Water is arguably the most important resource we have, so whether we're pumping it into homes or draining it from fields, everyone shares a stake in the control of H2O.
The Water Security Agency (WSA) is now asking people across the province to give their insight into how water should be handled on agricultural land across the province. Online consultations for new drainage policy opened on Sept. 1 and will be available for public input until March 31, 2014.
Ken Cheveldayoff, the minister responsible for the WSA, said water issues are ongoing, but the province is looking to take a step forward and get ahead of the game with the help of Saskatchewanians.
"Agricultural drainage has been something that has been at the forefront of the Water Security Agency - and the Watershed Authority before that - right from the beginning. It's something that governments have wrestled with over the last number of decades, and with the 25-year Water Security Plan, we want to make it front and centre," said Cheveldayoff.
He added that opening up a forum to the public to discuss drainage issues is important in creating a broad discussion that will bring ideas forward and help draft new policy and regulations.
Organizations like the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) and the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) are asking the WSA to create province-wide regulations, and that interest helped spur the creation of the drainage consultation process.
"It's not an easy issue because there are people on all sides of it, but we want to have a good, broad consultation and then come forward with regulations and a plan," said the minister.
The new policy will cover all types of drainage that takes place, from rivers and streams to sloughs and flooded fields.
"We want to make the point that any type of drainage needs to be permitted and needs to be legal," said Cheveldayoff.
With the help of Saskatoon-based Insightrix Research Inc., the market research company that has set up and is monitoring the online forum, Cheveldayoff said they are hoping to get more involvement from the public than is typically received at a public consultation or open house.
The discussion is wide open but will narrow as it moves forward so ideas can be more clearly defined.
"The facilitators will be prompting those involved in the forum with certain questions to try to define large ideas into very specific recommendations."
Cheveldayoff said they are also consulting with other provinces, noting Manitoba has done something similar as it looks at drainage.
Some drainage issues came to the forefront in the southeast a couple of years ago when the region experienced widespread flooding. That is something the WSA wants to address.
"Drainage issues are certainly more pronounced when there is an abundance of water. Because of the runoff that we've had and the snowpack certainly it's a thing that's top of mind for people," said Cheveldayoff, who noted his office has received hundreds of calls over the past couple of years regarding flood issues from all corners of the province. "It is something that is very much a priority for the Water Security Agency."
When consultations close on March 31, Insightrix will compile the information and present the WSA with an overview of the ideas from the public. Those will go to the legislature where regulations will be drafted.
"We'll be using that information directly as we draft the regulations and go forward," added Cheveldayoff.
He encourages people to visit the website www.wsask.ca and get involved in the discussion with ideas.
"We want people to discuss a wide range of issues from drainage to downstream flooding, water quality and the effects of drainage on biodiversity," he said.
