Stuck With The Blame

Manitoba pork producers are bristling over a provincial plan to protect a deteriorating Lake Winnipeg by clamping down on hog manure applications. Hog farmers say they feel the government is unfairly fingering them as offenders in endangering the health of the lake by polluting it with phosphorus. “It’s completely unfair to the industry to target

Wetland Drainage Increases Spring Flooding, Research Shows

It’s a long way from Broughton’s Creek in southwestern Manitoba to Lake Winnipeg smack in the middle of the province. But to Pascal Badiou there is a relationship between this tiny rivulet in Prairie pothole country and the condition of one of Canada’s largest freshwater lakes. There’s also a connection between the history of the


Revenue From Wetlands

When the health of Lake Erie began to deteriorate in the 1960s, the world noticed. Its problems were visible to millions of people in two countries who live around or near that lake, and it wasn’t hard to find public support for measures to restore it to health. It’s been different for Lake Winnipeg. While

Letters – for Jan. 20, 2011

A report worth reading In the Jan. 13 issue of the Co-operator,Doug Faller, policy manager for the Agricultural Producers of Saskatchewan, gives a comprehensive report on his take of the “Interim Report on the Rail Freight Service Review.” This report is readily found by putting this preceding sentence into your computer search engine. You will


Conservation Districts Touted As Helping To Cure Lake Winnipeg

Delegates attending the Manitoba Conservation District Association’s annual meeting here heard repeatedly that the solution to Lake Winnipeg’s pollution lies in their own fields and streams. Conservation districts are the first line of defence in cleaning up Lake Winnipeg because they manage the watersheds where the problem starts, Harold Foster, Manitoba Conservation Districts Association chair

Funding For Cattails To Energy Project

Premier Greg Selinger last week announced $150,000 in funding for a pilot project at Netley- Libau Marsh to explore ways of preventing pollutants from getting into Lake Winnipeg while at the same time reducing greenhouse gas emissions. “In partnership with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the University of Manitoba, we are announcing


Lake improvements required

“They want us to keep the pressure on.” – Bill Barlow The province will soon see a report card on the health of Lake Winnipeg from the same group that gave it its marching orders for cleaning it up. The Manitoba Conservation Districts Association convention featured an update from three of the leading advocates of

Wetland loss linked to lake pollution

New research by Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) has identifi ed that the continued loss of wetlands in Manitoba is increasing phosphorus loads into Lake Winnipeg equivalent to dumping 10 semi-loads of commercial agricultural fertilizer or 544,000 bags of lawn fertilizer directly into the lake every year. “Never before has DUC’s push to stop the loss


C. D. reaps benefits of plan

The Turtle Mountain Conservation District is moving forward rapidly and accessing funding pots that weren’t available before. Last year, the district became the first to have a provincially approved Integrated Watershed Management Plan. The approval allowed the board to prioritize its programming and better focusing on the watershed’s needs. To date, it remains the only