Retention ponds in Niverville are getting the attention of Council.

According to Bruce Friesen-Pankratz, a wetland specialist with Native Plant Solutions, native plants can be of service to residential bodies of water.

“We’ve presented the concept of naturalizing these systems, retrofitting them from a conventional pond, which contains very little emergent vegetation on the shorelines, to a naturalized system that has native plants in the upland area, and a cattail community within the water.”

Friesen-Pankratz says that cattails reduce phosphorous, which in turn reduces algae, as it feeds off of the phosphorous. Additionally, upland grasses dissuade geese from landing as it obscures sightlines needed to observe predators.

“That would help with the fecal matter not being on the banks of the lakes,” says Niverville Mayor, Myron Dyck, “which then, when it rains, would drain into the lakes; and do you really want fecal matter and things like that in your lake?”

Still, the cattails come with their own baggage, such as wildlife and aesthetics.

“There are people, from an aesthetic point of view, that would rather there not be natural plants because cattails are seen as weeds by some,” says Dyck, “and while they help with phosphorous, they might lead to other species that call plants like that home; muskrats, voles, mice, etc.”

Friesen-Pankratz says there are other strategies that can be implemented to deter rodents and maintains that naturalized systems have worked best in his experience. He cites Niverville’s own deconditioned sewage lagoon as an example of the phytoremediation approach to create a wetland public area.

“The Town of Niverville has been very progressive in terms of addressing issues like sewage lagoon decontamination, as well as, their stormwater quality," offers Friesen-Pankratz.

The mayor says Council will consider the recommendations at their next planning session.

“Council has the report, they have a chance to act on it, it will go to planning session and we’ll see where it goes.”