Study shows draining prairie wetlands is increasing Canada’s carbon footprint

Sandy Lowndes, a grain farmer near Kelvington, Sask., says her land has been illegally drained onto for decades.

She describes a domino effect, with drainage from properties higher up the creek spilling onto the properties beneath it, until it reaches a highway. 

About 50 acres of her Kelvington farm has been affected over the last 30 years and the cost has added up, she said. 

“I can grow 50 bushels to the acre of oats on that. I can get eight bucks a bushel from my oats,” Lowndes said. 

“I think it worked out to something like $750,000.”

Meanwhile, the properties on higher ground can maintain profitable acreage. 

A new study has found that wetland drainage on the Prairies is increasing Canada’s carbon footprint.

The study, published in Facets, an international science journal, shows that draining small prairie wetlands is significantly adding to greenhouse gas emissions, according to assessments across the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) by scientists, farmers, Ducks Unlimited Canada and the National Farmers Union. 

The PPR is characterized by millions of shallow and seasonal wetlands. The study found many of these wetlands continue to be removed to increase farmable acreage. 

That's the reality in Kelvington, Lowndes said. 

“They might buy a quarter for $100,000 because it's got, let's say it's got a 10-acre slough on it or a wetland," she said.. 

“They immediately drain it, let's say onto me, and I bought my quarter for $100,000. Well, now their quarter's worth $150,000 because they've got more croppable acres.”

Lowndes said if she were to try to sell her quarter, she would lose a significant amount of money due to the water sitting on her land.

The provincial Water Security Agency (WSA) is currently offering up to $25,000 to farmers and landowners who are considering drainage projects, through the Agricultural Water Management Fund.