(Photo: Moises Canales/620 CKRM)
Water security and water management on the prairies are the topics being discussed at sessions hosted at the Delta Hotel in downtown Regina.
The Prairie Water Summit, led by Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD), is a two-day event to give members from all levels of government, stakeholders and partners an opportunity to share ideas for improving water management and creating water security for the prairie provinces.
In attendance to launch the summit was Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, along with Abdul Jalil, Assistant Deputy Minister for WD.
The summit is a starting point for participants to brainstorm solutions to reach a goal of creating environmental sustainability, community resilience and economic growth.
The federal government has set aside up to $1 million in 2019 to develop a workable strategy to sustainably manage water and land on the prairies.
Goodale hopes this will lead into a potential project in south Saskatchewan similar to the Gardiner Dam and Lake Diefenbaker which helps with flooding and droughts in the province, aiding farmers and residents through climate volatility.
“We’re now facing environmental challenges that are probably even greater because of the onslaught of climate change that puts our precious water resources and communities in jeopardy,” he said.
Part of the discussions will surround the wildfire and drought situations that have increased in recent years.
But with the latest rounds of rainfall in the province, part of those talks will involve ways to help with costly storms and floods.
“In the last 2-6 years, we’ve had these massive summer storms that dump a year’s worth of precipitation in 48 hours, and then it all drains through the Qu’Appelle Valley and causes havoc,” explained Goodale. “It ends up flooding Brandon and southern Manitoba as well. The need is clearly there.”
He mentioned how $180 billion is being invested by the Canadian government over the next 10 years towards infrastructure projects nationwide, and there’s a large interest in water management and security projects.
But a number of future conversations and capital investments will be needed for the future projects.
