No room for error on water

Letters - Winnipeg Free Press

I wish to add to the comment made by Karen Lalonde (“Project a risk to aquifers,” Letters, Feb. 28) that “there are other companies in Manitoba producing silica sand but not going through aquifers to attain it.” While this is true, this statement implies that drinking water is not affected by traditional silica sand mining methods.

In the case of the Wanipigow Sand Mine, Canadian Premium Sand will use massive amounts of groundwater to wash their sand before exporting it. That groundwater presently drains to Lake Winnipeg, the Manigotogan and the Wanipigow rivers via fish-bearing creeks and underground springs. Four communities obtain their drinking water from the Wanipigow and Manigotogan rivers, and many cottagers along Lake Winnipeg use wells. In fact, the whole ecosystem well past the mine’s boundaries will likely be affected.

A mine can’t take millions of gallons of water out of a watershed without affecting life.

Four years after Canadian Premium Sand received its licence, the public has yet to see the hydrogeological report that would confirm the effects of this project on the ecosystem, the wells and the water people drink. Why hasn’t the government demanded clear, transparent reporting to the citizens most affected?

Let us agree on one thing — the problem is a shoddy environmental-review process and enforcement of the 98 conditions attached to the Wanipigow Sand Licence issued four years ago. This government is failing to protect the water of all of its citizens.

We agree: there is no room for error when it comes to water. The invasive process being proposed for the Sio Silica mine threatens drinking water on a massive scale. Camp Morning Star stands with citizens opposing the Sio Silica Mine. We all deserve thorough research and answers regarding these projects before they license the processing plants. Show us the science! Water is life!

M.J. McCarron

Camp Morning Star

Gimli

Toward the Creation of a Canada Water Agency

Executive summary

Bighorn Country, Alberta Eastern Slopes 
Photo by Aerin Jacob

The Prime Minister has directed the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, with the support of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Minister of Natural Resources and the Special Representative for the Prairies to create a new Canada Water Agency (CWA) to work together with the provinces, territories, Indigenous communities, local authorities, scientists and others to find the best ways to keep our water safe, clean and well-managed.

The Prime Minister also directed the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada to “develop further protections and take active steps to clean up the Great Lakes, Lake Winnipeg, Lake Simcoe and other large lakes.”

These two commitments are being addressed in an integrated manner. To support this effort, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) released a public discussion paper in December 2020: “Toward the Creation of a Canada Water Agency”.

The paper acknowledges that freshwater management is a shared responsibility between Canada’s federal, provincial, territorial and Indigenous governments. In creating the CWA, the Government of Canada has committed to ensuring that each jurisdiction is respected, and that overlap, and duplication is avoided.

ECCC invited Canadians to provide their thoughts and ideas via participation in national and regional forums, an online survey or written submissions.

Input was received from individuals, municipal government representatives, non-government organizations, industry representatives, academia and Indigenous peoples.

Read the full report here.

DDT Pollution Dumped off Los Angeles Coast Has Not Broken Down Decades Later, Scientists Find

Eco Watch

The pollution is even worse than earlier feared. Story here.

RELATED: Research Suggests Our Past, Prolific Use Of The Insecticide DDT May Still Be Contributing To A Scourge Of Modern-Day Diseases Related To Obesity.

Steinbach-area ag consultant becomes new leader of Manitoba Green Party.

      CBC News

• Janine Gibson takes over from lawyer James Beddome, who led the party for fifteen years. Story here.

Growing farmland inequality in the Prairies poses problems for all Canadians

The Conversation

A PinP photo.

Research found that investor ownership of farmland in Saskatchewan was negligible in 2002, but by 2018 had climbed to nearly one million acres — almost 18 times the size of Saskatoon.  Story here.

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Saskatchewan farmland, new serfdom

Published in the latest issue of The Roblin Review.

 

Promoting a sustainable hog industry in Manitoba.