While the farm community in general may balk at the notion of farming practices being a contributor to the quality concerns of natural waterways, they are at least a piece in the puzzle.
That is why the issue of water quality has to be at the forefront in terms of agriculture.
Certainly the two areas are interconnected. Farmers don鈥檛 grow crops without water. That said farm techniques can impact water quality, and we are all aware of how important water quality is for a broad range of reasons rom human consumption, to sports and recreation, to industrial production.
So anytime there is new research into water quality the farm sector should be paying attention.
That is even more true if the research is close to home as is a project looking into sources of excessive nutrients in the transboundary Red-Assiniboine River Basin.
The work, being undertaken by a binational research team is investigating what is being promoted as a new approach to water quality modelling.
It is hoped the modelling effort will help reduce nutrient losses from other transboundary watersheds.
鈥淎 team of scientists from Canada and the United States coordinated by the International Joint Commission (IJC) has created binational datasets for the Red-Assiniboine River Basin to more precisely identify sources of phosphorus and nitrogen across the Basin. Using the data, the scientists determined that agricultural use of these nutrients is the primary source of inputs to the transboundary watershed,鈥� detailed a recent release.
鈥淭he work will inform federal, provincial and state agencies in their efforts to improve water quality and address the eutrophication, or the excessive nutrient enrichment, of rivers and lakes in the region spanning portions of Manitoba, Minnesota, North Dakota and Saskatchewan.鈥�
The concerns of water quality are not new ones, focusing on excessive phosphorus and nitrogen loads which 鈥渞esult in numerous harmful and undesirable impacts in many rivers and lakes across the Basin, in both Canada and the U.S and downstream of the Red River in Lake Winnipeg. The resulting algal blooms have degraded aquatic food webs, negatively affected tourism and recreation through fouled beaches and infested nearshore zones, and threatened drinking water for coastal communities through release of algal toxins.鈥�
The impact if the algae situation has been rather well-documented in recent years as it threatens fish populations, water quality, and recreation activities
The new effort marks the first binational focused SPARROW model, a watershed tool developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for interpreting water-quality monitoring information.
鈥淚t was applied using Canada-U.S. datasets to estimate loads and sources of phosphorus and nitrogen by watershed and by jurisdiction at a large scale. The research team has generated new information on the sources and transport of these nutrients that will guide efforts in both countries to reduce nutrients lost from the Basin. In particular, output from the model will help the IJC鈥檚 International Red River Board and International Souris River Board deliver on nutrient management strategies in their watersheds,鈥� detailed the release.
The application of modelling to the problem does hold the promise of a better understanding of what actually takes place in terms of nutrient load in the water system, and with such knowledge comes the potential to adapt strategies to deal with the base sources of the nutrients, or to mitigate the way they find their way to the actual water system.
It will only be through new research, and a cooperative approach to the problems that the issues of nutrient load in waterways can be dealt with effectively, and that will include agriculture being part of the process and of the solutions.
Calvin Daniels is Assistant Editor with Yorkton This Week.
