The opposition NDP claims the government is overstating the percentage of wetlands that remain intact in the province
REGINA — The opposition NDP questioned the Saskatchewan government’s wetland retention last week, saying the Water Security Agency is advertising false numbers.
Erika Ritchie, MLA for Saskatoon Nutana, said the agency is using public money to publish ads claiming that 86 per cent of the province’s wetlands are undrained.
“If only that were true,” she said during question period.
“We lose 10,000 acres of wetlands every year. Only 51 per cent of wetlands are actually left. Why is the Sask Party wasting public dollars on ads that don’t match the facts?”
Read Also
Ag In Motion 2025 site hub of activity
day before Ag in Motion preview.
Agriculture minister David Marit, who is responsible for WSA, said the number is correct.
“Unlike our members to the east, Mr. Speaker, under the NDP, where only … 75 per cent (remain),” he said, referring to Manitoba, which has a no net loss policy.
Ritchie said if the government is confident in its numbers it should open up its data for scientific scrutiny.
Researchers contacted when the figure was first made public said they didn’t know how the government had calculated it.
Peter Leavitt, University of Regina biologist and Canada Research Chair in environmental change and society, said the province is not including wetlands drained by the 1960s and has an “overly inclusive definition of wetlands” to include land flooded in spring but is still seeded.
The WSA said the percentage includes wetlands that are farmed through but undrained.
The data is based on an inventory done by the WSA and its partners, the agency said. It covers 47 million acres in the agricultural region and mapped 4.6 million acres of wetlands.
“The inventory includes imagery which allows WSA to quantify historical wetland loss because both intact and lost wetlands are delineated,” it said in an email.
A consultant validated the work and found an acceptable level of accuracy, the WSA added.
Previous estimates suggested the province had lost 40 to 70 per cent of wetlands, but the newer estimate is based on a larger data set.
The WSA hasn’t yet finalized its wetland policy but has consulted on one that uses a network approach. A floor of existing wetlands within a network would be established and then used to calculate the amount that would have to be retained to meet a certain percentage.
A final policy isn’t expected until 2025.
Meanwhile, Ritchie introduced Bill 615 last fall that would create a comprehensive wetland conservation policy. It has not been debated in the legislature.
“We’re not asking the government for a lot here, just to develop a wetlands policy similar to those already in existence in Manitoba and Alberta,” she said at the time.
“Not only are wetlands our best natural carbon sink, they reduce the impact of flooding and drought, something we’ve been all too familiar with here in the Prairies.”
The provincial auditor has also identified a need for wetland retention and water quality policies.
