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(l to r): Michael Anderson, DUC director of science and adaptation, Hon. James Bezan, Member of Parliament, Selkirk Interlake and Hon. Vic Toews, Treasury Board President, participated in the federal government announcement of $400,000 to DUC’s Broughton’s Creek research project.
Federal Government seeks to better understand role of wetlands in Lake Winnipeg health
Lake Winnipeg announcement includes funding for DUC’s wetland research project downstream
Oak Hammock Marsh, Man., June 29, 2009 — Speaking on behalf of Environment Minister Jim Prentice, Treasury Board President Vic Toews clearly demonstrated his government’s desire for a better understanding of the role Manitoba wetlands play in the health of Lake Winnipeg by designating nearly $400,000 toward a Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) research project in southwest Manitoba.
Toews included the DUC project as part of a larger $1.1 million funding announcement for fourteen projects under the first round of the Lake Winnipeg Basin Initiative
"The Government of Canada is investing in projects that will help ensure a healthy future for Lake Winnipeg. As the sixth largest lake in Canada, Lake Winnipeg is an important environmental, economic and recreational resource," said Minister Toews at the announcement emceed by Hon. James Bezan, Member of Parliament for Selkirk-Interlake, and held on the scenic rooftop of the Oak Hammock Marsh Conservation Centre
DUC will use the $379, 800 provided by the federal government in the Broughton’s Creek watershed to further the development of a model/experimental watershed representative of the Manitoba Prairie Pothole Region. The research will establish a monitoring network that will be used to assess the role isolated wetlands play in mitigating export of nutrients and sediment from watersheds contributing to Lake Winnipeg.
“DUC commends the efforts of the federal government through the Lake Winnipeg Basin Initiative and its partners to support projects that will reduce pollutants and nutrient loads into Lake Winnipeg,” said Henry Murkin, DUC’s Director of Conservation Programs. “The establishment of funding mechanisms to support scientific research and innovative program delivery methods is needed to conserve the ecological integrity -not only of the lake- but of the watersheds that feed it.”
The Broughton’s Creek watershed was studied by DUC because the land use and wetland loss trends are representative of southwestern Manitoba and the Prairie Pothole Region. The results from DUC’s previous research determined that 5,921 wetland basins, or 70 per cent of the total number of wetlands in the Broughton’s Creek watershed, have been degraded or totally lost due to drainage activity between 1968 and 2005. This has resulted in 21 per cent of the wetland area being lost. These numbers do not account for wetland loss prior to 1968 or after 2005.
The study clearly confirmed that continued wetland loss is significantly deteriorating Manitoba’s environment. Algae blooms on Lake Winnipeg and many other lakes in Manitoba are a symptom of increased nutrients delivered from upstream watersheds. The Broughton’s Creek research also has implications in other parts of Canada that are influenced by the same land use practices.
DUC’s work in the Broughton’s Creek watershed stresses the importance of wetlands in delivering ecological goods and services to all Manitobans. Wetlands mitigate the effects of floods and drought, lessen the impacts of erosion and sequester carbon. Landowners are looking for solutions to remain sustainable and wetlands are part of a healthy agro-Manitoba.
“The role of wetlands and other natural areas in maintaining and improving the ecological integrity of Manitoba’s landscape cannot be overstated,” said Murkin. “As Canada’s wetland conservation leaders, DUC is very pleased to see the federal government step up to address this problem and to include funding for projects that focus on wetlands as a critical part of the solution. It is also important to use these types of funds to advance science so that we better understand the relationship between land management, nutrient loading, and the environmental impacts of those management decisions.”
According to Toews, by using state-of-the-art monitoring technology, the DUC project will develop models that can be used by the Lake Winnipeg community as a blueprint for future nutrient load reduction efforts.
“We are supporting projects that show concrete, demonstrable results in reducing pollutants — particularly nutrient loads — to Lake Winnipeg and its basin,” he said.
For more information, contact:
Leigh Patterson, l_patterson@ducks.ca
Corporate Media Relations Specialist
Ducks Unlimited Canada
Tel: (204) 467-3306
