Flood management Ducks Unlimited targets agricultural drainage as a contributing factor to farmland flooding this summer
Judging by reaction to a recent radio ad, Saskatchewan farmers are sick of being scapegoats.
A Ducks Unlimited radio ad broadcast across eastern Saskatchewan recently ignited dozens of angry comments on Twitter in early October.
The ad suggested that agricultural drainage contributed to the flooding of three million acres of farmland and the evacuation of the hospital in Melville, Sask., this summer.
Wade McNeil, an agrologist and farmer from Yorkton, Sask., tweeted: “Hey Ducks Unlimited, you know what hurts more than drainage, going hungry! Don’t bite the hands that feed you!”
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Other farmers tweeted they will not allow Ducks Unlimited supporters to hunt on their land and a few said they are boycotting Ducks Unlimited fundraising dinners.
The radio spots open with comments from actors saying drainage doesn’t hurt anyone. The ad goes on to say that “drainage hurts. Wetland drainage contributes to flooding, and Ducks Unlimited Canada needs you.”
An early summer deluge dumped 150 to 200 millimetres of rain on eastern Saskatchewan and western Manitoba in late June. The rain inundated fields, overloaded creeks in the region and caused flooding on the Assiniboine River downstream in Manitoba.
Some politicians, conservation groups and farmers said in the aftermath of the flood, which cost Manitoba an estimated $200 million in flood protection measures and damages, that unauthorized and rampant farmland drainage in eastern Sask-atchewan was responsible.
McNeil said the accusatory tone of the ad is maddening, but it’s particularly frustrating because the source is Ducks Unlimited.
“They’re a reputable company. When they’re speaking out and pointing the finger at the farmer, the general public will say, ‘oh, the farmers are causing a lot of these problems,’ ” he said.
“It’s the record rainfall events that are causing these (flooding) problems.”
Ken Sarauer, who farms near Annaheim, Sask., said the amount of rain during the growing season has changed dramatically in recent years, so it’s ridiculous to blame drainage for flooding.
“(Before), if we got six inches (150 mm) of rain in a year, it was a drought. If it was eight to 10 (inches, 200 to 250 mm), it was average,” he said. “
Lately, we’ve been getting 20 inches (500 mm) per year.”
Michael Champion, head of industry and government relations for Ducks Unlimited in Saskatchewan, agreed the heavy rain in late June caused the flooding.
“We’ve been clear on that. The rain is what caused the flooding,” he said.
“(But) the science and research that we’ve seen has shown that wetland drainage is additive to flooding events…. In moderate to normal flood events, drainage is able to push that up to be a little more severe.”
Champion said research by John Pomeroy, a water resources expert from the University of Saskatchewan, has shown that agricultural drainage increases the severity of flood events.
“Drainage is one component on the landscape that we can control,” Champion said.
He said it’s no secret that DU supports wetland conservation, so the hostility to the radio ads is somewhat odd.
Still, the organization’s communication staff reached out to the outspoken farmer, to understand the source of their frustration.
“We’re pro-agriculture,” Champion said.
