Newsletter - August 15, 2024

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TOPICS INCLUDE:

Lumsden Beach Resort: Water Treatment Infrastructure
Watershed District Advisory Committee Update
Climate Change Adaptation Planning
What Can Legumes Do For You?
Fish Habitat Enhancement and Restoration
Caring For Our Watersheds
Welcome to SAW - New Staff

NEWSLETTER

August - 2024

Enhancing Drinking Water Infrastructure at Lumsden Beach

In recent years, Lumsden Beach Resort has undertaken significant improvements to their drinking water infrastructure. Town Mayor, Ross Wilson, has led the efforts to transform the community's drinking water treatment.

In 1988, Lumsden Beach established a new aquifer well on higher ground than the original well, to leverage gravity for water distribution, and it remains the source of the resort’s seasonal water supply, which opens on May 1 through the Thanksgiving weekend each year. The water is pumped from the aquifer well and then travels through a pressure tank and backwater valve. Next, it is injected with chlorine and potassium permanganate, filtered through a green sand filter and UV lights, and then stored in a 4000-gallon tank for distribution through seven waterlines that service the resort community.

When Ross Wilson was appointed mayor in 2012, he saw significant regulatory changes imposed by the province. Prior to these changes, the resort’s water supply was treated with chlorine alone. However, new provincial standards required turbidity level units (NTUs)to be below 1, a shift from the previous limit of 5, and the well, initially at 2.3 NTUs, had to meet the new requirements.

Four years ago, the Water Security Agency (WSA) raised concerns about the resort’s chlorine usage, prompting a directive to reduce it. After almost 3 years of trial and error, consultants were hired to find a solution. This led to the introduction of green sand filters and UV lights, which proved to be the most cost-effective solution, especially in anticipation of impending changes to manganese standards within the province. Manganese is particularly prevalent in Lumsden Beach’s water, but the newly installed UV lights effectively help filter it out.

Funding the upgrades was a community effort. At the annual payers meeting in 2023, residents were given the choice to maintain their drinking water quality with a one-time payment of $300 per property, or to switch to hygienic water. With 98% voting 'yes', residents helped source the remaining funds required to reach the $68,000 needed for the upgrades. The resort’s commitment to sustainability is evident in its planning and preparation, which allowed for these improvements without incurring debt.

Volunteers played a crucial role, with five Lumsden Beach residents and two hired professionals completing the installation by early May 2024. The daily water testing, mandated by provincial law, is also primarily conducted by nine trained volunteers within the community. The upgrades to the water treatment system included a new water tank, repurposing the old one for backwash and increasing water storage capacity. The community is awaiting WSA approval to use the backwash tank to irrigate the mini golf course within the resort community.

Lumsden Beach’s approach to adapting to incoming regulations and standards demonstrates that with strategic planning and community involvement resort communities can achieve safe and sustainable drinking water systems. Other resorts facing similar challenges might consider looking to Lumsden Beach as a blueprint for success.

Watershed District Advisory Committee (DAC) Update

The latest round of Watershed District Advisory Committee (DAC) meetings wrapped up in July. SAW held meetings in Ponteix, Melfort, Emerald Park, and Saskatoon. At each meeting, we had a presentation about Water Management and Hydrology by watershed district from Doug Johnson. We also had presentations from Michael Ferguson on Opportunities for Water and Agriculture in Melfort, and WSA’s Agriculture Stewardship Wetland Policy from Megan Schaefer and Dinah Tambalo in Saskatoon.

SAW programming updates were provided for the following programs, by watershed district:

Prairie Watersheds Climate Program (PWCP)
Water Stewardship for a Changing Climate (CCAP)
Aquatic Invasive Mussels Monitoring
Caring for our Watersheds
Drought Preparedness Planning
Tree for Life
Rural Water Testing (SW District)
Habitat Restoration and Enhancement (SW District)
Applying a Landscape Approach to Improve Biodiversity (NW District)
ALUS – Carrot River Watershed (NE District)

Key issues and concerns identified throughout the district meetings included the continued need for education and communication about watersheds, water resources and water quality; youth engagement; riparian health management; lake stewardship management planning; water quality monitoring expanding throughout the province; source water protection planning; agricultural water management planning; and understanding current and future infrastructure and water management.

The next round of DAC meetings will begin in October!

If you have any questions, please reach out to the Water Resources Manager:

Samantha Kerr (s.kerr@saskwatersheds.ca), the Eastern District Manager:

Karmen Kyle (k.kyle@saskwatersheds.ca), or the Western District Manager:

Ryder Rutko (r.rutko@saskwatersheds.ca).

Climate Change Adaptation Planning (CCAP)

SAW, with support from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), is continuing to develop watershed-based climate change adaptation plans for Saskatchewan. In Year 1 of the project, SAW held community engagement meetings in the Northwest and Northeast Watershed Districts. The Northwest Watershed District Climate Change Adaptation Plan is complete and will be available on the SAW website soon! The Northeast Watershed District Climate Change Adaptation Plan will be available later this fall!

The planning for the Southeast Watershed District has begun. We held two community engagement meetings on June 21st and July 11th in Weyburn at the Royal Canadian Legion.

SAW will also host three demonstration site and workshops during Year 2 of the project! Our first adaptation and demonstration site will be the installation of a floating treatment wetland in the Kensington 1 Storm Pond within the City of Saskatoon on August 28th.

If you are interested in attending one of the meetings scheduled in the Southeast Watershed District, or have any questions related to the CCAP Project, please contact Samantha or Lydia for more information at ccap@saskwatersheds.ca.

What Can Legumes Do For You?

Incorporating legumes into the crop rotation is not a new concept but is a recommended practice for the many benefits that it can provide.

Legumes are in the Fabaceae plant family, including annual and perennial species, such as alfalfa, clover, beans, peas, lentils and more. They are known for their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen into a plant-useable form of nitrogen thanks to their unique symbiotic relationship with bacteria, such as rhizobia. The plants have access to the nitrogen needed for growth and in return, the bacteria receive energy and nutrients to support their growth.

Some of the many benefits of incorporating legumes into the crop rotation include:

Improved soil health – root and stubble biomass are significant sources of organic matter, which are important for the aggregation of soil particles and are key to improving soil structure, reducing compaction issues and increasing water infiltration.
Weed, pest and disease control – incorporating legumes can reduce the impact on future crops as well as reduce the reliance on pesticides.
Yield improvement – improvement in soil health, fertility and more efficient nutrient cycling can boost yields in subsequent crops.
Economic benefits – nitrogen fixing capabilities of legume crops can reduce the amount of nitrogen fertilizer required, lowering production costs, and increasing the profit margin.
Environmental benefits – enhanced nutrient cycling improves fertilizer uptake and minimizes loss to the environment and increase biodiversity to improve ecosystem balance and resilience.

Fish Sampling By-Catch and Biodiversity

While sampling Plains Minnow and Plains Sucker in creeks of southwest Saskatchewan, SAW staff have encountered a variety of by-catch species. Fish such as fathead minnows, brook stickleback, and lake chub frequently end up in seine net hauls. Although these are not our target species, they still play an extremely important role in the ecosystem!

Non-target, by-catch species benefit the ecosystem in their own unique way. Some species act as a food source for larger fish, while others eat algae or decaying plant and animal matter, keeping streams clean, clear, and healthy. Additionally, these other species are what make up the biodiversity within each creek. Did you know that ecosystems with high biodiversity (those that contain many different and unique species) are usually the healthiest of all ecosystems?

With funding provided by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, SAW will be implementing habitat enhancement and restoration projects including riparian area tree plantings and rock riffles. These projects help protect and enhance habitat for fish species, preserving biodiversity and improving ecosystem health.

For more information, or if you are interested in participating, please contact Ryder at r.rutko@saskwatersheds.ca or 306-774-2136.

Lake Chub, U.S. National Park Service

Brook Stickleback, Eric Krol, www.roughfish.com

Fathead Minnow, Maryland Biodiversity Project

Welcome to the Team!

Chandra Greig, Accounting Administrator

I come with extensive knowledge in the accounting field. I've always enjoyed working with numbers and have turned that into a career that I love. I was born and raised in Moose Jaw and love our little city. I am a mom of 3, 2 out of the nest, 4 dogs, and a husband. When I'm not at the office, I enjoy spending time at home in the yard with my family and dogs or curled up watching a good movie.

I'm excited to be a part of an amazing organization that is a big part of helping our environment and keeping our water clean. Be sure to pop in to say hi if you're in the area, I'm looking forward to meeting everyone!