Project petition starts picking up steam
A petition launched by a group of people concerned about the Quill Lakes drainage project is quickly picking up signatures.
The online petition, hosted on Canada’s House of Commons website, calls for an environmental assessment to be completed on the proposed Quill Lakes Watershed Association (QLWA) Common Ground Drainage Diversion Project.
Those who started the petition have been surprised by the response.
“We just can’t believe it,” said Aura Lee MacPherson, spokesperson for Saskatchewan Alliance for Water Sustainability (SAWS).
By early Wednesday, the petition had more than 950 signatures.
The drainage project seeks to construct a channel to divert water from flowing into the three lakes — Big Quill, Little Quill and Mud Lake.
Rising water levels have virtually combined the three lakes and, as of October, some 60,000 acres of land had been flooded.
SAWS claims the project would result in saline water being sent into the Qu’Appelle Lakes/River system.
“You’re putting fresh water into saline water. Do we know what the footprint is when it gets to Last Mountain Lake?” MacPherson asked.
This uncertainty is at the root of the issue for SAWS. Its members are worried the project might go ahead without a sufficient analysis of potential impacts being made available to the public.
“Without that environmental assessment, when we go to consultation, we don’t know what we’re talking about.”
The Ministry of the Environment says the proposed project would not be considered a development as defined by the Environmental Assessment Act, and would not be required to undergo an Environmental Impact Assessment.
The ministry declined to comment further, as the matter is now before the courts.
In December, Pasqua First Nation filed an application for judicial review of the ministry’s decision exempting the project from the Environmental Assessment Act, according to court documents published by CBC News.
Environment Minister Dustin Duncan said for the project to proceed, the province’s Water Security Agency (WSA) would require information and actions from the QLWA. Those included hydrological analysis, hydraulic modelling, water quality analysis, a water quality monitoring program, land control and consultation.
SAWS is concerned about the “methodology” used by the province and WSA during ongoing efforts to manage the flooding.
“It’s really pitted farmer against farmer and farmer against downstream,” MacPherson said.
An independent environmental assessment could help mend area relations, she added.
“We want to make sure the federal government understands how very concerned we are about what’s going on in Saskatchewan and the legacy we might leave our kids if we do this wrong.”