Saskatchewan’s Water Security Agency is consulting on how best to mitigate agricultural drainage to balance the needs of farmers and the environment. Four years after regulations under the Agricultural Water Management Strategy were implemented, mitigation has become a sticking point. Mitigation wasn’t set in the original policy and the consultations the agency and government representatives […] Read more
Tag Archives drainage
Settlement in sight for Sask. water dispute
Peter Onofreychuk has complained since 2011 that upstream agricultural drainage has flooded his farmland
MACNUTT, Sask. — A settlement in a long-running drainage dispute in east-central Saskatchewan is in the works. After meeting with a mediator May 8, lawyers for Peter Onofreychuk and the Smith Creek Regional Watershed Association are drafting an agreement that will see water flow more evenly through Onofreychuk’s land under a conservation and development project. […] Read more
Sask. farmers defend well-planned agricultural drainage
LANGENBURG, Sask. — Advocates of organized agricultural drainage say well-planned projects are key to keeping communities and people safe and land arable. They say the practice of draining water off cultivated land is often misunderstood, and they bristle at criticism that they are not environmentally friendly. “We are perplexed by environmental claims that we’re damaging […] Read more
Sask. injects $5 million into managing drainage issues
The Saskatchewan government is investing $5 million in agricultural water management. Premier Scott Moe announced on March 13 the Saskatchewan Conservation and Development Association (SCDA) will receive the funds to help develop conservation and development area authorities (C and D). “I think it’s fair for all of us to say that we all have more […] Read more
Eastern Sask. farmer wrestles with drainage approval
KIPLING, Sask. — Eric Widdup says the Water Security Agency’s permitting process for agricultural drainage is exasperating. “The politics and the red tape involved are overwhelming,” he told a Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities division meeting last month. “It’s almost like pulling teeth to get an ag drainage permit. The process is at best dysfunctional […] Read more
Bullet provides low-cost alternative
BRANDON — Tile drainage may be the best solution to managing saturated soils, but the cost is prohibitive for many producers. However, a low-cost mechanical mole boring temporary tunnels may serve the same purpose. Imagine a torpedo-shaped four-inch diameter slug of iron being pulled through your field at a depth of two or three feet. […] Read more
Field drainage: just scratch the surface
BRANDON — Most surface drainage work performed on the Prairies until recently was based on the “deep thinking school of thought” of the 19th century — but the deep thinking scholars are gone. Two changes have taken place recently. First, in many people’s opinion, the biggest step has been affordable RTK technology, which allows farmers […] Read more
Drain your water not your dollars
Farmland northeast of Winnipeg can produce great yields… if it doesn’t rain… but generally it rains. “Drought” is a word that doesn’t exist in farmer’s vocabulary around here. “Flood” is a common word though. The prevalent winds come sweeping down from the northwest, sucking up moisture from Lake Winnipegosis, Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipeg. The […] Read more
Drainage design by drones
A UAV helicopter (unmanned aerial vehicle) bouncing a pulsating laser beam off the Earth’s surface can produce a topographical field map with sub-one-inch accuracy. The result is a highly precise drainage map. The system is called LIDAR, standing for Light Detection and Ranging. Until recently, it was only affordable in the realm of geoscience researchers. […] Read more
Drain without deluge: slow the water flow
FARGO, N.D. — Jeff Penner isn’t selling a machine so much as he’s selling a concept. He’s showing farmers how to achieve good drainage without letting a drop of water flow off the field. There’s an old saying about how everybody lives downstream from somebody else. Likewise, we also live upstream from somebody, which carries […] Read more
