The Pembina Valley Watershed District (PVWD) has been helping farmers protect watershed health in parts of the province since the late ‘80s.
This spring, they expanded to include parts of the Morris and Montcalm rural municipalities west of the Red River.
Initially formed to aid farmers in preventing the loss of topsoil through wind and water erosion, the PVWD has grown to include many forms of beneficial management practices that reduce operation costs or losses for a farmer while maintaining or improving watershed health.
A watershed is a land area in which all surface water drains to a certain point. For example, drainage ditches exist to move water off properties after a rainfall event or during spring melt, but overland run-off can still cause erosion of soil, especially in hilly landscapes or in fields without a crop cover.
The eroded soil is a monetary loss for the farmer because it contains nutrients needed for crop growth and the sediment flows into larger water bodies causing toxic algal growth for aquatic species, in turn impacting tourism.
The GROW program is one major source of funding for the watershed district, with $1.3 million dollars available for large producers and small farmers.
Standing for Growing Outcomes in Watersheds, the program focus primarily on keeping a watershed healthy by minimizing agricultural impacts on local water bodies.
East region GROW coordinator Dean Richards explains that the aim is “to help farmers develop projects that maintain or improve local watershed health.”
Farmers have been receptive as to how the program can help their practices in the new jurisdiction, Richards said.
“Some of the more popular projects include grants for erosion control, shelter belt creation, retention areas. To take advantage of the funding, the landowner needs to be doing some sort of farming,” he said. “Erosion control, say for around here in the Red River Valley, could help a farmer seed down riparian areas and prevent flood waters from rising and grabbing that top soil. [A landowner] with even 20 sheep or 10 cows could qualify for a rotational grazing set-up,” by ensuring permanent land cover.
“We are a very large watershed reaching from Letellier to Boissevan, but [the board] will take a look at all submitted projects and see if they make sense,” said Richards. “A good project will help the environment, help the watershed and benefit the farmer. We’ve put in 2 billion trees across the watershed district to help small acreages.”
Richards encourages land owners to get in touch with him to learn more.
“See what we have to offer, because [your idea] might fall into a category that you weren’t aware of. Please stop by, give me a call, or I’ll come see you.”
Richards is located at the RM of Montcalm office in Letellier on the first and third Thursdays of the month or in the Altona PVWD office. He can be reached at 431-349-0882.
Information about all the district programming options can be found at pvwd.ca.
