CURRENT NEWS
Shoal Lake Resident Takes Advantage of Our Recent Reward Program
Dennis Green Accepting Reward Cheque The Upper Assiniboine River Conservation District recently sealed an unused water well for Dennis Green of Shoal Lake. As the project was located within one mile of the local public source for the Town of Shoal Lake, Dennis was eligible to receive a $50 reward. Protecting groundwater was identified as a priority in the Integrated Watershed Management Plans for our watersheds, and the district recently advertised a promotion to seal all wells located within one mile of public water sources at no cost and to provide a $50 reward to participants. Over the years the UARCD has sealed in the neighbourhood of 400 old dangerous wells. Properly abandoning wells is important because unsealed wells may: provide a route for contamination into and between aquifers; be a dangerous area that can injure people or animals in the event they fall in and become trapped; damage farm equipment and vehicles; and in the case of flowing wells waste water and cause flooding problems. Getting Out With Students In Our Riparian Areas: Scallion Creek Cleanup
Students with a sample of debris cleaned from The Scallion Creek
Tackling Purple Loosestrife With sponsorship from The Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup program CD staff and students from Virden Schools took to the creek and shoreline to clean up garbage as well as removing a large amount of purple loosestrife plants and seeds. For more information on purple loosestrife please check out the Invasive Species Council of Manitoba website. UARCD Receives RBC Blue Water Community Action Grant The CD recently received a grant from The RBC Foundation. This grant was used to purchase and install signage to identify areas of groundwater importance i.e. recharge areas and areas of potential contamination. This will both educate people as to their location but also remind stakeholders to protect and respect these areas, as they are a publicly owned asset. Nine municipal partners which have over 40 municipal wells will be part of the project. Much like a road sign, passers-by will be constantly reminded as to the importance of water source water protection and the ground water resource below. Thank you RBC.
Virden Cemetery Tree Planting Project
Students at The Virden Cemetery Site With funding from Manitoba Hydro's Forest Enhancement Program, and assistance from Mr. Cochrane's Land and Water Management students, and cemetery staff, the Conservation District completed a very successful project at the Virden Cemetery. The site was very well prepared by Murray and Herb from the cemetery committee. The planting happened this June and the trees look excellent and will serve residents of the RM of Wallace and Town of Virden for many generations.
Elkhorn School Tree Planting
Elkhorn School Planting Group
Elkhorn Students in action A big thank you goes out to students at the Elkhorn School for participating in a fun afternoon of planting trees on the school sports track north of the school. The UARCD provided potted tree stock from our tree nursery, and staff members to assist with planning and planting. If your school or community group would like to entertain a tree planting project please contact the UARCD office ( 204-567-3554) and we will gladly help you out.
World Water Day 2011: Visits To Some Schools Completed After Snow Days A Few More To Do After Spring Break CD staff have visited 5 of the 8 Grade 5 classes within the district to date. After a couple of snow days and rescheduling, presentations were made on The Importance of Water and The Need To Protect It. A short video on The Hydrologic Cycle was also viewed. After a short follow-up discussion, students were presented with reusable water bottles. The message of the day was to "Think about where their drinking water comes from, and ways to protect and conserve it!" Thanks go out to teachers and staff at all the schools for the opportunity to visit, and we welcome the opportunity to visit and present on conservation related topics.
Grade 5 Students At Hamiota Elementary School
The Conservation District asks you to evaluate your personal water consumption and challenges you to conserve the amount water use. Water conservation is good for the environment and it
saves you money! Something to think about............................. |
Assiniboine Riparian Forest: Come on Down For A Look: Arrange a Tour or Presentation For Your Class, Group or Organization!!
"Each town should have a park, or rather a primitive forest, of five hundred or a thousand acres, where a stick should never be cut for fuel, a common possession forever, for instruction and recreation........."
---Henry David Thoreau 15th October 1859
Dedication Tree: Leonard Sitko, Long time Chairman of CD and Ryan Canart, Manager
Snapshot of the crowd This past summer on August 24, 2011 the Upper Assiniboine River Conservation District proudly opened our educational destination centre "The Assiniboine Riparian Forest". The event was well attended by over 100 local residents, staff, board members, and dignitaries. Greetings were brought from Rhonda McDougall- Manitoba Water Stewardship, Olive McKean-RM Of Miniota. Ryan Canart-CD Manager presided and summarized the site to date: "I would like to thanks the board for having the vision to support this project and believe in the benefits that this place will provide to conservation in the long term. I would like to thank all the people and businesses for their generosity from our major funders right down to individuals that donated time and knowledge to assist us in creating the site." The vision began in 2007 when the CD applied to lease the small parcel from the crown as the site was formerly a wayside picnic area. Major funders included Manitoba Hydro Forest Enhancement Program; RBC Blue Water Fund and Manitoba Special Conservation Fund. "One of our driving objectives for this site is to provide school students with a strong understanding of our natural world and how it functions, and how we as humans fit into it. All of the programs offered at the riparian forest are interactive, to provide students with a hands-on learning about natural science. In the coming years this site will flourish into a mixed forest, with open meadow and about a kilometre of walking trails which wind through the area which enable visitors to examine the over twenty different tree species planted here. Secondary benefits of the forest are obviously to be a recreational area or rest stop for travelers. This site is the first opportunity for people traveling north to stop and enjoy the sights and sounds of the impressive Assiniboine river valley, Future aspirations is for this site to be the trial head for future recreational activities which could stretch up in to the valley and some of its tributaries, This region has some very unique natural and cultural assets which are worth sharing." "We
have maintained the natural prairie as much as possible, although we got
several comments about mowing the grass in the first couple of summers we
have tried to do minimal maintenance to the grounds to preserve the wild
native species which attract pollinating insects and other native wildlife
species. Some of the species worth noting are wild onion, Canadian golden
rob, fleabane, asters and American vetch to name a few.
We hope to encourage other native species of grasses and forbs in
the coming years to enhance the educational experience.
Other management decisions we have made are to leave trees that are not
performing to park standards. As with the forest environment, things are
messy looking trees of different size and stature are present and although
this may look a little ragged it presents an opportunity to teach youth
about tree disease and their natural defence mechanisms as well as healing
processes. Hoopers Lake Riparian Fencing & Solar Watering System CD staff were busy June 8th and 9th constructing a riparian fence around the north end of the lake. A solar water system will be installed and cattle will be excluded from the lake. A short, low impact grazing of the riparian paddock by the lake will be allowed in the fall to control vegetation. A big thank you goes out to landowners: Tom Barnes and Ken and Betty Baskier. The site is a unique undisturbed native pasture adjacent to the north end of Hoopers Lake.
Newly constructed Riparian Fence West Side of Lake
Streambank Stabilization Projects
The CD has had a great deal of success over the past few years with streambank and riparian restoration projects throughout the CD. A variety of different techniques are used, usually a combination of traditional rock armour and various bioengineering techniques. We again have a couple of streambank projects on the schedule. Willow Buffers For Riparian Protection And Energy Production
In
2010 and continuing again this year UARCD has decided to research the viability of willow planting as a
way to protect riparian zones as well as an alternative energy source. We
have developed three sites with the guidance of Dr. Bill Schroeder
of the Shelter Belt Centre at Indian Head, SK.
The planted areas consist of a double row of willow separated by a
2 meter buffer and another double row of willow. We are using three
varieties of willow for our trials. The project is
researching the production of willow crops, mainly on marginal
agricultural land, for processing into renewable energy. We hope in the
future to involve more land owners interested in bringing marginal land
back into use by lowering the salinity caused by clearing natural willow
stands and other woody shrubs. The benefits of projects like this are many. Nutrient interception which plays to improving water quality is very important in maintaining a healthy watershed and healthy riparian zones. Biomass production as an alternative energy source plays into renewable energy resource for heating purposes as well as helping to sequester carbon. The return of marginal land back into production also helps the farmer's pocket book. Expected harvest times are between 3-5 years. The CD is always looking for more sites, so if you have some marginal land please give us a call!
Stop by our office at Miniota to apply for our 2012 programs or give us a call with any conservation project ideas you have.
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Thank
You Manitoba Hydro!!.JPG)
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..............................how
to reduce yours!
