After a decade of experimentation with equipment and processes, cattail harvesting is poised to move beyond the pilot project stage.

Cattail harvesting shows promise to aid province’s water woes

The cattail-harvesting project taking place at Pelly’s Lake sees progress in extracting overloaded nutrients and processing 
the biomass crop

Ten years after a research team first considered harvesting cattails in Manitoba, one of the lead researchers remains as enthusiastic as ever about its environmental and economic potential. “Essentially, we have been working on this for the past 10 years. When we set out it was a small project looking at how cattails and reeds

Fall field work was still underway in many areas of the province under record-high temperatures last Sunday, including along Mountain Road just east of Erickson. Projections from the new Winnipeg-based Prairie Climate Centre suggest this could be a more common mid-November sight in future.

Atlas showing future climate change under development

An online resource of maps and data will help planners adapt to climate change

Growing conditions on the Can­adian Prairies will be very different if global warming trends continue — but how different? A new series of online maps offers a glimpse of the length of season, temperature changes and rainfall farmers in the not-so-distant future could face under various scenarios. The maps are part of a ‘climate atlas’


New centre for climate risk reduction on the Prairies

The centre will focus on building 
community resilience

The University of Winnipeg and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) are forming a centre to identify risks and build community resilience to climate change. The Centre for Climate Risk Reduction on the Prairies will be a network offering research, advice and policy development to governments, businesses and community members on the pressing and

La Salle Redboine Conservation District manager Justin Reid spoke to municipal and conservation officials during the latest phase of the large-scale water-retention project south of Holland last week.

Pelly’s Lake watershed management project complete

Officials visit site to see the gates opened on the now complete Pelly’s Lake Watershed Management Project

Conservation and municipal officials opened the gates here June 16 to release water that had been held back through the spring as part of a water control project expected to bring multiple benefits to the area. The June opening of the gates on the Pelly’s Lake dam built last year is the latest phase of

wetland marsh

Wetland count begins in southwestern Manitoba

Project will reveal distribution and interaction of wetlands in agro-Manitoba

Water and land managers will soon have a precise picture of the state of wetlands in southwestern Manitoba as staff with the Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corp. begin a mapping and classification project this spring. Wetlands as small as a quarter of an acre will be included in the study designed to help farmers and drainage


Karin Wittenberg standing at a podium

Prairie agriculture in for even more change: U of M agriculture dean

Adapt to climate change rather than trying to mitigate its effects, says Karin Wittenberg

In 1980 there was no Internet. No one carried a cellphone or used GPS. Canola was a new crop for Prairie farmers. Expect even more dramatic change in the next 35 years, says Karin Wittenberg, dean of agricultural and food sciences at the University of Manitoba. Wittenberg, the keynote speaker at last month’s annual meeting

Still waiting: Repairs to the bridge between Coulter and Waskada should be completed by the summer of 2014. Residents have had to detour around it since the spring of 2011.

Prepare now for future climate havoc, IISD report urges

Coulter-Waskada bridge to be repaired by early spring, says province

Southwestern Manitoba residents know first hand about the lingering inconveniences and costly after-effects associated with weather-related disasters. More than two years after spring flooding wiped out the Souris River bridge between Coulter and Waskada, they’re still waiting on repairs to a key transportation link in their area. In the meantime, area residents as well as



Netley-Libau project wins innovation award

The Netley-Libau Nutrient-Bioenergy Project has been recognized by the Manitoba Round Table for Sustainable Development as it seeks commercial opportunities for its findings. After receiving the award for Innovation and Research for Sustainability at the Manitoba legislature, lead researcher Richard Grosshan said the focus of the project has changed since he began work at the

Surface water management strategy a sustainable development imperative

It sure would be great to have access to the agricultural nutrients carried away 
by flood waters, as fertilizer prices continue to climb

What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time all of southern Manitoba was in various stages of panic as forecasts revealed just how bad the 2011 flood might be. Ultimately our traditional flooding hot spot, the Red River Valley was mostly spared with a combination of manageable flows and decades of preparation.