Aug. 29, 2013, Saskatchewan – The Saskatchewan government is asking citizens for their views on agricultural drainage through an online forum running from Sept. 1 through to March 31, 2014.
The Water Security Agency is developing a new agricultural drainage policy and beginning the process of updating its regulatory approach to drainage. These activities will help to fulfill the commitments in the new 25 Year Saskatchewan Water Security Plan to:
- Develop a results-based drainage works approval process and associated enforcement strategy, and
- Develop new strategies to effectively address excessive moisture concerns on agricultural lands.
Drainage has been of significant concern among many stakeholders including farmers, rural municipalities, and environmental organizations. New policy and regulations need to be developed to address issues such as licensing requirements, the effectiveness of drainage project success and the mitigation of risks such as downstream flooding, damage complaints and environmental impacts.
An online community is an important part of the consultation on this policy and regulation development process. This community is an online public space where individuals can interact with each other, an Insightrix facilitator, and the Water Security Agency to discuss this important issue. The community will consider, discuss, and suggest the essential elements of agricultural drainage policy and regulation. In addition, Insightrix will conduct periodic surveys throughout the process to gauge participant opinion on a variety of questions. As such, the forum will provide the Water Security Agency with important information and insight as they develop new program, policy and regulatory approaches to drainage.
This community will be open until March 31, 2014. Click here for more information.
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