The Saskatchewan government will develop a new drainage policy as part of its water management framework.
The framework, released earlier this year, contains 58 recommended actions. Among them is a call for a task force to hold public consultations on the findings of the upper Assiniboine river basin study, then make recommendations to cabinet.
The Assiniboine study, which is in its third and final year, includes an area of east-central Saskatchewan and west-central Manitoba where landowners have been arguing for years about drainage issues.
Legislation and an enforcement strategy to deal with unauthorized drainage is also on the list of 58
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actions.
“I think that what we would be looking at is something that would be complementary or supplementary to some of the policies that already exist,” said Maynard Sonntag, minister responsible for Sask Water.
Water exports
He said one of the key issues to come out of the consultation pro-cess was concern about water exports. He said people want restrictions on the export of fresh water put into legislation, not just policy.
Sonntag said he was encouraged by the public’s concern.
“I think that it’s high time that all of us, irrespective of where we live, where we have a resource that is really plentiful, that we don’t just take it for granted and recognize how important it is that we maintain quantity and, more importantly, quality,” he said.
The recommendations will be implemented over five years. Some of the first have already started. For example, cottage owners along Murray and Jackfish Lakes in northwestern Saskatchewan will be monitoring water levels and quality in co-operation with Sask Water and the environment department.
“Obviously finances will dictate to some degree what we’re able to do,” Sonntag said.
