Watershed Stewardship Across the Prairies

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Watershed Stewardship Across the Prairies
Prepared for Langley Environmental Partners
Society Fisheries Oceans Canada

• by
• Petra Rowell
• Ernie Ewaschuk

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Whats Happening?

• Across the Prairie Provinces, a growing number
  and diversity of individuals and organizations
  are involved in stewardship activities to improve
  their watersheds.

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Prairie Watershed Stewardship Activities Include
What are these Activities?!

• Raising awareness of watershed boundaries and
  functions
• Conducting riparian health assessments
• Monitoring water quality and quantity
• Assisting ranchers with off-site watering
  systems, stream bank fencing, and rotational
  grazing programs (Cows and Fish)
• Planting and managing shelterbelts and woodlots
• Enhancing fish, waterfowl, endangered and other
  habitat
• Providing conservation programs for schools and
  youth groups
• Producing state of the basin reports and
  watershed management action plans JUST STARTING!
  Yeah!
• Working with policy setters to enhance watershed
  management

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Is This Just About Water?

• Watershed stewardship is not just about water. In
  fact, Prairie stewards are involved in an array
  of programs to care for the air, water, soil
• and biodiversity
• found within their
• watersheds.

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So, What Was Our Task?

• Take a look at the rapidly growing number of
  watershed stewardship groups / networks across
  Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
• Ask them how they are doing what are they
  succeeding at and what issues are standing in
  their way?
• Find out what policy makers can do to support and
  enhance watershed stewardship work on the
  prairies.

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How Did We Do It?

• Emailed a survey to 11 sample groups representing
  a cross-section of watershed stewards
• Held a workshop (27 individuals representing 22
  organizations)
• Participated in the LEPS on-line forum
• Put it all together in a report
• Shared our findings in Langley and Victoria

FOR MORE INFO...
The Draft National Watershed Stewardship Policy
Report Prairie Region can be downloaded at
www.stewardship2003.ca/forum/
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What Did We Find?
Outstanding in his field
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At a Provincial Scale

• In Manitoba, 16 Conservation Districts work in
  partnership with and are supported by the
  province to carry out integrated resource
  management over 60 of agro-Manitoba (see
  www.gov.mb.ca/ia/programs/conservation_districts.h
  tml)
• In Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan Network of
  Watershed Stewards is an umbrella /one-window
  access point for information and support for
  steward groups who also work with the
  Saskatchewan Watershed Authority and the province
  to carry out stewardship activities (see www.
  snows.sk.ca).
• In Alberta, approximately 60 groups are involved
  in water and watershed management at both the
  local and basin level. Many of these can be found
  at www.albertawatersheds.org

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At a Watershed/Community Scale..
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What Are The Successes and What Are The Barriers
to Progress?

• Founding Mechanisms
• Watershed groups arise in response to a number of
  issues, finding synergy in shared learning and
  partnering, but can be frustrated by the size and
  complexity of issues tackled with relatively few
  funds, administrative support or technical
  expertise.
• Watershed Boundaries
• Stewardship on a watershed basis makes inherent
  ecological sense, forcing different sectors to
  integrate resource management and landscape level
  planning. However, it can be wrought with
  jurisdictional confusion and turf protection that
  can consume valuable time and energy.

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• Internal Governance Structures
• Internal governance can be informal or formal
  but to be successful, must be inclusive and
  consensus-based. Groups also benefit if they
  develop a solid vision/objectives/terms of
  reference but often lack assistance and expertise
  with these activities.
• External Governance
• Governments and funding agencies value the work
  of stewardship groups but need to walk the talk
  as full partners and bring real resources and
  commitments to the table.
• Funding Structures
• Watershed management is a long-term process that
  requires on-going support. Funding agencies need
  to provide on-going funding for core programs,
  not flavor of the month projects.

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• Information Access
• There is a bewildering array of information out
  there but it can be difficult to collect
  (requiring contact with multiple agencies),
  difficult to interpret and difficult to fill in
  the gaps. Information access needs streamlining
  and consistency in formatting.
• Engaging Volunteers
• Like many volunteer organizations, stewardship
  groups often have a champion to spur them on.
  However, they can also suffer volunteer
  frustration, burnout, and turnover that can leave
  the group floundering or inactive.
• Forging Partnerships
• Stewardship groups are successful at forging
  partnerships but at a heavy cost of time,
  manpower and resources, provided mostly by
  volunteers.

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• Monitoring results
• It is not only important to monitor ecological
  and social successes and failures, it is also
  important to communicate these effectively to
  governments, funding partners and everyone in the
  watershed.
• Initiative Sustainability
• To be sustainable, watershed stewards need
  long-term support and champions within
  government, funding agencies and their own
  communities. They also need to show progress.
• Accountability
• Well-supported groups successful results
  trust-building continued successful results.

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Key Messages No. 1

• Long-term, stable funding is essential to
  sustainable stewardship initiatives (get off the
  application merry-go-round and find creative
  program funding solutions)

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Key Message No. 2

• Volunteer-led stewardship groups need better
  access to technical and administrative support to
  maintain long-term momentum

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Key Message No. 3

• Policy-makers need to embrace the stewardship
  ethic and work with watershed stewardship groups
  to combine manpower and resources for more
  integrated resource management, better landscape
  level planning, and effective stewardship of the
  air, water, soil and biodiversity within our
  watersheds.

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Policy Makers

• Need to listen,
• Need to share their thoughts and concerns,
• Need to show solid support,
• And need to work together to find creative
  solutions.

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THANK YOU!
The End Is Just the Beginning