Saskatchewan landowners say illegal drainage is washing out land, roads downstream

Lane Mountney spreads a map over his kitchen table at his farmhouse in southeast Saskatchewan, pointing to yellow and orange arrows slithering across the document.

Many of the arrows represent existing channels and ditches, moving across fields and out of wetlands to drain water. The arrows eventually make their way to a creek, causing what he describes as a deluge of problems downstream.

"All these years, guys have gotten away with draining water and the next guy figures he can get away with it," Mountney said in an interview at his farm near Wawota, Sask., about 200 kilometres southeast of Regina.

"If this keeps going like it has, I don't know what Saskatchewan's going to look like in 10 years."

Mountney's map depicts what's called the Wawken Drainage Project, a plan developed by the local watershed group that has since been taken over by the Water Security Agency (WSA), which is responsible for overseeing drainage in Saskatchewan.

The project is nearly 14 square kilometres and contains 880 wetlands of various sizes representing a total of 2.4 square kilometres of water.

A project document indicates that 88 per cent of these wetlands have been drained, partially drained or farmed. About 12 per cent remain intact.

Most of this water is supposed to flow into a creek that runs through a parcel of Mountney's land.

The plan developers believe the creek can handle the flows, but Mountney is not convinced.

Last year, he and his wife Sandra Mountney dealt with flooding on their horses' pasture. They decided not to use their well water at the time because it was yellow.

"They were very excited to tell us that nobody inside the project area is going to lose acres, but they haven't even looked at who's going to lose acres miles down the line." Sandra Mountney said.

Flooding land

Brent Fry, who farms grain and livestock, said it's common for his land to flood for three days when people upstream get 50 millimetres of rain.

He said it has caused roads and access points to erode.

"There are about four farms out there and all they're doing is draining whether they've got permission or not," Fry said. "I don't even know what to do because the government's not doing anything — they're siding with the big guys."

Farmers have drained water in Saskatchewan for generations and many have done so illegally by digging ditches without permits.

Most producers drain because it allows them to grow more crops, helping them pay for land that has become increasingly expensive. However, it has caused yearly flooding for people downstream. Roads also wash out and habitat gets lost.

At the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities convention in February, reeves passed a resolution asking the WSA to require those who are illegally draining to remediate their unapproved works.

Saskatchewan legislation requires upstream landowners to receive permission from those downstream when they want to drain, but many say that's not happening.

Sandra Mountney said the WSA hasn't been taking concerns seriously.

"It's hard to know who's really protecting our waterways," she said.

Many drainage projects underway

The Wawken project began about three years ago but hasn't been completed. It's among many drainage projects underway.

Daniel Phalen, a watershed planner, worked on the project as technician before he left for another job.

He said landowners had been draining water with no permits before the plan. His job was to determine how many wetlands were drained and what works had already been done.

Phalen said the plan was to put in structures that would slow down the drainage to reduce problems downstream.

It's unclear what work had been done on the Wawken project to mitigate flows since Phalen left. The WSA did not respond to a request for comment.

Phalen said projects can get held up if affected landowners don't come to an agreement. Expropriation is allowed but it's rare, he said.

Another nearby drainage plan, known as the Martin project, has stalled because of landowner concerns.

Researchers have estimated Saskatchewan has lost half of its total wetlands over time for crop production.

Phalen, who also worked on the Martin plan, said it was concerning to see the number of wetlands sucked out.

"The Water Security Agency doesn't have the manpower to do much about it," Phalen said. "There's such low enforcement already that if they had any policies in place, people would just drain anyway. It's kind of a scary problem to be in."

Sandra Mountney said she's worried about losing wetlands because they help recharge groundwater supplies and filter contaminants — particularly important when it's dry.

The WSA has released a drainage management framework that aims to prevent flooding and ensure Saskatchewan retains a "sufficient" number of wetlands.

Leah Clark, the interim executive director of agriculture water management for the WSA, told attendees at a Saskatchewan Farm Stewardship Association meeting earlier this year that 43 per cent of wetlands are retained within approved projects. She added the province has "thriving" wildlife populations.

However, she said under the policy, landowners would be able to select which wetlands to retain.

"It will achieve a working landscape for landowners to continue to use their land for farming and ranching. This approach will allow for new development while retaining current drainage," she said.

Phalen said Saskatchewan could look to Manitoba for solutions to retain wetlands.

Manitoba has historically drained most of its wetlands in the agricultural regions, he said, but the province has since developed a policy where landowners are paid for retaining them.

"You know, $100 an acre is not a ton of money, but it's another incentive to help producers," he said. "It's such a complex problem where you got this huge financial incentive to drain."

Lane Mountney said regulations just need to be enforced.

"It's almost too late," he said. "They should have been out there checking stuff before we got this point."