This was about 40 acres, once slough, and drained more than 30 years ago, explains Brenda who farms southwest of Morden in the Kaleida area.

• Read more: A watershed moment

They got better crops off it years ago, but in the last while only two or three out of every 10 years were productive. It was too wet the rest of the time.

“It’s always been a marginal piece of land,” she said.

Ultimately, the couple decided the inputs trying to farm it were wasted and to convert it back to slough. They signed on to a project two years ago with the Pembina Valley Conservation District to have it restored to the wetland it once was.

“It was broken up years ago. It shouldn’t have been,” said Seward who is also a board member with the PVCD.

The land was first drained and cultivated about 30 years ago, around the time a road running through it was being built, she added.

2017 has been the first year the site has had water on it since completion of the wetland restoration, which was designed and executed by the PVCD.

“It’s amazing how quick the bulrushes have grown around the edges,” said Seward. It’s been a bit weedy but they’ll eventually seed it to slough grass and hay it.

“It won’t be long and the grass area will be filled in, hopefully.”

The parcel may not sound very large, but this project is significant in several ways, says PVCD manager Cliff Greenfield.

It adds to another adjacent parcel owned by Cliff’s brother that was previously put under wetland restoration after he also saw the land better off this way and was supported through incentives offered through Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation to have it converted. It was after seeing what was involved on this land that Cliff and Brenda decided to do the same.

The slough encompasses both parcels of land and together make about a quarter section, said Greenfield.

PVCD’s main objective in seeing this happen was to stem erosion they were seeing on land downslope from here. This agreement to now hold water will go a long way to achieving it, he said.

“The location of that restoration is above the Pembina River, and there’s a fair bit of drop down to the river, he said. “The way to treat that kind of erosion is through holding water back on the land. Those acres with maybe four or five feet of water put back on it has a pretty significant impact in terms of managing the run-off.”

“It’s signifcant enough in size and volume to definitely slow down that flood peak and reduce erosion downstream.”

What’s also significant is where this wetland restoration has taken place, he added.

“We do a fair number of water retention projects with farmers in areas who are OK with it, but typcally those would be ravines that would not have a lot of agricultural use anyway,” he said.

“This is a area where they were trying to cultivate the land and so that is significant. In the flatter Red River Valley it’s rare to find those locations where it’s maybe not suitable to cultivation and landowners would consider a conservation project like this,” Greenfield said.

He said there’s likely many parcels of land that could be considered for the same type of project.

“Nowadays tile drainage and even surface drainage can maximize productivity but there are areas where even with that technology it’s still not guaranteed a crop eight or nine or 10 years out of 10.

“It makes sense to put your effort into the good land, land you can make productive nine years out of 10 and do something different with the land you’re not so succesful with. It could be a conservation project like what we’re talking about or even into permanent cover that can handle more flooding than a cultivated crop.”

Seward said they feel they did the right thing, considering what they were losing trying to farm this piece of land and the positive impact this will have.

“Restoring these two Seward wetlands reduces erosion and flooding downstream,” said chairman for PVCD’s Lizard Lake subdistrict, Walter McTavish.

“This benefits everyone in the watershed, including the municipality, as downstream roads are less at risk from washing out.”

The post Wetland restoration in Pembina Valley ‘a rarity,’ said CD officials appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

It was a remarkably consistent frost year with all three locations seeing both the last spring frost and the first fall frost within a couple of days of each other. While this year’s frost-free season wasn’t as long as last year’s, we still saw a frost-free season that was around two weeks longer than average.

Looking back at September, it was a warmer-than-average month. The biggest driver behind the warm September temperatures was the extremely warm start to the month. The first two weeks saw temperatures that were more like summer than early fall. Daytime highs soared into the low to mid-30s on Sept. 12 and broke numerous daily record highs. While we did see a few cool periods during the second half of the month, warm fall temperatures seemed to win out. When all the numbers were added up, the Winnipeg region was the absolute and relative hot spot, with a mean monthly temperature of 14.2 C, which was 1.5 C above its long-term average. The Dauphin region came in a close second with a mean monthly temperature of 13 C, which was 1.3 C above average. Last, but not least, was the Brandon region, which saw a mean monthly temperature of 12.7 C or about 0.9 C above the long-term average.

Looking at precipitation across the province, the dry weather we saw this summer finally broke during the second half of the month. Several systems brought significant rains during the last couple of weeks of September. Most notable were the scattered thunderstorms that brought upward of 30 to 40 mm on Sept. 22. Most of southern Manitoba saw rainfall amounts of around 60 to 80 mm in September, about 15 to 30 mm greater than average. The Dauphin region was the dry spot, with a report of about 50 mm of rain in September, or about five mm below its long-term average. Thanks to the dry summer, even the wettest areas could handle the rain, with most areas reporting workable soil conditions.

Who called it?

Overall, it was a warmer- and wetter-than-average month across most of Manitoba. Looking back at the forecasts, both of the almanacs were off, with predictions of cool and wet conditions. NOAA, CanSIPS, CFS, Environment Canada and my forecast all called for a warmer- and drier-than-average month. This means nobody was able to correctly predict this September’s weather. The question now is, does this mean our late-fall and early-winter forecast will be off as well?

According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac we will see a colder-than-average remainder of fall and the first part of winter, along with near- to slightly below-average amounts of rain/snow. The Canadian Farmers’ Almanac also calls for colder-than-average temperatures as it mentions cold several times in its discussion. It also appears to call for above-average amounts of precipitation as it mentions stormy, wet, snowy conditions several times.

Moving on to Environment Canada, it calls for a better-than-average chance of seeing slightly warmer-than-average temperatures along with slightly higher-than-average amounts of precipitation. The CFS model calls for a warmer-than-average October that will then transition to a colder-than-average November and December. Along with the colder temperatures will come near-average amounts of snowfall. The CanSIPS model calls for above-average temperatures to continue, but will slowly cool toward more average values by December. It also follows the CFS models and is predicting near-average amounts of precipitation.

Finally, here is my meagre attempt at forecasting. With no strong global driving forces in place going into this winter, I will have to rely on persistence. This means that until we see a definite shift in the weather pattern that we’ve been in over the last several months, there is no reason to expect it to change. So, I will go with a forecast for slightly above-average temperatures along with near- to slightly below-average amounts of precipitation. As usual, all we have to do now is sit back and see what will happen. As for the rest of the winter, I will take a look at that in a month or so, but my gut is still saying we are long overdue for an epic winter storm.

The post Another growing season comes to an end appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

A heat wave nicknamed “Lucifer” is scorching much of Europe this summer and climate change experts are suggesting these are a greater threat to human life in the short term than rising sea levels, also attributed to climate change.

Evidence continues to mount that these conditions could become the new normal.

A report published in the journal Weather puts 2015 and 2016 in the record books as being the warmest on record, with global temperatures reaching 1 C above pre-industrial levels.

Many still debate whether global warming is actually caused by humans but fewer deny that it’s occurring.

Another report out last week in the journal Nature said that it’s taking longer for regions affected by drought to fully recover. Meanwhile, the time in between droughts is getting shorter, an inverse correlation with potentially disastrous effects.

“If another drought arrives before trees and other plants have recovered from the last one, the ecosystem can reach a ‘tipping point’ where the plants’ ability to function normally is permanently affected,” Yuanyuan Fang, one of the study’s authors said in a release.

In light of this, it’s disturbing to read through the recently released Agricultural Institute of Canada report documenting serious gaps in Canada’s agricultural innovation system, arguably our best hope of preparing for an uncertain production climate.

The report highlights a steadily declining commitment to research by governments over the past three decades, despite the fact that for every dollar invested results in between $10 and $20 returned by way of productivity gains.

Private sector investment is waning as well, “due to low short-term returns on investment or insufficient incentives,” the report said.

Adoption of new technologies, such as precision agriculture, are hampered by the lack of a common analytics platform and poor rural broadband services. And there is a shortage of human capital, which is affecting research and extension capacity as well as on-farm production.

Governments must realize that soil and water will be key to the sector’s ability to adapt to a changing climate. Yet neither are likely to attract private investment.

Taxpayers are in it for the long haul and the sooner they step up the better it will be for all.

The post Editorial: Preparing for an uncertain future appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

For this forecast period it looks like the blocking pattern is going to break down, at least for a few days. The low-pressure system off the West Coast that has been the western anchor to the blocking pattern is forecast to track slowly eastward across Northern Canada, flattening out the ridge of high pressure in the process. This low will drag a trough of low pressure across our region on Wednesday or Thursday, bringing with it clouds and a few showers and thundershowers. The best chances of rain with this trough look to be across the southern portion of the province. Temperatures under the clouds will cool down, with highs expected to be in the low 20s.

By Friday we’ll see high pressure begin to build back into our region as the upper ridge tries to rebuild itself. We should see sunny skies all weekend long, with high temperatures expected to be in the mid- to upper 20s along with fairly light winds.

Confidence in the forecast drops for the first half of next week. The weather models show a slow-moving area of low pressure crossing the northern Prairies. This low should help to pull up some very warm and humid air across southern and central Manitoba from Monday to Wednesday. Some of the weather models show high temperatures in the low 30s along with dew points in the low 20s. With all of that heat and humidity also come the chances for some stronger thunderstorms.

Usual temperature range for this period: Highs, 20 to 28 C; lows, 8 to 14 C.

The post Forecast: Warm weather to build back in appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Perhaps you’ve experienced that awkward moment when you try to stop a friend from committing a fashion faux pas. If so, you may have agonized how to word your concerns to avoid offence, while still getting your message across.

It’s a potentially volatile moment that perfectly captures how I feel writing this column.

What I’m trying to say is this: If you tell consumers that they shouldn’t be worried about GMOs because science says they’re safe, but deny climate change in the next breath, you lose credibility outside the ag echo chamber.

Yes, there are scientists who claim climate change is a hoax, or not caused by humans. But quoting them is like quoting Dr. Oz to justify the latest food fad. The majority of climate change scientists say that our climate is shifting, and that shift is caused by us. While the climate has changed without our help in the past, that doesn’t rule out human causes this time.

I can understand why many in the ag industry view climate change activists with skepticism. They are often self-righteous, and that’s annoying as a restless cat at 4 a.m. Some use a particularly hot day or severe storm alone as evidence of climatic catastrophe, and that’s not necessarily correct. But neither is that recent cold winter evidence that things are OK.

Climate change is more like the tide coming in than a tsunami crashing over us — a shift in weather patterns that unfolds over decades. It might not be apparent that there’s a problem until you find yourself up to your nose in sea water.

Insurance industry quote data

I was browsing around Munich Re’s website, hoping to find some bit of info to win you all over. Munich Re is a global insurance company that provides both primary insurance and reinsurance. The company is based in (you guessed it) Munich, Germany.

If you search “climate change” on Munich Re’s website, you’ll find some fascinating fact sheets. According to Dr. Eberhard Faust, head of Munich Re’s climate risks research, the melting ice in the Arctic will not cause sea level rises. He writes that the ice is in a state of equilibrium with surrounding water. If you’ve ever had a scotch on the rocks and waited long enough for the ice cubes to melt, you’d find the level of the fluid in the glass doesn’t change, he further explains. Same concept (basically).

It’s not all good news. Faust writes that if the climate warms by 2 C:

• Central and Southern Europe are likely to see more flooding, due to more precipitation. Northern Europe will likely see less extreme flooding because there will be less snow accumulation.
• Europe will likely see more than double the number of heat wave days, and the Mediterranean will be even hotter.
• Losses from drought, storms, etc.… in France could nearly double by 2040.

One thing I like about Munich Re’s information is that it tries to separate natural climate variability from man-made climate change. For example, the site explains how the ocean and atmosphere affect Australia and New Zealand’s climate. We’ve all heard of La Niña and El Niño, and they certainly affect weather Down Under.

The Indian Ocean Dipole, which is all about sea surface temperature, has also had a big effect on droughts for centuries. In the positive phase, sea surface temperatures are low in the east and high in the west parts of the Indian Ocean. In positive or neutral phases, southern Australia (especially the southeast) is more likely to see big droughts. In negative phases, the same region gets more rain.

The Indian Ocean Dipole is a natural phenomenon. But, according to Munich Re, recent precipitation drops in Australia’s cool season are “unlikely to be the result of natural climate oscillations alone. It is probable that climate change was already starting to take effect, reducing the frequency of the cut-off lows which bring rains to the southwest, south and southeast of Australia and to Tasmania.”

I don’t know how helpful a Canadian carbon tax will be, or how much it might harm our economy. It will depend largely on how it’s done. I think we should also be looking at adapting at this point, and I suspect many industries are doing just that.

The fact that the insurance industry is concerned about climate change makes me concerned (especially since I live on the edge of the flammable boreal forest). I doubt the insurance industry is unduly influenced by either activists or the fossil fuel lobby. Those people are all about risk and numbers.

Of course, you don’t have to believe any of this. You have a right to your own opinion.

All I’m saying is that climate change denial is not a good look, especially when the ag industry is pleading for science-based policy.

The post Opinion: Facing up to the truth about climate change appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The June opening of the gates on the Pelly’s Lake dam built last year is the latest phase of the large-scale water management project set up between the La Salle Redboine Conservation District and a half-dozen landowners in the area.

Pelly’s Lake is the site of numerous failed attempts at drainage over the years, until the conservation district and numerous partner groups funded construction of the Pelly’s Lake Watershed Management Project to back flood the valley with a volume of water about equivalent to one-third of the Stephenfield Lake Reservoir downstream.

The water is released by early summer, and by early fall, the area should be dry enough for local farmers who leased their land to cut hay.

They’re trying to mimic how the water would naturally flow over the landscape, said LSRCD district manager Justin Reid. There’s been a lot of man-made drainage in the area, but prior to that some water would have lay here awhile before moving downstream.

“We’re trying to bring back some unnatural order to the system to help it do what it originally would have done back in the past,” he said.

The slow-running water will serve as a late-season recharge for reservoirs downstream. But that’s only one of the benefits of the project, which has been supported by the Lake Winnipeg Foundation, Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corp. and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) is demonstrating.

A slower flow reduces the potential for flooding, and improves habitat protection. The slower flow can stem the flow of phosphorus and there is ongoing interest in seeing how cattail harvests may become new sources of renewable energy.

The Pelly’s Lake watershed area encompasses about 23,000 acres and ongoing IISD research is showing the potential for removing 5,000 kg of phosphorus per year by keeping the wetland intact, said Justin Reid, manager for the LSRCD. The phosphorus is taken up by the vast sea of cattail that has established in the valley.

“With enough work and effort in the cattail-harvesting portion, we can more than make up for the phosphorus in this area, instead of draining it into Lake Winnipeg,” he said.

Staff with International Institute for Sustainable Development were also at last week’s demo and spoke about the many potential ways to transform cattails into biofuels and soil amendment products.

Their experiments on a 380-hectare site of cattail show they can recapture anywhere from 20 to 60 kg per hectare of phosphorus, said Karla Zubrycki, project and communications manager (water) at the IISD.

“That represents a large amount of phosphorus,” she said. “Scale that up even larger and imagine sites like this throughout the Lake Winnipeg basin, or just through the Red River watershed or Assiniboine watershed, and the amount of phosphorus that could be captured and prevented from going downstream.”

Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI) agricultural research and development manager Lorne Grieger spoke about ongoing experiments to cut and bale cattail, which will determine ways farmers can use their regular farm equipment to harvest cattail.

They hope this larger-scale project can be replicated on a smaller scale on multiple landowners using a couple of berms and some small culverts, Reid said.

“Basically, what we’re trying to show is if you have borderline wet areas that you’re struggling to get a crop in on some of these wet years, there really is a benefit to holding back a little bit of water,” he said.

“If you have a lot of small projects holding water back on the landscape it really eases the overall flood situation in the spring. A landowner can have a huge benefit on his downstream neighbours with a little bit of work on his own land.”

One of the six participating landowners who signed a long-term conservation agreement that encompasses the 850-acre Pelly Lake project calls it a win-win for everyone involved.

“We never gave anything up,” said landowner Harold Purkess, who is also reeve of the Municipality of Victoria. “Our land stays a little more covered with water a little longer in spring, depending on the weather, but our whole pasture isn’t covered,” he said. “We get more grass and we’re hoping eventually with proper management we can get some better grass species to grow and pasture hay land in the long run.”

This land would yield very poorly if attempts were made to crop it, he continued, adding he feels Pelly’s Lake is an example of a much better way to use it, with a big-picture message for how land and water is managed.

“Water storage is going to be incredibly important,” Purkess said. “I think at some point in time we’re going to be awfully sorry if we don’t do it.”

The post Pelly’s Lake watershed management project complete appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Arctic high pressure moved in as expected behind last weekend’s low and, as predicted, the cold high quickly moved off to the East. A strong ridge of high pressure is forecast to build across central North America during the first half of this forecast period, thanks to a strong surface high over the eastern U.S. This ridge should bring temperatures that will likely surpass the usual temperature range for this time of the year, with highs over low-snow-covered regions expected to make it toward the high single digits by Friday. Areas that have significant snow cover will likely only see highs around the +4 C mark.

Over the weekend, a low passing by well to our north will drag a cold front southward, which will bring an end to the near-record warm temperatures. Overall, the weather pattern looks to continue on the quiet side, with weather models showing no major weather systems expected to impact our region between now and Christmas.

The models show a strong polar low anchoring itself over the Gulf of Alaska, along with an area of high pressure across the U.S. southeast. This should keep us high and dry for at least the next couple of weeks. Of course, now that I’ve made this prediction, you know Mother Nature will eventually make us pay for it; it’s just a matter of time.

Usual temperature range for this period: Highs, -17 to -2 C; lows, -27 to -10 C.

The post Storm systems staying away appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

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 oilfield workers must make a lengthy detour until repairs are completed in the spring of 2014.

“It was heavy rains in Saskatchewan. Is that climate change? I don’t know,” said Jim Trewin, reeve of Arthur Municipality. Repairs to the bridge are underway, and he’s heard that it’s going to be built higher and sturdier when it is finished. But elsewhere in his municipality, he sees a lot of other infrastructure that needs to be upgraded simply because it’s past its expiry date.

The damaged bridge is an example of the kind of infrastructure damage a recent report by the Winnipeg-based International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) warns we could see more of in coming years as climate change tests infrastructure that is already past its prime.

Sponsored by the Cement Association of Canada, the review of existing government and private-sector studies and documents lists a range of possible adverse impacts from more intense storm surges, hotter, drier summers, and melting permafrost.

It also notes that 50 per cent of existing public infrastructure will reach the end of its service life by 2027, and added that a 2012 federal report pegged the replacement cost of infrastructure ranked as being “fair” to “very poor” at $171.8 billion nationally.

“With so much of Canada’s infrastructure reaching the end of its life in the very near future, there are opportunities for investments to be rethought and life-cycle costs to be taken into greater consideration. If targeted effectively, new infrastructure investments can significantly improve the long-term resilience of Canada’s infrastructure in the face of climate change,” the report’s authors wrote.

Melita’s “machinery row,” so named for the numerous farm equipment dealerships built near a flood plain alongside the Souris River, has been threatened by spring flooding a number of times in recent years.

“Ever since the 2011 flood, they promised us a new dike, but they are still doing studies on it,” said Trewin. “I don’t know how many more floods will come and go before we finally get it.”

Colin Craig, Prairie director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, wonders who is going to pick up the tab for such a massive rebuilding effort.

“The numbers don’t add up,” he said. “Unless we see radical changes, we’re going to see big tax increases.”

Government spending is already unsustainable, taxes are too high, and making matters worse is the fact that in the coming decades the baby boomer generation is poised to retire, collect pension cheques and need more health care at a time when household debt levels are “extremely high,” added Craig.

In an emailed response, a provincial government spokesman said that engineers are already considering future climate impacts in bridge designs and new routes for northern winter roads, for example.

“The design standard used to be to design bridges for a one-in-50-year flood event, but in some cases recently, the government has already used a one-in-100-year flood event when designing bridges,” adding that under a new design code, the life of bridges was given a boost from 50 years to 75 years due to recent advances in materials and technology.

As for the bridge on the Coulter-Waskada stretch of PR 251, he stated that MIT is anticipating that this bridge will be open to traffic by mid-March 2014, but some approach roadworks will need to be completed in the summer of 2014.

The post Prepare now for future climate havoc, IISD report urges appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The area of low pressure expected to help bring mild weather to our region this week ended up being much weaker, thanks to last weekend’s low being stronger than expected. As a result, we only saw a slight warm-up early in the week before arctic air pushed in behind the low by mid-week. A weak area of low pressure is forecast to slide southeastward behind this first push of arctic air late Thursday and through the day on Friday. This system will bring some clouds and maybe a few flurries, but doesn’t look like it will bring any measurable snow.

A second arctic high will push south behind this low over the weekend, bringing sunny skies and cool temperatures. By Sunday the high will be to our southeast, which will allow the winds to become southerly. This will start to bring in milder air, especially over western regions. This warm-up will only last a day or two as an area of low pressure sliding by to our northeast will drop a cold front through the region by next Tuesday. Behind this front we’ll see another arctic high build in, dropping temperatures back down to the bottom end of the usual temperature range for this time of the year.

Looking further ahead, the weather models show a slow warming trend for later next week as the arctic high slides to our southeast, but once again, it doesn’t look like the mild air will stick around as another area of arctic high pressure looks ready to drop southward by the end of next week.

Usual temperature range for this period: Highs, -10 to 2 C; lows, -21 to -6 C.

The post Expect plenty of Arctic air appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

“We’re going to do all the studies, get the ball rolling on this in a way that we can bring this into play so we can have a long-term solution for the people who were impacted by the 2011 flood,” said Premier Greg Selinger. “It’s going to make these people’s lives more stable for the future.”

The plan is to make the temporary emergency channel from Lake St. Martin to Big Buffalo Lake built in the fall of 2011 permanent (and possibly larger) and add a new channel from Lake Manitoba to Lake St. Martin. Five possible routes have been identified for the latter, but engineers need to delve deeper into the amount of rock and clay that would have to be moved and determine the optimum outflow capacity. Engineering and design is expected to account for one-fifth of the $250-million price tag. Construction is forecast to begin in 2016, with completion within eight years.

The province expects Ottawa to pick up some of the cost and will use the one per cent hike in the PST to help fund its share, Selinger said.

The announcement was welcomed by Tom Teichroeb, head of the Lake Manitoba Flood Rehabilitation Committee.

“But I am concerned about the length of time they say it’s going to take, eight years is a long time, and if we can build an emergency channel in six months, surely we can do this faster than eight years,” said Teichroeb.

Two independent reports commissioned following the 2011 flood recommended the two-channel approach and Selinger said other flood mitigation recommendations are still under consideration.

Climate change is causing more extreme weather and that requires a “more aggressive mitigation style,” he said.

“We’ve seen three major flood risks in this province in the last five years, so that tells you that the gap between major events is shortening and the severity is increasing,” said Selinger.

It’s also hoped better mitigation will help lower the cost of compensation. To date, $850 million in compensation has been paid for the 2011 flood.

In the meantime, Teichroeb is hoping that amount will expand to cover damage from the 2011 flood that extended into 2012, something his organization has been fighting for.

“We’re still waiting,” he said.

The post Emergency outlet to become permanent appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.