Swift Current Creek Watershed Stewards reflect on 2023 at AGM
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The Swift Current Creek Watershed Stewards (SCCWS) had a successful year in 2023 and carried out several projects, but it continued to deal with financial challenges and reported a loss on operations.
Details about the activities of the SCCWS during the past year were provided at the organization’s annual general meeting in the Swift Current Research and Development Centre conference centre, March 4.
“I’m very happy with what we were able to achieve, being a small crew,” SCCWS Executive Director Kevin Steinley said after the meeting. “We did three projects. What I’m most happy with is that we were able to continue the work that’s been going on by the Watershed Stewards group in our watershed for just about 25 years now.”
He felt it is a key part of his role to look at ways to ensure the work of the SCCWS will continue into the future.
“That to me is probably the biggest thing that I’m looking to do as I’m looking for funding is to keep building on the work that’s been done before us and to keep building on that foundation,” he said.
The SCCWS employs no full-time staff. Steinley’s position as executive director became a part-time role since April 2022 and he received assistance with projects during the summer of 2023 from Shannon Sherk, who worked as the summer stewardship coordinator.
The non-profit organization’s financial report for 2023 indicated a loss from operations of $28,494. This was higher than the loss of $17,262 reported for 2022. Net assets at the end of 2023 were $133,190. This was lower than the net assets of $161,684 at the end of 2022.
“The financial report shows that without some of the funding that we used to have, we need to find projects and find funding to help continue with the work that we’ve been doing within the Swift Current Creek watershed,” he said. “We are actively looking and applying for
funding to do these projects that are needed on the local level to help improve the stream health and water quality of the Swift Current Creek.”
The SCCWS and other watershed stewardship groups used to receive core funding from the Water Security Agency, but that funding is now going to the Saskatchewan Association of Watersheds (SAW).
“The system of the watershed stewardship groups that was there did not cover the whole province,” Steinley explained. “So in some ways it hurts us, but I think in some ways it’s been better. We’ve seen the report from SAW and the work that they’re doing across the whole province is benefiting the whole province and not certain pockets of the province as the old model was.”
He felt the financial situation of the SCCWS has not reached a point where the organization will have to request contributions from local authorities in the watershed.
“We’re waiting to see where we’re going with some of our funding applications and we’ve let local authorities know about our situation, but we’re not at that point where we’re asking for money yet,” he said. “And it’s a possibility. Other possibilities include fee-for-service type of things or else they’re partnering with us on projects and sort of in-kind contributions that allow us to do projects and get project income.”
Steinley referred to the cover page of
the 2023 SCCWS annual report during the presentation of the executive director’s report. The one image shows a flooded portion of the creek as it flows through Swift Current and the other is an image of parched soil.
“It was another interesting year,” he noted. “We went from flooding to drought almost overnight. I think it just shows the importance of water resource management in this watershed, especially with the Duncairn Reservoir to be able to store water for all kinds of purposes. … We’ve got 26,000 residents within the watershed and I think 18,000 or 19,000 of them rely on the creek for water. So it’s very important to understand the importance of water resource management and ensuring that everybody has access to a safe and sustainable supply of water.”
The rapid spring runoff in 2023 caused flooding along the creek. There was some damage to infrastructure along the shoreline in both rural and urban areas, but coordinated efforts by stakeholders limited its extent.
“I think once everybody realized what was going on, everybody pulled together really well and made sure that their damage wasn’t any worse,” he said.
The SCCWS continued monitoring and education programming during 2023 in accordance with the organization’s goal to enhance water quality and stream health of the creek. Froghoppers, a long-running educational initiative of the SCCWS, was carried out by the summer stewardship coordinator. It provided information about what is a watershed, water quality, water conservation, and animals and plants in the watershed.
There were 25 Froghoppers presentations to approximately 400 students between May and August. Steinley noted this program has reached close to 10,000 students during the past 20 years.
The SCCWS completed three projects during 2023. A water monitoring project gathered information about water quality at seven sampling sites along the creek. The results indicated that water quality in the creek has not changed significantly compared to previous sampling years.
“All the stakeholders in water quality within the Swift Current Creek watershed are doing what they can to enhance water quality and stream health,” he said. “So we’re going to continue to monitor water quality, because that is really a big part of the mission and a big part of the reason why the Swift Current Creek Watershed Stewards was founded.”
An invasive fish identification project was carried out that collected environmental DNA at five sites along the creek to determine the location and distribution of Prussian carp. The results indicated that Prussian carp has continued to swim upstream and its DNA was found at a sampling site within the city of Swift Current boundaries.
“So it just shows that we need to be careful and vigilant about all of the invasive species, whether it’s Prussian Cart, zebra mussels or whatever, just to watch for them and then ensure that they don’t spread within our watershed,” he said.
Samplers were set out at seven sites in the watershed to detect the presence of invasive zebra mussels. There were no traces of their presence in the samplers and it appears that the creek is still free of these mussels.
A project was carried out to identify and remove invasive weeds along the creek. The summer stewardship coordinator identified and mapped invasive weeds along a stretch of the creek within the city of Swift Current.
A weed removal day took place on Aug. 15 and a small group of volunteers helped to remove 20 large bags of invasive weeds.
“That’s something we want to continue on with is to keep the invasive weed problem down within the city, because invasive weeds will alter the stream bank and cause issues with the riparian area,” he said. “If we have flooding again, it could make the problems worse. So that’s one of the reasons why we’re doing that.”
The SCCWS began working with several stakeholders in 2023 to form the Lac Pelletier Stewardship Council. The goal of this group is to maintain and improve the long-term health and sustainability of the lake through education of stakeholders. Steinley expressed thanks towards all stakeholders within the watershed who have taken interest in SCCWS.
“I hope that your interest grows and helps to ensure a safe and sustainable supply of water for all water users in the watershed,” he said.
Representatives from two other organizations made presentations during the meeting. Alanna Howell from the Water Security Agency spoke about snow surveys and run-off projections. She provided information about the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (Cocorahs) in Canada, which is a volunteer network of weather observers who collect precipitation data that can be used by a variety of organizations and individuals, including hydrologists and meteorologists.
Ryder Rutko from SAW provided an update about the organization’s activities.
Its mandate is to protect
and conserve Saskatchewan’s natural water resources. There are five water districts in the province and he is the district manager for the southwest district.
He talked about recent and ongoing SAW projects as well as new projects in 2024, which include the extension of the Prairie Watersheds Climate Program due to the high level of interest, a fish species at risk project, a rural water testing project and an initiative to carry out drought preparedness planning for 15 communities across the province.
STICKS ‘N SPURS: The Swift Current Kinsmen Club hosted a successful new fundraising event at the Legion Hall, March 9. The Sticks ‘n Spurs fundraiser provided an entertaining evening in the company of several sports celebrities and raised over $10,000. Mike Wagner from the Kinsmen Sticks ‘n Spurs event committee said the exact amount raised will be determined after all costs from the event are finalized. Thereafter the club will meet to consider ways to use the funds to give back to the community. There were silent and live auctions during the evening. Bull riders Dakota Buttar, Chad Hartman and Blake Smith as well as former NHL player Eric Gryba were auctioned off before the meal to determine the tables where they were seated for supper. They participated in an entertaining and insightful question-and-answer session after the supper about their sports careers. Former NHL players Zack Smith only joined the event later in the evening after completing his duties as assistant coach with the Swift Current Broncos during a home game. Smith participated in a question-and-answer session with Gryba that included their perspectives about a fight during a game between the Ottawa Senators and Edmonton Oilers.