Source Water Protection

Water knows no boundaries. It flows over the surface, underground through farms, cities and across jurisdictions. We are all linked by its path and our need for it. Understanding how we affect the water near us and how that affects the water further down stream is the first step in realizing the importance of protecting what we all share and need. Many of the activities occurring within the watershed impact water quality. There are steps we can take to ensure our activities do not have negative impacts on our water sources. Then we are not only protecting water for ourselves and each other but for future generations.

Urban
Whether you live in a town or city you have access to water. Water is a part of every household and is connected to most activities and businesses. By being more aware of our use and need for water we can better protect it. There are ways we can conserve water within our own homes.

A major water user in the house is the toilet. A leaky toilet can waste 28 bathtubs full of water per month! One way to check for a leaky toilet is to put dye in the tank and see if it leaks down into the bowl. If so, some minor maintenance is in order. Another way to save water is to retrofit your toilet with a low flush model. There are grants available to help with the cost.

Agriculture
Agriculture is the largest land-use within the North Saskatchewan River Watershed and a major economy in Saskatchewan. The majority of this land is used for crop production and forage for livestock. One program that assists land managers in optimizing their management in order to protect the environment and maintain productivity is the Environmental Farm Plan (EFP). Environmental Farm Plans are voluntary, confidential, self assessment tools used by producers to raise awareness about environmental risks and opportunities on their operations. As part of their EFP producers develop their own action plans to identify management practices that help reduce environmenal risks on their farm. Learn more about Environmental Farm Plan.

Once producers have completed their EFP, they can access funding through the Canada-Saskatchewan Farm Stewardship Program to implement changes they may have identified. These projects would result in the implementation of Beneficial Management Practices (BMP). A BMP is defined as any agricultural management practice which:

1. Ensures the long-term health and sustainability of land-related resources used for agricultural production;
2. Positively impacts the long-term economic and environmental viability of the agricultural industry; and
3. Minimizes negative impacts and risk to the environment. Click for more information on the Canada-Saskatchewan Farm Stewardship Program.

Riparian Areas
What are riparian areas?
Riparian areas are the transition zones between land and water environments. They are the narrow strips of land located along streams, lakes, potholes, springs, coulees, wooded draws, or anywhere water is plentiful. The abundance of water and plant communities which are different from the drier uplands set riparian areas apart from their surroundings. Riparian areas are productive and a valuable resource providing numerous social, economic, and environmental benefits.

Benefits of healthy riparian areas
Water bodies and riparian areas provide water, fish and wildlife habitat, recreational opportunities, and livestock forage. A "healthy" riparian area is one that is able to perform certain basic functions. These functions include primary vegetative production, protecting stream banks from erosion, trapping stream-born sediments which build up stream banks, promoting water absorption and storage, recharging groundwater reserves, and regulating stream flow.

For more information on riparian area health and management:
www.swa.ca
www.cowsandfish.org

Lakes
A lake is a complex system of water moving in and out of the basin. Lakes are only one aspect of the water cycle. Snowmelt and rainwater flow over the land as runoff while water moves through the soil as groundwater or aquifers, these combine to fill our lakes. Because of the integrate relationship between water and land lake protection must extend over the entire watershed. Surface flow can pick up contaminants loaded with phosphorus or other chemicals. Lakes with high levels of nutrients will encourage excessive growth of plants. These plants are not only a problem for the recreational use of the water but oxygen is consumed as they decompose. A serious depletion of dissolved oxygen mean the lake cannot support some fish species. Water quality monitoring tests for several things such as the turbidity, levels of phosphorous and other chemicals, some metals, fecal coli forms, the amount of dissolved oxygen, and the pH. There are many lakes in the Saskatchewan portion of the North Saskatchewan River Watershed. Over two dozen have cottage developments and many more are used for camping and fishing. These provide many recreational opportunities in all seasons.

Forestry
Healthy forested areas provide source water protection functions such as erosion control, snow and water storage and filtration of surface runoff. Extensive forest harvesting within a watershed in the boreal forest can have impacts on water quality and quantity. Commercial harvesting occurs within the North Saskatchewan River watershed. All commercial forest harvesting in the provincial forest is subject to annual operating plans approved by Saskatchewan Environment. Commercial harvesting can also occur on private and Indian Reserve lands, which are not subject to Saskatchewan Environment licensing requirements. Forest harvesting license areas are not based upon watersheds. Markets influence prices, and the amount of harvesting will vary in the watershed from one year to the next. Although there may be variability in the volume of timber harvested from year to year, mills within the watershed target a consistent supply within a range based on the licence requirements and their specific mill requirements.