Tackling the spread of Flowering Rush along the South Saskatchewan River

This invader is moving into Saskatchewan along the South Saskatchewan River. This invasive aquatic plant can have significant environmental and societal impacts to Saskatchewan’s waterways.

Flowering Rush is a non-native, ornamental, aquatic plant species that has escaped home water gardens and has moved into natural water systems across North America. Flowering Rush is classified as prohibited under the Weed Act of Saskatchewan. It can cause reduction in water availability for drinking water intakes, inhibit recreational activities, impeded distribution of irrigation water, impact biodiversity of wetlands for wildlife, and can impact fish habitat. It will establish in a river channel and move into tributaries and irrigation canals. It spreads by rhizomes and pieces of rhizomes that break off and float downstream. It can also spread by bulbets and seed.

In 2017, plants were found along the South Saskatchewan River from the Alberta border to the confluence of the Red Deer and South Sask Rivers. In 2018, with funding from Saskenergy, the South Saskactchewan River Watershed Stewards continued surveying the river finding occurrences as far down river as the old Prelate Ferry crossing.

This year the South Saskatchewan River Watershed Stewards (SSRWSI) were approved for 3 years of funding under the Habitat Stewardship Program through Fisheries and Oceans Canada to continue mapping occurrences and to start an eradication program. Sask Energy also committed to funding this 2019 initiative. Partners from Meewasin Valley Authority, Native Plant Society of Saskatchewan and the Ministries of Agriculture and Environment will assist the SSRWSI in conducting this survey and in plant removal. Information collected will be provided to the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Center’s imapinvasives provincial invasive species database. This work will be happening from August 12th to August 23rd, 2019.

Sightings of Flowering Rush can be reported to the SSRWSI (info@southsaskriverstewards.ca). It is not advised to try and remove plants without proper protocol training as it can result in increased spread of the plant.