Those with non-cultivated land now have a new way of monetizing it.

A water management project is annually offering up to one hundred dollars per acre of land use.

“It’s called the Alternative Land Use Services,” says Jodi Goerzen, District Manager of the Seine-Rat-Roseau Watershed District, “and we’re able to pay landowners for changing the practice on their farms.”

The goal of the project is to measure land recesses and create predictive models of where rain water will flow. Then, using natural infrastructure and earthen dams, retain the water where it lays. In addition to flood prevention, the initiative aspires to reduce future run off while still being of some use to the landowner. “It’s still useable,” assures Goerzen, “but it’s a lighter farming practice and that’s to help reduce nutrients and flooding for the Southeast.”

Last Friday, an official presentation for the project was attended by approximately 30 landowners. Goerzen says that every one of the attendees signed up for an assessment of their properties. “We were quite overwhelmed with the response.”

With the use of LiDar, (a surveying method using lasers and light for measurements) elevation models can be constructed to predict water retention and drainage. “Some of the leading models are right here in Manitoba.” offers Goerzen.

Not to be overlooked, are the plethora of positive environmental impacts, from reducing phosphorous and nitrogen run off to introducing greater biodiversity. “You’re sequestering carbon, you’re creating wildlife and new habitats for all the aquatics that live in the water,” lists Goerzen, “but also the wildlife that use the creeks and rivers and make their homes there.”

Goerzen says the next step is to schedule farm visits and put together maps of elevation levels.
“We will see where the low-lying areas are and where the water retention program might be a good fit,” she says. “Then talk pricing and contract.”