Appeared in the Mar. 6, 2013 issue of the Interlake Enterprise, by Teresa Carey…
Members of the Willow Creek project management team with Dr. Rhonda McDougal at the Fraserwood Hall, Feb. 27
After three years of hard work and fine-tuning by an eleven-member team, the Willow Creek Integrated Watershed Management Plan, developed in partnership with the East Interlake Conservation District (EICD), was presented at an official launching at the Fraserwood Hall, Feb. 27.
About 30 people attended the launch, mainly those involved in the management plan’s creation, including reeves, council members, EICD staff, community representatives and technical experts.
Water scientist, Dr. Rhonda McDougal¸ Director of the Manitoba department of Watershed and Protected Areas, spoke from a podium. She commended the group for the “work, effort and compromise that has gone into the development of this plan.” She spoke about the strong public support for it, and the level of public consultation that took place in the course of the plan’s development.
The Willow Creek watershed encompasses the Rural Municipalities of Armstrong, Gimli, Rockwood and St. Andrews. It is one of four watersheds managed by EICD, and the third to have developed an integrated watershed management plan.
The Icelandic River-Washow Bay Creek, and the Netley-Grassmere Creek watersheds have already completed theirs. A plan for the Fisher River has not yet been completed.
McDougal highlighted that every plan from the different watershed areas looks different, reflecting the unique needs of each area.
“These plans are extremely valuable and don’t sit on a shelf gathering dust,” she said.
The plan plots the issues and course of action over a 10-year time frame.o The priorities outlined therein include protecting drinking and surface water quality, surface water and soil and shoreline management, and the protection of wildlife and fish habitat.
All the goals and actions to be undertaken are detailed in a highly readable 60-page booklet, available to the public at the EICD office in Gimli.
Some of the activities that continue to be undertaken are the sealing of abandoned wells, addressing sinkholes, policy development, and involving people at a grassroots level in becoming environmental stewards through education and incentive programs, among other initiatives.
EICD manager, Armand Belanger said that after 10 years the plan will be rewritten and possibly renewed. He referred to sustainable development as “a moving target”. Therefore, any plan created today might well be irrelevant 10 years into the future.
According to Belanger, the Willow Creek Integrated Water Management Plan is unique within the province in that grants have been obtained, and are being used to “kick start the implementation of the plan”.
Its approach is also unique in that it asks landowners, ‘What have you always wanted to do to improve the environment?’ Landowners are free to approach the EICD with their ideas and perhaps receive funding to carry them out.
Belanger urged everyone living within the boundaries of the conservation district to not take water and soil quality for granted. He stressed the need for good farming practices and wildlife habitat protection, and touched on how not taking care of these might negatively impact on economics.
The Willow Creek project management team included its Chairman, Barrie Sigurdson; Former Gimli Mayor, Bill Barlow; EICD manager, Armand Belanger; Armstrong Councillor, Allen Evanchyshin; Armstrong Reeve, Garry Wasylowski; Bifrost Reeve, Harold Foster; Gimli Councillor, Richard Petrowski; citizens, Hilmar Johnson, Robert T. Krisjanson and Adam Senga, and watershed planner with the Manitoba government, Erin Shay.
