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November 2019
Dawson Trail Dispatch
Celebrating Over 20 Years of Service to Our Communities!
One Wetland Can Make a Huge Difference Wetlands offer municipalities a cost-effective solution to reducing nutrients. The wastewater was released and it’s now on its way downstream toward Lake Winnipeg, but it will not be carrying harmful nutrients. This is thanks to a new wetland added to the St. Pierre-Jolys lagoon system that uses its nutrient-fighting plants to filter phosphorus, nitrogen and other contaminants from the community’s wastewater prior to it entering the river system. Algal blooms are still a summer issue in Lake Winnipeg and many other Manitoba water bodies. With the urgency to reduce nutrient loading to benefit lake health and with many municipal lagoons aging and unable to properly manage wastewater, Native Plant Solutions offers a natural solution. That solution is a wetland consisting of a pool of water with a high coverage of native vegetation that filters all the bad stuff from wastewater before it is released into the watershed. “Water that flows through a wetland as the final stage in the treat-
ment process is often cleaner than the waterway it enters,” said Bruce Friesen-Pankratz, Native Plant Solutions wetland scientist. “This is exactly the case for the village of St. Pierre-Jolys and their new treatment wetland and we’ve tested the water to prove it works.” In fact, recent tests show that wastewater leaving St. Pierre-Jolys’ new wetland only contains 0.03 mg/ L of phosphorus. This is significantly lower than the provincial guidelines of 1 mg/L. The phosphorus in the wetland-treated water is also lower or more diluted than the river water it flows into, which tests at 0.2 mg/L. Due to these positive test results, Native Plant Solutions and officials from St. Pierre-Jolys gathered recently for the first release of municipal wastewater from the community’s treatment wetland. “When we looked at the options to improve the output from our lagoon system and to meet the needs of our growing population, using a natural approach fit well with our sustainability goals as a community,” said
St. Pierre-Jolys Mayor, Raymond nicer esthetic. We appreciate the exMaynard. “Not only is a treatment pertise Native Plant Solutions has wetland more cost-effective, it is also brought to this project.” lower maintenance and has a much Wetlands work and more and more
communities across the country are showing how easy it is to use green infrastructure to combat some of our man-made problems.
This treatment wetland constructed by Native Plant Solutions and used by St. Pierre-Jolys effectively filters phosphorus and other contaminants from the wastewater in the community’s lagoon system before it is released into the watershed and ultimately into Lake Winnipeg.
In June 2019 the water quality of two water samples taken from the new treatment wetland and from one of the original lagoon cells shows the different water clarity between the two systems.
A graph on total phosphorus levels to show a comparison from the lagoon to the treatment wetland in relation to provincial guidelines and two accompanying images from the site.
An infographic showing how a treatment wetland works
Southeast Crown Land Leases Up for Auction For the first time ever, producers will be able to purchase crown land leases at public auction. Agriculture and Resource Development Minister Blaine Pedersen said the decision to auction off crown land leases was made after extensive consultation with stakeholders on the allocation of agricultural Crown lands. “The auction system is a fair and transparent approach that will create opportunities for new or young farmers to have access to these public assets,” said Pedersen. On October 25, a list of six public ag-
ricultural Crown Land lease auctions being held throughout the province was released. The only one taking place in the region is on December 6 at the Dugald Community Hall. In November 2018, the Manitoba government passed The Crown Lands Amendment Act (Improved Management of Community Pastures and Agricultural Crown Lands), which enabled amendments to the Agricultural Crown Lands Leases and Permits Regulation (Oct. 1, 2019). One of the updates to the regulation included implementing a system of allocating agricultural Crown land leases
by way of a public auction. The Agricultural Crown Lands Program supports the sustainable expansion of the livestock herd in Manitoba, contributes to ecological goods and services, and provides mitigation and adaptation to climate change. These leases and permits are available to farmers and ranchers, to provide an additional land base on which to conduct agricultural activities. Information on the upcoming auctions, including start times, can be found at resd.ca/leases_and_permits/LPproperties or by contacting a local Manitoba Agriculture Agricultural Crown Land office.
Conservation District Gets Funding On October 22, the province announced three projects under the Growing Outcomes in Watersheds (GROW) including $250,000 in funds towards the Seine-Rat River Conservation District. In partnership with the Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation (MHHC), the province announced the first three projects to receive funding through the GROW Trust. The funds will be used to expand the ALUS Canada ecological goods and services programs they offer to conserve wetlands, and build resilience to the im-
pacts of flood and drought. “The Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation is proud of our partnership with the Manitoba government that will help ensure the protection of our natural resources and improved watershed resiliency that will deliver important environmental results for Manitobans for generations to come,” said Tim Sopuck, chief executive officer, MHHC. The first intake of applications to the GROW Trust will be held in January 2020, allowing conservation districts, soon to be watershed districts, with local
GROW committees to apply for project funding that will encourage and support the delivery of ecological goods and services (EG&S) in Manitoba. The Growing Outcomes in Watersheds (GROW) Trust was established with an initial investment of $52 million and is managed by The Winnipeg Foundation (TWF). It is expected to help producers and ranchers with projects such as restoring wetlands, planting windbreaks and balancing drainage with water retention to improve resiliency to a changing climate.