Groups like the Souris River Watershed District are busy planning for 2023 and if 2022 is any indication it will be a busy year.

Manager Dean Brooker says they’ve had a lot of landowners taking advantage of their programs which is great to see. He says they’re busy right now working on their budget. “We’re always talking with landowners about the upcoming year.”

“We do have a couple of programs of interest. One is the Prairie Watersheds Climate program that started last year. There’s a fair bit of planning and changes and payments for people who signed up last year are about to go out. There’s three components nitrogen management, cover cropping and rotational grazing.”

Landowners interested in that program are encouraged to call the district offices in either Reston or Deloraine.

“We’re also planning for our shelter belts. We’re also doing yard and shelter belts so if you’re interested let us know. We’ve had trouble accessing seedlings because of a shortage but we’ll do what we can for people.”

Dean Brooker says they’ve had a lot of interest in their programs and payments are expected to start going out January 23. Plans for 2023 will also involve projects dealing with water retention and controls.

“We’re working on some repairs from previous years to water retention structures that were previously damaged by flooding. We do have some new ones for 2023 and we look forward to getting those done,” said Dean Brooker.

The Souris River Watershed District had budget expenditures of just over $1 million in 2022 and the 2023 budget is expected to be slightly higher.