Conservation authority board composition and watershed management in Ontario

This article contributes to the general debate about specialized governments, which may represent one or many municipalities. The research compares the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) and its fragmented board and the consolidated board of the Hamilton Conservation Authority (HCA) to assess whether board composition affects policy implementation. It finds that the UTRCA is more responsive to the provincial mandate for watershed management than the HCA. This suggests that specialized governments serving several municipalities are likely to be more faithful to their mandate than those serving a single municipality.