Just six of Saskatchewan’s 29 watersheds are healthy, according to the province’s first report on the state of the watershed.
Eleven are stressed and 12 have impaired ecological health.
Environment minister John Nilson said the report shows the healthier watersheds are in the north where few people live.
He said people can use the information in the report to take individual action, and communities can create plans to reduce watershed stress in their areas.
A watershed is defined as a region that drains into a specific body of water, such as a river, lake, pond or ocean. Twelve percent of Saskatchewan’s surface is covered by water and the province has more prairie wetland than the other two prairie provinces combined.
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Saskatchewan watersheds ultimately drain into the Arctic Ocean, Hudson Bay or the Gulf of Mexico.
The report card issued March 15 is the first of its kind in Canada and Nilson said all provinces should examine their water systems.
“It’s a bit of an interesting question for us as Canadians,” he said because they are accustomed to identifying themselves with clean air, green space and an abundance of water.
Terry Hanley, director of monitoring and assessment for the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority, said stress on watersheds, which is not the same as health, rises with human activity.
“We now know where we have to focus,” he said.
The assessment of Saskatchewan watersheds began a year ago. Seven indicators were used to determine the health of a watershed, including water quality, water quantity, riparian health, permanent cover, rangeland health and acid deposition.
As well, 19 indicators, such as population and farming practices, were used to assess stress and 10 indicators determined how management decisions had mitigated stress and improved watershed health.
Using the stress indicators, four watersheds are highly stressed, 12 are moderately stressed and 13 are low.
However, 17 have a high response rate in terms of management, while nine are moderate and three are low. The three with the lowest ratings are Big Muddy Creek, Eagle Creek and Kasba Lake.
Hanley said conditions were accurately assessed using peer-reviewed indicators.
“We’ve added a degree of scientific rigour to assessing watershed health that has not been done in any other province to date.”
Hanley also said that efforts are already underway in many of the watersheds to address factors identified in the report. For example, the Lower Souris watershed in the province’s southeast is considered impaired, but $2 million worth of research and programming is already in place.
Hanley said farmers have been a tremendous support to the authority and were instrumental in the assessment process.
Another report card will be issued in three years and the authority will be working with committees in the meantime to ensure progress, he said.
“Do we have challenges? Absolutely. Do we give up the ghost? The answer would be no.”
The complete report is available at www.swa.ca.
