Voluntary approach to watershed management an issue at open house

The voluntary approach to watershed management was an issue at an open house on watershed management in Moose Jaw Tuesday.
One resident queried the volunteer approach taken by the four committees developing 81 recommendations for the Upper Qu'Appelle Wascana Watersheds.
Voluntary regulations mean politics can be used so that regulations are not uniform in all municipalities, he said.
David Sloan of Edenwold, one of the watershed committee members, defended the voluntary approach.
"If we do it voluntarily without someone from on high making the regulations everybody is happier and things will get done faster," he said. "And enforcement won't be a big issue."
For some situations, regulations may not need to be as strict as others, said Sloan.
Another area resident who has fished and hunted in much of the watershed for 50 years favours an Alberta program where cattle are fenced 25 yards away from water bodies and water courses.
People wanting to use Lake Diefenbaker beaches can't, he said. Cattle from a community pasture stand in the shallow water on hot summer days, he said.
Those concerns are addressed in one of eight key recommendations, said Sloan.
Craig Hellings of the the Upper Qu'Appelle Watershed Association said a group environmental plan is trying to address the cattle issue.
"We're not fencing off the water course but we're pumping water off the water course by solar or wind power to encourage the cattle to drink there."
Three such systems have been installed with two more in the works.
Private land ownership along the valley complicates matters.
One of the 81 recommendations affecting the Moose Jaw region involves a request for study on the quality of water coming from Eyebrow Lake.
Sloan said recommendations by the volunteer committees of various water users is the culmination of almost four years of regular meetings, starting from scratch to learn about the watersheds, the issues and consensus on how to resolve them.
Technical support came from provincial and federal agencies like the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority.
About 25 people attended the combined open house/public meeting.
The Upper Qu'Appelle Wascana Watersheds provide water for about 25 per cent of Saskatchewan's population.
It includes Manitou Lake at Watrous, Buffalo Pound Lake, Craik Reservoir and Last Mountain Lake.
The huge water collection basin starts three hours drive north of Regina and angles an hour's drive southeast.
The Upper Qu'Appelle Watershed runs from the Qu'Appelle Dam on Diefenbaker Lake to Buffalo Pound Lake and Lumsden.
Comments on the 81 recommendations need to be made by Jan. 31, either by phoning 306-787-0780 or e-mailing to upperquappelewascanaplan@swa.ca.
If all goes by schedule, regulations based on the plan could be in effect this spring.

Ron Walter can be reached at 691-1264.

Protecting underground water a key priority
Protecting the underground sources of water in the province is a key priority for the Upper Qu'Appelle Wascana Watershed committees.
"We don't know much about the aquifer," said spokesman Davis Sloan in an an interview during an open house in Moose Jaw.
"We need to know more about it. We don't know what the sources are."
Most Saskatchewan farms and many towns and villages use water wells punched into the network of aquifers for their domestic and commercial water supplies.
In that vein, recommendations by the four committees call for a strong program to deal with abandoned wells.
Thousands of abandoned wells across the province can be a source of aquifer contamination.
Many abandoned wells are just filled in a bit with dirt or refuse from the farm.
The Saskatchewan Watershed Authority can advise farmers on proper ways to decommission the unused wells.

Key Recommendations
- Protect aquifers and ground water
- Do watershed plans
- One agency for water
- Build watershed data base
- Manage conveyance of water
- Watershed health reports with regular updates
- Zoning bylaws
- Communications strategy