FORT MACLEOD, Alta. – A five-year study to assess the effectiveness of recommended practices for handling manure and other water supply threats starts this spring at two Alberta locations.
Andrea Kalischuk of Alberta Agriculture said past studies show agricultural practices can have a detrimental effect on water quality.
The test sites in Lacombe County and the Municipal District of Pincher Creek also involve the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration, Alberta Environment and producers.
The study will assess improvements to the environment and producers’ costs to implement changes.
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“When we have this information, then policy-makers can make the decisions whether they need to subsidize certain practices for the public good,” Kalischuk said at the Oldman Watershed Council meeting in Fort Macleod Jan. 22.
The studies focus on two creeks in diverse agricultural areas in high moisture locations so that scientists will have water to monitor in the creeks and other collection places such as hollows:
- Indianfarm Creek flows into Pincher Creek and then the Oldman River. About 36,000 acres drain into the creek.
- Whelp Creek near Ponoka is drained by 11,000 acres.
The study will analyze the techniques in manure spreading and how much is applied to a given area. Setbacks from water courses will be measured.
Livestock management and controlled access to water, seasonal grazing and the timing of runoff will be monitored for two years.
This will be followed by introducing new management practices to see if any make a difference to water quality and riparian and rangeland health.
Also included in the study are two irrigated fields in the Picture Butte area with a history of regular manure application.
About 10 years worth of data have been collected from these fields, which are located near the Battersea Drain that flows into the Oldman and Lower Little Bow rivers.
Further study will measure phosphorus levels found in the area after years of heavy manure application.
