Locals congregate at Legislature opposing irrigation at Reid Lake

A contingent of different groups from across the province, including a local one, met outside of Saskatchewan's Legislative Building earlier this week to call on the province to create a wetlands policy.

Dwight Lemon and his wife Carol attended the event Monday morning hosted by the Saskatchewan Alliance for Water Sustainability (SAWS) who had over 2,200 letters urging the Saskatchewan Government to implement an action plan.

The delegation included representatives from the Reid Lake Property Owners Board (the Lemons), Last Mountain Lake Stewardship Group, Calling Lakes Ecomuseum, Nature Saskatchewan, concerned citizens, and the NDP's critic for the Water Security Agency Erika Ritchie.

They were hoping that Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe would come out and address them, however, he was at the ribbon cutting for Argyle and Ecole St.Pius X (school) opening. Dwight and others were further disappointed when Saskatchewan's Minister of Environment Dana Skoropad and Saskatchewan's Minister Responsible for the Water Security Agency David Marit didn't attend.

"I think it's an indication of Premier Moe's disregard to the people of Saskatchewan that are raising concerns about environment of all sorts," he said.

"In Manitoba, you can't drain those [slough] and Alberta you can't drain them but in Saskatchewan, agriculture wins over everything, it wins over the environment," he said. "Their policies, they say are for everybody, but they're not, they're for a select few."

Lemon was one of the speakers at the event, voicing his concerns with the crowd and other representatives on behalf of cabin owners and downstream users about the potential irrigation project inbound for the Duncairn Reservoir.

"It's more than just our recreational interest at stake," he said. "There's a lot of others at stake. A lot of people just view us as angry cottage owners but it's a recreational lake for all of southwestern Saskatchewan. Plus the environmental habitats for birds, fish, and all sorts of wildlife."

While at the gathering in the provincial capital, Lemon was able to connect with Nature Saskatchewan who have vowed to help him. They will request the province do an environmental study and a bathymetric map of Duncairn Reservoir. They're also going to try and involve the federal government, as the irrigation could affect the Duncairn Reservoir Migratory Bird Sanctuary.

"We're hoping the Department of Fisheries and Oceans will be quite concerned with what the drawdown would do to the fish habit on the body of water and also the bird sanctuary," he said.

According to Lemon, a long list of birds frequent the sanctuary, including blue herring, swans, and Canadian Geese.

In response to Canada's Online News Act and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) removing access to local news from their platforms, Swift Current Online encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the Swift Current Online app.