by Elaine Hughes
The Saskatchewan Agrivision Corporation (SAC) held the “Drought Proofing the Economy” meeting in Regina in early November, as part of the $300,000 Phase One of the federal- provincial 50-year Water Development Plan for Saskatchewan. Red Williams and Al Scholz, SAC, began by pointing out that the solutions to the province’s economic problems all lead to water; we’re not making good use of it and, by ‘re-jigging’ current methods, we can find a balance between the economy, the environment and people.
Wayne Clifton and Graham Parsons, Clifton Associates,described how their 50-year plan would revitalize the rural economy through enhanced water use. This was followed by short presentations from Saskatchewan Forest Centre, Farm Credit Corp., the Blood Tribe from southern Alberta, Tourism Sask, Sask Mining Assoc., Sask Power. The Minister of Rural Revitalization, Clay Serby, was the featured speaker at lunch.
All participants acknowledged that:
• Climate change is a reality,
• The glaciers are melting faster than they can be regenerated,
• Saskatchewan suffers from drought 2 years out of 10,
• Saskatchewan’s water “flows right past us and makes no contribution to our well being,”
• In becoming the new food processing hub in Canada, southern Alberta (Feedlot Alley!) uses an ever-increasing amount of water from the same rivers that flow into Saskatchewan and,
• Although we say our water is not for sale, the US will soon be wanting our water real bad!
So, part of the 50-year plan is to realize the full benefits of water development by building 15 dams and reservoirs on our rivers, Lake Diefenbaker already being in place. This will ensure a constant supply of water for development, “use it or lose it” for more gas and oil, more mining, more intensive cropping, more valueadded processing, and more Intensive Livestock Operations (ILOs) for Saskatchewan’s “Green and Prosperous Economy.” Rural development, including processing centres, will be strategically placed in clusters around these irrigation systems. This activity is already occurring in the Outlook area.
Ann Coxworth of the Saskatchewan Environmental Society asked how well the presenters understood the role played by the underground aquifers in our ecological systems and how interference with the natural flooding process which regenerates many aquifers, rivers and lakes would affect those systems. In his response, Mr. Clifton indicated that the government was no longer keeping records of the aquifers and that he/they had no data on aquifers: where they are, how big they are, how much water is in them, etc. (In our opposition to the pig factories, we have maintained the terrible threat that this lack of knowledge presents to our precious drinking water.)
Sandra Finley of Saskatoon stated that she was dismayed by the manipulation of information in Graham Parson’s Powerpoint® presentation. For example, she pointed out that the graph that shows the fluctuation in the water levels of the South Saskatchewan River in the period 1912 to present shows declining fluctuation, presented as a positive consequence of a large dam on the river: “What is the change in VOLUME of water in the river over the same period?” Graham Parsons: “Yes, the fluctuations have declined….” Ms Finley: “I did not ask about fluctuation. I clearly asked ‘What is the change in VOLUME of water?’” Graham Parsons never did answer the question. (The reality is that over the period 1910 to the present the volume of water has decreased by 80%. The flow level is 20% of what it was in 1910.) Several other questions drew attention to the selective nature of the information presented.
Following his luncheon address, Isabel Muzichuk of Buchanan asked the Minister of Rural Revitalization, Clay Serby, what his government was going to do about the ongoing toxic emissions from the hog barns at Rama that are making people in the area sick. The minister responded that our regulations are the best in the world and “If we’re producing 1 million hogs per year now, I want to increase that to 2 million hogs per year.”
Investors can now apply to Sask Water Authority for permits to build private dams. All the design work for the High Gate Dam on the North Saskatchewan River west of North Battleford is complete. (The spokesperson for that project said in a recent CBC Radio interview that she had private investors ready right now to invest the $700 M for it — private ownership of Saskatchewan’s drinking water.)
Campbell Eaglechild from the Blood Tribe Reserve in southern Alberta demonstrated the workings of their 25,000 acre irrigation project (the largest such operation in Canada, second in size to the world’s largest one belonging to a First Nation in the US). The water they draw from the St. Mary’s Reservoir supports 6,000 head of cattle and grows hay which is then shipped to the US and Japan as value-added products. He alluded to neighbouring farmers being unhappy with the tremendous amount of water used by the Reserve but he shrugged and carried on with his presentation. (I couldn’t help but contrast his ‘commercial’ attitude about water to that of the First Nations people at the recent Safe Drinking Water Foundation Conference. To them, water is a sacred trust to be protected and cherished.)
Mr. Patrick from Sask Power indicated that they had been working closely with the Clear Green Company that has developed a biodigester which uses the manure from one of the mega hog barns at Cudworth to produce electricity for the industry plus the power grid.
In my comments, I pointed out the significant economic benefits our small village receives from the tourism industry, and that changing or fouling our as-yet pristine natural surroundings and water would be “anti-economical” and devastating. I also noted that water is a human right and no one has the right to deprive people of it or hold them up for ransom over water! And yet, this 50-year plan appears to be all about privatization of our precious water.
I suggested that, for just a moment, we all step out of the little pink bubble we’d been sitting in all day and look at this issue from a different point of view. I added that if, in fact, they know very little about the location or size of our precious underground aquifers, I would then, on behalf of the yet unborn children of Saskatchewan, request that they apply the Precautionary Principle combined with a Polluter Pay Assurance Bond so that this whole scheme doesn’t backfire on all of us. (It’s disconcerting to note that there were no presentations on protection or conservation programs to educate the public about how to more wisely use the water we have.)
In his closing remarks, Mr. Williams offered their federally-funded report, Water Wealth: A 50 Year Water Plan for Saskatchewan for sale at $100 each and concluded with a call to arms: “Let’s Get Going!” He then declared Mr. Clifton the Chairperson of the newly formed Saskatchewan Water Council, the mandate of which is to “optimize development of Saskatchewan’s ample water resources.” The evening concluded with supper and pre-recorded video messages from both Prime Minister Martin and Finance Minister Goodale, congratulating SAC on their ‘vision’ and on their report, and promising support for the project.
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Most of the presentations, the report, the executive summary, and the terms of reference for the newly formed Saskatchewan Water Council are on the website: http://www.droughtproofing.com/ publications.html Elaine Hughes of Archerwill, Saskatchewan, birdwatcher and protector of nature, actively opposes expansion of mega hog barns with the Stop the Hogs Coalition at www.stopthehogs.com She is at tybach@sasktel.net.”
[From WS January/February 2005]