The Souris River Watershed District is currently working on a couple of water retention projects in their catchment area, which extends from Kola south to the U.S. border and then west to the Saskatchewan border totaling 7,000 sq km.

"We've ben quite busy," shares Manager, Dean Brooker.  "We're doing a lot of water retention structures, those are small dams.  We've got 2 on the go right now in Boissevain-Morton.  These are repairs on structures that were built several years ago so we're fixing those up."

Total allocation of costs throughout the district for the fiscal year is just over $1M.  "Some of the funding is coming through the Gro-Trust.  That's a grant program where we can access funds yearly.  The provincial government set aside some money with the Winnipeg Foundation and we have access to the interest every year; all 14 watershed districts."

The Watershed District's mandate is about more than just water control.  Soil and water conservation is in their wheelhouse of expertise.

"We actually have a number of programs that landowners can access through for the district," explains Brooker. "Some of the seed is for saline areas.  So we provide that at no cost to landowners and usually they can get up to 50 acres worth of seed through us."

Securing Class 1 and 2 wetlands on cultivated acres is a program that has been fairly popular amongst landowners.  "Those are those ponds in spring, and when we have a run-off in summer, that fill up.  And then the water recedes generally fairly quickly.  But, we pay landowners up to $75 per acre for those Class 1 and 2 wetlands over 10 years.  There's also caveat on the land title but we just ask them not to drain the wetlands over those ten years and they can still farm through them."

This program has been offered through the Watershed district over the past 2 year.  Brooker encourages landowners to consider the program if they have Class 1 and 2 wetlands.

"If you're interested, please call one of our offices in Deloraine or Reston and our staff will get back to you," he adds.