. 907 al-

lowing preconsent of Congress for states to enter into Inter-

state Environmental Compacts for planningt data gathering and

sharingg monitorings construction of necessary facilities,,

39
cost sharifigg and land use regulation, This legislation ree-

ognizes that metropolitan area organizations capable of handling

area wide problems cannot exist without interstate arrangements,

The important part of this legislation is Article 4.08 which is:

114.08 Special Supplementary Agreements-Signatories
may enter into special supplementary agreements
with foreign nations .... for the same purposes and
with the same powers as under Article 4,06 upon

267

c'ondition that such non-signatory party accept the gen-
eral obligations of signatories under this compacts
Provided, that special supplementary agreements shall
become.eff 8tive only after being consented to by the
Congress."a

Article 4.06 provides fort "agreements for joint, co-
ordinated or mutual environmental management activi-
ties relating to interstate environmental pollution
problems common to the jurisdictions of such signato-
ries and for the establishment of common or joint
regulations management, servicesp agencies, or facil-
ities for such purposes or may designate an appropri-
ate agency oilt@l act as their joint agency,in regard
thereto...,

Therefore it appears that on the U.S. side enabling legis-

lation for the legal basis of the international council of gov-

ernment may Indeed be a political reality. It is not the pur-

pose here to examine Canadian enabling legislation although

parallel legislation would be necessary in order to implement

the International council.

The legal status of the international council may come

about from a somewhat different direction. Throughout this

section a Great Lakes Management Agency has been mentioned fre-

quently& an agency that might provide an international basis

for the management of land and water resources of the Great

Lakes Basin,

This overall agency, what ever form it might takes may very

well be empowered by treaty or agreement, to charter subarea

councils one of which might be the Niaga a Regional Council.

268

In fact this authority has already been given to the Interna-

tional Joint Commissionthrough the Agreement between Canada
and.the United States on Great Lakes water quality. 42 Thus

the international council for the Niagara Frontier could be

established or at least facilitated and financed through a

higher level Great Lakes management agency. This is not un-

realistic and in fact may be desirable because of the effect

the lower Great Lakes environment has on the people of the

Niagara Frontier and the effects that the people of the Niag-

ara Frontier have on the environment in the lower Great Lakes.

The next section of this chapter will describe how the Niagara

Regional Council would fit into a Great Lakes management agency.

Niagara Regional Council As Part Of

A Higher Level Great Lakes Management Agency

During the past year (1971-1972) faculty members from ap-

proximately twenty universities in the United States and Can-

ada have joined in a seminar to explore ways to strengthen the

management of.the water and land resources in the Great Lakes

basin in order to safeguard these invaluable resources, Pre-

liminary results of the seminar conclude thatt

... What is needed is a substantially modified in-
ternational arrangement to more effectively meet
existing older problems ando more importantlyg to
be prepared reasonably in advance to meet emerg-

269

ing problems about which people and their govern-
ments tan take action.-,43

This "substantially modified international arrangement"

was developed in the form of three alternativess (1) a strength-

ened International Joint Commission (2) a (,reat Lakes

Council separate from the IdJOC., (3) strengthened management

by developing closer relationships among existing federal, pro-

vincial '(state)* and regional governments, using the Interna-

tional Joint Commission for progress evaluationo management

and coordination of informationg and liason-with operating and

research agencies. Alternatives (1) and (2) differ at the pol-

icy making level but utilize the same administrative structure

operating through a Great Lakes Management Agency (GLMA).

At the third seminar meeting held in Junev 1972 the gener-

al consensusappeared to be that a combination of a strength-

ened I.J.CI. operating through a Great Lakes Management Agency,

plus a joint regional cooperation scheme might beat be suited

to managing the Great Lakes. This selection will be developed

on that basis. This paper will not discuss the high-level pol-

icy group whatever it may eventually be. This analysis only

need be concerned with the interactions of the GLMA and the

Niagara Regional Council although it will be assumed for the

purpose of this study that the high level policy, group will

270

be the I.J.C. Hereinafters in this report the combination of

the I.J.C. and the Great Lakes Management Agency will simply

be referred to as a Great Lakes Management Agency (GLKA).

Parallel to the university seminar ten graduate students

at Cornell University established a experimental Great Lakes

Management Office, investigating and exploring many of the

functions and areas that a Great Lakes Management Agency would

be concerned with.

This paper and study forms a part of the research done

pertaining to the experimental office and follows much along

the lines of alternative three aboveo setting the framework

for a joint regional cooperation scheme. Chapters II, III, IV,

and V developed the need for reform and removal of some of the

obstacles (fragmented government particularly) that would make

such a joint regional scheme practically impossible.

Because of the impact of the Niagara Frontier on the Great

Lakes System and in turn of the Great Lakes System on the fron-

tier it is necessary that the programs of the Niagara Regional

Council be coordinated with and within the scope of some higher

levelorganization. The efforts to preserve the resources of

the Great Lakes Basin will only be partially effective without

the cooperation of the urban area of the Niagara Frontier.

271

Likewise, programs developed within the Niagara Frontier, even

with the aid of -the proposed Niagara Regional Council will be

only partially effective unless they are parallel to and coor-

dinated with the Great Lakes System as a wholes particularly

the Lower Great Lakes. It is therefore the purpose of this

section to coordinate the proposal for a Great Lakes Manage-

ment agency with the Niagara Regional Council presented earlier

in the chapter.

Eric Beechroft statess

11...the regional communities..4. on account of their
evolving importance ... are the most promising lev-
els for achieving an intimate and fruitful joint
staff effort between U.S. and Canadian counter-
parts., The regional centers are the places where
concrete.problems of researcho monitorings and
control arise. If experts with explicit instruc-
tions to collaborates cannot arrive at common or
joint recommendations through Canada-U.S, team
work at that levels with easy and frequent access
to their politically-responsible colleagues and
with no physical barriers to their common research
and consultation, it is unlikely that any politi-
cally-detached secretariat of a joint nature could
do so. In facto we are not lacking in examples of
impressive reports already made by high-level joint
bodies (for example on air pollution in the Ontario-
Michigan border region) which have gone unimplement-
ed because there was no regional machinery (linked
with regional or state or provincial governments)
to implement them or even give them regional study
and debate.,,44

The 'high-level joint body, mentioned above is the Interna-

tional Joint Commission. While it is clearly agreed that the

I.J.C. has been needed and has performed well it is also gener-

ally agreed that problems have not been solved both due to the

272

lack of power by the I.J.C. itself and also due to the lack of

a suitable regional mechanism by which to carry out programs,

There is clearly the need for a high-level joint group that

could act as a management group for the Lakes as a whole and

also to issue common directives to regional agenciesq like the

Niagara Regional Council, to cooperate on information exchange,

joint research and monitoring, and preparing Joint recommenda-

tions. This cooperation could be enhanced by providing partial

funding of the Niagara Regional Council through a Great Lakes

management agency.

The Niagara Regional Council could actually become one of

several small Great Lakes Officesg partially fundedl, and parti-

ally controlled by a Great Lakes management agency. This type

of arrangement would provide a two-way cooperation scheme, The

GLMA will now have some regional mechanism tied into state and

provincial levels to implement programs or at least to give,

them regional study and debate, Likewise the communities and

citizens in the Niagara Region would have a greater voice in

what is being done in parts of the Great Lakes which affect

their lives but which they now have no control over. This

arrangement would have the effect of blending in a Great Lakes

view with the Niagara Frontier,

273

The Niagara Regional Council could very well become the of-

ficial spokesman for the needs and problems of approximately 3

million people. It could make the GLMA recognize and become re-

sponsive to these needs. Likewise the GLUA would now have a

regional office that could carefully assess and report on the im-

pact of the GLMA's and other federalg provinciall, and state pro-

grams such as the recently signed Great Lakes Water Quality Agree-

ment.

in fact the.International Joint Commission has already been

authorized to establish such offices pursuant to Article V11 of

the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement which statess

,*,..the Commission shall have the authority to
establish as it may deem appropriate such sub-
ordinate bodies a's may be required to undertake
specific tasks as well as a regional office,
which may be located in the basin of the Great
Lakes System, to assist it in the dij2harge of
its functions under this Agreement.,--'

One couldgo on at greater length describing the benefits

and necessity of the scheme presented above, but the fact is

clear that drawing in more local government, in the regional

form, is a necessity. Eventually the GLMA will discover that

there is a limit to the success of their programs and coopera-

tion achievable if public participation is not drawn into the op-

eration. The Niagara Regional Council would be one way to facil-

itate the necessary public input to enlist knowledgeable public

274

opinion and to convince local people that the management of the

land and water resources of the Great Lakes System is indeed a

part of their community building program. This scheme would

better enable local people to understand what senior levels of

government are doing. Without this public involvement munici-

palities and industries may resist programs of the GLMA. This

scheme, of joining an international regional council of general

purpose governments to a Great Lakes management agency will fa-

cilitate relating the importance of community planning and in-

tergovernmental cooperation to the Lakes. Figure 20 diagrams

the scheme presented above.

Based on the above discussion it is concluded that the Niag-

ara Regional Council should become a Great Lakes management agen-

cy experimental frontier office. This office, among other func-

tions, could act as a field laboratory for special problem areas

in the Great Lakes Basin, It could become an office where pos-

sible programs of the GLMA on such matters as public and commun-

ity participation* information exchange and servicese monitoring

,of progress on pollution control programso etc., could at least

be given experimental practice plus regional discussion and de-

bate.

If the GLMA were ever to get into programs that would try

Canada 1. J. United

-1basin Plannin
L_ Office*
."_aff Offices
Great Lakes Management Agency Staff Offices
Directorate

Executive Staff
l
Public
Informati Great Lakes ministr
Staff _@o Rese4rch Office
Office

.rkdditions Functional I Offices Additions
1171: j _C_ I r" 7r. "'ObTs7(r MT
experiencel experience N.)
o"at-.er and Air 01
Lake Level] Fisheries
",uality Lakes
Contro 1
Office Navigation
Office

Basin Offices
7
7uper-ior
Huron --rie Ontario
a u _1 t
Niaga Foc est r, ronto
Sarnia, ra Cleveland Windsor]
e
Ont. Reg. Council Ohio Ont N.Y. Ont.
Ontar 17' r
G Re'gional Municipality Regional Govt. IN e w ",'o rk- @tate
Fed. Govt Of Niagara In Erie &- U.S. F6d -,Govt.
A
ia@_,ara Counti -e 14
20 Niagara Regional Council As
Leg aL
f f

[F i s �he r ie
Of f ic

J,
0 V rt "-., +
as
-Part Of A ke-s Agency,

276

to control and manage the emerging Great Lakes Megalopolist a

necessity for controlling environmental pollution in the Great

Lakes Basin just as much as the control of urban growth is nec-

essary for avoiding environmental conflicts in the Niagara Fron-

tierg then the Niagara,Regional Council could initially'provide

the experimental regional mechanism that must exist at the lo-

cal. level in order for any type of growth control programs to

be effective,

It is further concluded that the Niagara Regional Council,

by necessityt must be initiated on a cooperative basis, The

success of the experimental programs and the amount of opposi-

tion raised would provide good indicators as to the future sue-

cess of trying to implement stronger international-regional pro-

grams and the success of truly managing the land. air, and wa-

ter resources of the Great Lakes Basin through a Great Lakes

,management agency.

Implication For Other Frontier Areas

This study started with a description of the three frontier

areas on the Great Lakes and perhaps then it is fitting to con-

elude this chapter with them. Earlier it was noted that the

frontiers have much in common, share common pool resources, have

similar interests, and all play the prominent role of the only

277

corwiecting links between the United States and Ca@asda alang the

entire length of the Great Lakes. The other two frontierst par-

ticularly Detroit-Windsor, are also geographical areas where in-

ternational problems become real and visible to citizens on both

sides. Although no analysis of the other frontier regions will

be made hdre.other than that already presented in the Introduc-

tion a few remarks are in order.

The Detroit-Windsor and Niagara Frontiers are similar as to

urban concentrations and international problems and interestst

the Saulte Ste Marie Frontier lesspopulated and less prominent

in the international scene. The Detroit-Windsor and Niagara

Frontiers are indeed very much alike, although it would appear

that environmental problems in the former are more severe'o In

fActq it was noted in Chapter II that the Detroit River is the

most severely polluted water body in the Great Lakes System and

that it is a major factor in the advanced aging of Lake Er ie.

Air pollution in the frontier..like the Niagarat is among the

most severe in each nation. Land development'conflicts and

land pollution certainly exist in.an international metropolitan

area that currently contains in excess of 7 million persons and

expected to double within the next 50 years. Common interna-

tional interests and problems are probably much the same in the

278

Detroit-Windsor Frontier as in the Niagara with the exception of

perhaps less emphasis on tourism in the former,

Based on the results of this study on the Niagara Frontier

it is concluded that the same type analysis should be done for

the other two frontiers particularly the Detroit-Windsor. While

no comments can be made now as to the results of these studies

it is safe to note that no mechanism for international coopera-

tion as presented in this chapter currently exists at any of the

frontiers. Therefore the conclusions reached in this chapter

could well be transferred to the other frontiers as the frame-

work for the modern environmental management of these interna-

tional metropolitan areas,

If international concern can be generated for the Great

Lakes in general then international concern should be even more

acute in the frontier areas where environmental problems become

real, where one side can actually see and feel the effects of

the other sidel where what one side does can both benefit and

harm the other side, where achieving an intimate and fruitful

joint international management effort offers the most promise,

279

REFERENCES

CHAPTER VI

1. John C. Bollens and Henry J. Schmandt, The Metropolis-its
PeoRle, Politics. And Economic Life, (New York, Harper and
Row Publi-shers, 1965), p. 23.

2. Livingston T. Merchant and A.D.P. Heeneyp Canada and the
United States-Principles For Partnership, Department of
State Publications 79409 (Washington, D.C., U.S. Govern-
ment Printing Office, 1965). P. 10.
3. Phillips Planning and Engineering# Ltd., Environment Re-
search And Analysisq Report No. 3, (St. Catharines, On-
tarios Regional Municipality of Niagara Official Plan
Studies, November, 1971), pp. 4-3t 4-4.

4. Ibid., p. 4-31.

5. Erie and Niagara Counties Regional Planning Board. Open
SDacep Staff Report No. 3, (Grand Island, New York, June,
1969)t p. 4.

6. op. cit., 3. pe 4-9.

7. Ibid., pp. 4-259 4-37.

8. Canadian Urban Economics Limited, Economic Base Research
And Analysis, Report No. 5. (St. Catharinest Ontario, Re-
gional Municipality of,Niagara Official Plan Studies,
December, 1971)o P. 3-13.

9. Equitable Securities Canada Limited# Economic And Financial
Survey, (St. Cathariness Ontario, Regional Municipality of
Niagara, Novembers 1970). p. 16.

10. Ibid.0 p. 11.

11. op. Cit.9 89 P* 3-26*

12. These ethics were first applied to the Great Lakes by R.D.
Henniganj, "Effective Water Quality Management: Impossible
Dream Or Attainable Goals,, Proceedings Thirteenth Confer-
ence On Great Lakes Research, 1970, pp. 149-156.

13. International Joint Commissions American Falls International
Board, Report Urging High Rise Limit, March, 1972.

14. Erie and Niagara Counties Regional Planning Board, Initial
Environmental Study, (Grand Islands New York, June, 19707,
P. 79.

280

15. Eric Beechroft in ,Draft Seminar Report - Alt. III," Can-
ada-United States University Seminar On Institutional
Arrangements For The Integrated Management of the Water
and Land Resources of Eastern Great Lakest (York Univer-
sity, Torontog Ontariot May 319 June 1, 29 1972)o p. 22.
16. Op, Cit., 29 p. 12.

17. OP, Cit-t 159 p. 21.

18. Ibid.9 P. 23-

19. Erie and Niagara Counties Regional Plann .ing Boardt Interna-
tional Design Study-NiSgara River-Preliminar-y-Environmental
Improvement Programs, (Grand Island,, New York, 1972).

20. Canada-United States University Seminar On Institutional
Arrangements For The Integrated Management Of The Water
And Land Resources Of The Eastern Great Lakes, "Working
Papers-Second Meeting," (Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.,
March.1-3. 1972), Chapter 39 P. 3.
21. Op. C11.9 le P. 365.

22. Ibid.0 P. 366.

23. J.F. Zimmermant ,Metropolitan Ecumenisma, The Road To The
Promised Land?", Journal Of Urban Law, Vol. 44# (Spring,
1967), pp. 439-444.

24. Hugh L. LeBlanc and D. Trudeau Allensworth, The Politics Of
States And.Urban Communitiesg (New YorkoHarper and Rowl,.Inc.,
1971), p. 225.

25. Ibid.* p. 225.

26. Roscoe Martin# Metropolis In Transition, (Washington, D.C.,
U.S. Housing and Home Finance Agency, September, 1963), Pp.
14-15.

27. U.S. Advisory Commission On Intergovernmental Relations,
Metropolitan Councils of Government, ReDort M-32, (Washing-
ton, D.C., August* 1966), PP. 36-3-3-0

28@ Op* Cit*# 24p pe 2249

29. Ibid., p* 227.

30. Royce Hansong The Politics Of Metropolitan CooReration-
Metro Washington GOG, (Washingtong D.C., Washington Center
for Metropolitan StuAiesj 1964), p. 70.

31. Op. Cit., 24t p. 225.

281

32. 00 20, Chapter 3o P. 5.
33,, PS-9- -Mit - o 23 o pp. 439-444.
Dr,- Lyle Craineq A Summ L Report On -Institutional Arrange-
ments For The Great Lgese (Ann Arborg Michigant Great Lakes
Basin Commissiono February, 1972), p. IV-10.

35@, PIR4.-Cit-, 240 p. 224.

36. 00 27D P- 11-

37. Ibid.

38. Ibide-P P. 34.

39. U.S. Congress, Report of the Committee on Public Works,
United States Senate, The Interstate Environmenta
,l Compact
Act Of 1972, (Washington, D.C.o U.S. Government Printing
Officeo 1972)D p. 6.

40. U,,S. Congreseq Hearings Before The Subcommittee On Air And
Water Pollution Of The Committee On Public Works United
States Senate Ninety Second Congress, S. 907, A Bill To
Consent To The Interstate Environment ComRactj shington,
D.C., U.S6 Government PrIntIng Office, 1972), p. 8.

41o Ogg Cit.@ 399 P. 7o

42. A sement Between Canada and the United States of America
on Great Lakes Water Quali Article VII9 signed April 1,
1972.

430 0, 15o P. 3.

44. Ibid.0 p. 20o

45. OP2 Cit-a 42.

282

S UMIMARY -CONCLUS1 QNS-RECOMMENDAT IONS

Summary

It is evident that the majority of citizens in the United

States and Canada will increasingly live urban lives. The

quality of.life in an urban environment depends partially on

the quality of the physical environment, If man is to live in

a high quality urban environment he must adequately plan and

manage for.the future. Rethinking of old traditions is required;

reorganization of old institutions is essential.

'The Niagara Frontier urban area was selected as a case

study. This Area was selected for a,number of reasonsi First,

it conta ins adequate population to be considered urban in char-

acter; Secondo it is an area containing pollution of all thepri-

mary resources; Third. it is a unique area that is interrelated

to the Great Lakes System and contains international implications;

Fourth, Its,unique ecological nature makes the area particularly

important to citizens in the United States and Canada.

This study has looked at environmental problems and govern-

ment in an international urban environment. It has suggested

devices to modernize government that would facilitate improved

plwming and maiiagement to provide a better urban envirorunent

for both i)re.,ioiL citizens and future generations. The main

283

theme used throughout has been the removal of multijurisdic-

tional obstacles to modernize environmental management.

This study has,found that the Niagara Frontier,, already

inflicted with environmental pollution in all forms, can only

expect further conflicts between man and his environment as

a result of urban population growth. That the current insti-

tutional. system is incapable of producing an efficient and ef-

fective environmental management program.

The Niagara Frontier was found to be an international

metropolitan areal where policies on one side have signifi-

cant effects on the other. It was noted that many benefits

could result from international cooperation if certain ob-

stacles could be removed, This study has proposed arrange-

mOnts that could eliminate these obstacles.

The history of the Niagara River is but one example of

the environmental deterioration in the Niagara Frontier. A

deterioration caused, inpart, by a lack of regional action

on regionalissues. Man in the frontier regions must avail

himself of the..opportunities to reduce expense and increase

social, economic, property and aesthetic values by planning

and managing in anticipation of future developments, Wher-

ever planning and management can be improved the international

284

boundary should be eliminated. This paper has set the frame-

work for doing this in the Niagara Frontier,

Conclusions

Based,on this study the following conclusions have been

reached by.this author.

-Many of the obstacles to enhancing the environment

in the Niagara Frontier are governmental rather than

technical and are the result of fragmented government

particularly in Erie and Niagara Counties, N.Y. The pro-

liferation of small units of local government, unable to

finance their own services or solve their own problemsq as

well as regional problemso has resulted in older problems

remaining unsolved and presents a bleak outlook for the

solution of future problems.

-There can be no solutions to regional problems until

improved means of providing for urban needs and services

are found. Regional planning, as undertaken by the Erie-

Niagara Counties Regional Planning Board will have only

limited effect unless linked to a process to insure ef-

fective implementation* This link to implementation

means that regional problems, such as environmental pol-

lution must met with regional solutions. For Erie and

285

Niagara Counties this will require that comprehensive

regional planning. major water and sewage worksg broad

land use controlsq regional transporation, solid waste

disposal@ recreation, conservatione air quality control,

and capital borrowing be the responsibility of regional

government.

-Local government has an important place in the

American federal system. Local municipalities can per-

form some functions better at the local level. Localized

planning within accepted area-wide guidelinesq local

distribution of water and sewer lines* specific zoning,

local streets and sidewalks, and solid waste collection

should be left under local control.

Emphasis should be placed on the sharing of power

and responsibility over functions rather than on the

assignment of entire functions to either level.

-In order to provide for the implementation of the

regional functions local government in Erie and Niagara

Counties should be reorganized to provide for a more

comprehensive type government. This reorganization could

take the form of a general purpose intercounty regional.

government, strengthened urban comprehensive counties, or

286

a metropolitan multi-purpose district.

-This study has concluded that a general purpose inter-

county regional government would be most effective for

managing the urban.environment in Erie and Niagara Counties.

Environmental, social. and economic interactions are strong

between the two countiest to leave them separated would

not permit regional solutions to regional problems. A

general purpose goverTiment Is required becaune onvIron-

mental management cannot be done on a special purpoise

laa-hoct basis but must be part of overall community

development. A two-level system. an area-wide level plus

9L community level is-required to provide the dual ob-

jectives of efficiency and responsiveness*

-The Niagara and other frontiers are international

metropolitan areas where public policy decisions have

international significance. There are mutual benefits

to be reaped from international-intraregional cooperation

between governments on both sides of the Niagara River if

certain obstacleaq such as fragmented governmentj are

removed. To reap the benefits of international coopera-

tion regional (local) governments on both sides of the

Niagara River should cooperate in the full exchange of

information.,in undertaking joint research projects or

joint monitoring activities. in preparing joint recom-

mendations to be submitted through parallel channels to

the respective states provinciale and federal agencies

on matters of mutual concern.

-Planning by regional agencies on both sides of the

Niagara River should be accomplished with consideration of

the urban areas on both sides of the river and with a con-

cern for a larger Great Lakes region.

-An international council of goverments consisting of

regional (local) goverments on both sides of the Niagara

River should be instituted to facilitate international

cooperation. This council, based on voluntary member-

ship would respect the political and administrative in-

tegrity of both nations but at the same time will provide

a forum for key officials to discuss$ debate, and research

international-intraregional. interests and problems.

-This international council should cooperate with and

possibly become part of a higher level Great Lakes manage-

ment agency. This will permit a Great Lakes view to be

recognized in the frontier. It will help insure that the

Great Lakes System can be managed as art environmental unit.

288

-The problem of managing the urban environment can-

not be approached in the abstract or on a piecemeal basisl

a real measure of the dimension of urban environmental

problems is needed. The urban area must be considered

as a whole, including internationally# rather than deal-

ing with pieces.

Recommendations

Based on the conclusions I have reached as a result of

this study the following recommendations are made.

1. Initiation of &local government review for Erie and

Niagara Counties.

It is recommended that a local@government re-

view be made in Erie and NiagarLL Counties N.Y.,

which would include an assessment of municipal ser-

vices and functions in the region, present trends

and ipress]Lres on- local goverllment.. and an assess-

ment of alteMative forms of reorgoizatlon,

Many of the obstacles to environmental enhancement listed

in this study@dealt with multi-jurisdictional problems, mak-

ing regional solutions to regional problems an impossibility.

This leads to the conclusion that a large part of the problem

289

is governmental rather than technical, As a first step to-

ward governmental reform a detailed review of the current situ-

ation is necessary.

This review will probably have to be promoted and funded

at the state level because it is rare for local government to

demand reforml although in this paper it has been noted that

many citizens are dissatisfied with local governments action on

regional issues.

Local government and citizens in the two counties should

participate in the review and weigh the advantages and disad-

vantages of reorganization that will permit regional solutions

to regional 'problems including regionalization of the functions

mentioned in the conclusions. In the United States, unlike

Ontario* local reform cannot be accomplished without voter ap-

proval, Thereforee the support of the citizens is essential to

the success of any reorganization plan.

2. Formation of go InteMationgl Council of Governments,

Regiong (loggl) governments and WLencies on both

sides of the Nig M a River should investigate the

Possibility of Joini oop
ng in a q trative interM qLn

council to-give regional issues sJudy, debate,-and

290

320 sibly actloa and to &cilitate the lnteLm@tiongj

functions mentioned in the conclusions.

The environment of the Niagara Frontier represents a

classic example of a common pool resource offering mutual

banefits to both sides if negative spillovers engendered by the

nature of the complex open environment, which do not recognize

the international boundary$ can be avoided, Environmental pro-

blems do not respect international boundaries just as they do

not respect town# city$ county, or state boundaries. Arrange"

ments that provide for inter-community* inter-county,, and inter-

state cooperation recognize this fact, There is no reason why

this fact should not be recognized for an international metro-

politan area as well.

An association of governments on both sides of the Niagara

River would provide an area-wide mechanism for key officials to

study-9 discuss* and determine how beat to deal with common pro-

blems, It should be a continuing agency to furnish research#

planse advice, recommendationss and coordination.

'This council could also insure that regional studies ac-

complished by agencies like the RMN and the ENCRPB include per-

tinent information from both sides of the river. This would en-

sure that planning will be more effective.

291

3. Coo-peration.with the International Joint Commission.

It is recommended th&t goverrunents in the NiagM

Region cooRerate as much as possible in aiding the

I.J,C. or other future Gre&t Ll4es mpaggement Agency

in carrying out its terms 21 reference contained in

the Bound@Xy ftters Treatym ROXticularly in carrying

out the terms gf Ihe Agreemenj on Great Lakes Water

Quali:ty, and in c@KgXing out whatever future mgnaae-

meat functl2ns the I J.C. or gVM Great Lakes

manag2ment Sgelary_Agy bec2me,inv2lved with,

This recommendation implies close cordination between the

Regional Municipality of Niagaraq the ENCRPB, and the I.J.C.

The efforts to preserve the resources of the Great Lakes

Basin will be only partially effective without the cooperation

of agencies in the Niagara Frontier urban area, Likewiseq pro-

grams developed within the Niagara Frontier will be only parti-

.ally effective unless they are parallel and coordinated with

the other activities in the Lower Great Lakes System.

In this paper it was noted that impressive reports made

by the I,J.C. have gone unimplemented because there was no

regional. machinery linked with regionalg stateg or provincial

governments, to implement recommendations or to give them

292

regional study and debate. The international council of govern-

ments recommended in (2) working in cooperation with the I.J.C.

or other Great Lakes management agency would be such a mech-

anism.

4. state and Provinci*al involvement in the Niag@Na Frontier.

It is recommended that the State of New York

Pr omote and fund local government.review studies in

Eri.e and NiggM& Counties similiar to those accomp-

lisbed b_y the Ontario Governmentl that state and

provincial agencies involved in the NiaggUa Frontier

promote the international significance of the frontier

by recognition of the importance of the urban area

on the opposite side of the rivers that state and

provincial governments investigate the legislation

required to permit the international cooperation

recommended in (Z) above.

Basically the above recommendation implies two thingst

(1) that the state must become more involved in metropolitan

government at least by providing the incentives necessary to

initiate reform studies; (2) that state and provincial agenci-

es, whether they are involved in information collection, re-

search, planning. or development must recognize that the

293

Niagara Frontier is a international metropolitan area. These

age ncies include the Office of Planning Services, the Urban

Development Corporation, and the Department of Environmental

'Conservation, among othersq from the State of New York and the

Department of Municipal Affairs, and the Department of Trea-

sury and Economics, among others, from the Province of Ontario,

At present these agencies view only their respective part

of the Niagara urban area. Because of the strong environment-

al, social, economico-, and cultural interactions across the

Niagara River it is recommended that the agencies recognize

the total international significance of their policies.

The states and province have the responsibility for the

welfare of their citizens. This welfare would be enhanced by

an international council in the Niagara Frontier. Therefore,

it is encumbent upon both governments to investigate the legis-

lation necessary to implement the council.

5. International Joint Commission involvement in the

Niagara Frontier.

It is recommended that the International Joint

Commission (or other future Great Lakes manalgement

agenqy) investigate the possibility of establishing

the Niagara Region as an experimental laboratory for

294

its activities pursuant to Article VII of the

Agreement on Great-Lakes Water Qualitvt that the

I.J.C. promote gnd encourage citizen Participation

and region&l cooperation through the international

council in the Niagara Region as recommended in (2)

abovet and that the Niagarg international council

become an experimental oRerations office for what-

ever future manap-ement functions the 1,J.C. or GLJY1A

may become involved in.

This recommendation is similiar to recommendation (3) and

is founded basically on the same logic. In this paper a Great

Lakes Management Agency, which would work under the policy gui-

dance of the I.J.C.p has been briefly discussed. If such an

agency were instituted the international council in the Niagara

Region recommended in (2) could become a regional Great Lakes

Office. This would provide the I.J.C. or the GLMA with a

regional mechanism tied into state or provincial levels to

implement programs or at least give them regional study and

debate.

It has also been noted that the success of a Great Lakes

management agency will rest partially on the support given to

it by citizens. Citizen participation through a hiagara inter-

295

national council working closely and being part of the Great

Lakes Management Agency would be one way to achieve such in-

volvement.

6. Recommendatkons for study on the other frontiers.

it is recoMMenogd JhgJ the sgae I_VDe 0

armlysis accomplished here fog-the Niagara Erontier

be done for the Qther two fronliers, partigglarly

the Detroit-Windsor, and that the following steps

be taken as a framework for the analysis.

A. Define the study area to be covered'. This was rela-

tively simple for the Niagara Frontier but may be more

complex for the other two frontiers.

B. Inventory and evaluate the study areas, environmental

pollution problems, this should include all environ-

mental problems on both sides of the connecting channel.,

C. Project the growth and urbanization trends in the study

area and relate these to present and future conflicts.

This would also include evaluating the obstacles, in-

cluding institutions, to environmental enhancement,

D. Make recommendations for the elimination of the ob-

stacles evaluated in point C that prevent modern environ-

mental management.

296

E. Inventory and evaluate common problems.and interests,

such as a transboundary movement of pollutiong that do

not recognize the international boundary, This should

not be limited to only air and water quality but

should'extend to all common interestst such as economic

development, etc.

F. Providelfor an international cooperative mechanism at

the regional level for governments on both sides to work

together on joint programs under the supervision, guide-

lines and coordination of a Great Lakes Management

Agency. It has been recognized that unless cooperation

can be effected between urban areas on both sides of the

connecting channels there is little hope that the pro-

posed.Great Lakes Management Agency,, or the current

I.J.C.,, can be effective in managing and solving the

problems of.the land and water resources of the Great

Lakes. These frontier offices could act as experimental

reg ional offices for special problem areas under the

Great Lakes management agency.

297

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