HomeWatershed Management, not Drainage, Key to Sustainable Water Resources 
Ducks Unlimited Responds to 2001 Manitoba Budget
Oak Hammock Marsh MB, April 12 – Staff of the country's leading wetland conservation organization, Ducks Unlimited Canada, are taking keen interest in the Manitoba government's recent announcement of significant investments in drainage and drainage infrastructure.
"Drainage is typically a quick fix solution to moving water off land and downstream where it has the potential to become someone else's problem," said Bob Grant, Ducks Unlimited field office manager in Brandon. "The flow of water in Manitoba needs to be addressed in the context of watershed management plans."
Watersheds are landscapes where the waters within flow towards the same river, basin or sea. Watershed management recognizes that land use, and existing streams, rivers and water bodies work collectively to manage both the flow and the quality of water running through a watershed.
Watershed management also results in more sustainable water resources, something of great interest to all Manitobans according to Don Sexton, Ducks Unlimited Field office manager at Oak Hammock Marsh.
"Watershed management means looking beyond local effects of actions like drainage and considering the long-term demand for and availability of water," Sexton said. "While it's difficult to believe, at this time of year when people prepare for more flooding, the reality of water supplies in the southern Prairies is that it's often too dry as opposed to too wet."
Sexton added that constructed methods to manage water, like ditches, dams and floodways, need to be integrated with natural elements of watersheds to maximize control over water flow, minimize financial investments and improve environmental returns which include both water quantity and quality.
With its recent commitment to move forward on recommendations from the Consultation on Sustainable Development Implementation report announced last June, the government has recognized the need to ensure Manitoba's natural resources, including water, are managed in the present to ensure their use and enjoyment in the future. Ducks Unlimited is anticipating opportunities to work together with other stakeholders in pursuing watershed management plans that will lead to sustainable water resource use in Manitoba.
