This morning I spent a pleasant hour in the sunshine by an urban pond in Winnipeg, supporting Diane Orihel, PhD Candidate in Biological Sciences at University of Alberta as she launched a paper on which she and other scientists have just published on the occurrence of algal blooms and the toxin microcystin in Canadian Lakes.
The media event was MC'd by Dr John Gerrard MLA and Manitoba Liberal Party Leader. Diane launched the research findings and stressed the need for Manitobans to take action to reduce nutrient concentrations in lakes for the benefit of the environment and their health. She was supported by Dr Robert Hecky,
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, McKnight Endowed Presidential
Professor in Lake Ecology, Biology Department and Large Lakes Observatory,
University of Minnesota-Duluth, Dr Gordon Goldsborough, Associate
Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Manitoba, and
me Dr Selena Randall, Research Development Coordinator, Watershed Systems
Research Program, University of Manitoba.
The paper, published in the Canadian
Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, shows that the toxin is resent in all
Canadian Provinces and is at especially high concentrations in lakes across the
Prairies, including the Lake Winnipeg Watershed, where nutrient enrichment has
become a recognized problem in recent years. The paper highlights the health
risks of exposure to microcystin, and the need for urgent action to reduce
nutrient inputs in the watershed.
Press release
Selena Randall
Tuesday 14 August 2012
MAFRI Soil and Manure Management Field Clinic
On Friday, August 10, 2012 I attended the MAFRI Soil and Manure Management Field Clinic with Senior Research Chair, David Lobb. There were some 50+ attendees including a mix of students, researchers, government staff, and producers, and we were well organized by MAFRI staff and their 'Angels'. A non-kosher, non-islam, non-vegetarian lunch was provided by Manitoba Pork, which we ate in the sunshine.
We toured different stations at Glenlea Research Station just south of Winnipeg, where MAFRI staff, research students, professors and others explained the latest research findings and best practices on a range of topics that included:
All in all a very enjoyable day outside in the Manitoba sunshine.
Selena Randall
We toured different stations at Glenlea Research Station just south of Winnipeg, where MAFRI staff, research students, professors and others explained the latest research findings and best practices on a range of topics that included:
- crop residue management - a comparison of burning and different chopping methods and different cultivation techniques to generate the desired amount of black soil to heat up in the spring without a loss too much carbon and organic material, but managing the weeds;
- composting - what ratios of carbon, nitrogen and water and air do you need for the perfect mix;
- a demo by USDA researchers on the use of electrical conductivity to assess nutrient availability;
- a demonstration of just how difficult it is to meet the anticipated phosphorus limit by calibrating the application rate for solid manures using horizontal and vertical spreaders;
- a brief discussion of synthetic N fertilizers and the use of enzymes to slow their release with a tour of the crop trials;
- a demo of different types of composting machinery (boys and their toys)
- a demonstration of the results of a soil inundation study showed us the difference in P-release from different soils across Manitoba
- an overview of flocculant use to separate solid manures with samples to see;
- A demonstration of in-crop manure application
- a demo of an ammonia volatilization trial using different application methodologies for urea and solid and liquid manures.
All in all a very enjoyable day outside in the Manitoba sunshine.
Selena Randall
Friday 27 July 2012
Ecological and Organic Farming Systems Field Day
On Monday July 23, 2012, I spent an enjoyable day in the sunshine at the Ian Morrison Research Station at Carman. The purpose was to find out more about the research into ecological and organic farming systems. Low input systems and organic systems that do not use chemical fertilizers are one way that the water environment can be protected.
Mulches, cover crops, interplanting, scorching, mechanical means to destroy weeds were the order of the day. Hairy vetch is showing good promise for many situations (not all though - depends what weeds you have). Some of the low input studies have shown that some manitoba weeds are now resistant to herbicides - not good news for the conventional systems.
We also learned about grazing systems and how effective they are at controlling weeds, and the sheep were very friendly. And we learned that shelter belts are being used less as other agricultural systems manage soil losses as well, but that this is having an impact on biodiversity.
We were well looked after, being driven around on shaded trailer (much appreciated in the hot sun), and the lunch was excellent.
A pleasant chance from the office...
Selena Randall
Mulches, cover crops, interplanting, scorching, mechanical means to destroy weeds were the order of the day. Hairy vetch is showing good promise for many situations (not all though - depends what weeds you have). Some of the low input studies have shown that some manitoba weeds are now resistant to herbicides - not good news for the conventional systems.
We also learned about grazing systems and how effective they are at controlling weeds, and the sheep were very friendly. And we learned that shelter belts are being used less as other agricultural systems manage soil losses as well, but that this is having an impact on biodiversity.
We were well looked after, being driven around on shaded trailer (much appreciated in the hot sun), and the lunch was excellent.
A pleasant chance from the office...
Selena Randall
Integrated Surface Water Management workshop
On July 6, 2012, we hosted a workshop for some 40+ farm producers, farm extension staff and provincial and federal regulators to tell them about a research project that is nearing completion.
This project has been supported by Deerwood Soil and Water Management, and funded through MRAC, and was a short-term feasibility study to look at the options for storing water on-farm and reusing it to grow crops or biomass. The main work was done by Hank Venama's team at IISD with the support of myself and David Lobb from the Watershed System Research Program.
The purpose of the day was to inform everyone of progress with the project, and to seek their input into the next steps. We did this with the help of Sheldon McLeod who helped facilitate the day making my job so much easier.
Les McEwan from Deerwood started the day off by giving some background, and then David Lobb introduced the concepts that had gone into the project. Hank Venema then took us through the process his team had followed, introduced the models they had built and the results.
Then we broke into facilitated groups. I had allocated people to work on particular issues. So the 'technical' group looked at the models more closely and commented on the inputs, assumptions and outputs. Two 'implementation' groups of mainly farm producers considered the practical issues of the different scenarios explored and put forward their ideas for the next steps. The 'enabling' group considered the policy issues that might impact the implementation of the ideas.
Over lunch the group scribes fed back to me, and I wrote up the feedback to weave into a presentation on the next phase ie what happens after the project finishes, what the plans are for further research, funding timescales etc.
The venue was great - we were in the ambassoador suite at the Radisson with windows and a balcony view over the city. Shame we had had a big thunder storm that had taken out the servers to the big screens we planned to use to demonstrate a new concept - a decision theatre. However, using small screens the technical group was able to give some feedback.
We got a lot out of the day - lots of ideas and a good feel that the research is delivering what farmers, extension staff and policy makers and regulators want to see.
Now I just have to write the report!
Selena Randall
This project has been supported by Deerwood Soil and Water Management, and funded through MRAC, and was a short-term feasibility study to look at the options for storing water on-farm and reusing it to grow crops or biomass. The main work was done by Hank Venama's team at IISD with the support of myself and David Lobb from the Watershed System Research Program.
The purpose of the day was to inform everyone of progress with the project, and to seek their input into the next steps. We did this with the help of Sheldon McLeod who helped facilitate the day making my job so much easier.
Les McEwan from Deerwood started the day off by giving some background, and then David Lobb introduced the concepts that had gone into the project. Hank Venema then took us through the process his team had followed, introduced the models they had built and the results.
Then we broke into facilitated groups. I had allocated people to work on particular issues. So the 'technical' group looked at the models more closely and commented on the inputs, assumptions and outputs. Two 'implementation' groups of mainly farm producers considered the practical issues of the different scenarios explored and put forward their ideas for the next steps. The 'enabling' group considered the policy issues that might impact the implementation of the ideas.
Over lunch the group scribes fed back to me, and I wrote up the feedback to weave into a presentation on the next phase ie what happens after the project finishes, what the plans are for further research, funding timescales etc.
The venue was great - we were in the ambassoador suite at the Radisson with windows and a balcony view over the city. Shame we had had a big thunder storm that had taken out the servers to the big screens we planned to use to demonstrate a new concept - a decision theatre. However, using small screens the technical group was able to give some feedback.
We got a lot out of the day - lots of ideas and a good feel that the research is delivering what farmers, extension staff and policy makers and regulators want to see.
Now I just have to write the report!
Selena Randall
Thursday 24 May 2012
Living Lakes Canada, and Red Zone III May 23, 2012
The 2012 Living Lakes Canada gathering took place in Winnipeg between May 22 and May 24. Day one was a Living Lakes members meeting, followed by an 'I love my Lake! Water Celebration with guest speakers Paul Kemp (producer of 'Save my Lake') and author Allan Casey entertaining attendees.
I joined in for May 24 for a day of learning 'Lessons from Living Lakes and Other Partners', at the Manitoba Museum.
As we were on Treaty 1 land, and talking about water, the water ceremony and prayers offered by Shirli Ewanchuk, seemed appropriate as she smudged waters from across Canada that delegates had brought.
Minister of Conservation and Water Stewardship, Gordon MacIntosh opened the meeting. Four months into his new role, he is learning that watershed management is complicated. He is keen to see things done differently and move towards a coherent water strategy, which was good to hear. He made his views clear about the planned closure of the Experimental Lakes Area, and urged everyone to sign petitions and write to government ministers and their MP's. For more information on how to help save this resource see http://saveela.org/
Alex Salki moderated the first session when we heard from John Pinder from England. He talked about the value of lakes from a Living Lakes International perspective - "Our World, Our Lakes, Our Responsibility", with plenty of pictures of the English Lake District to remind me of home! He was followed by Udo Gattenlohner from the Global Nature Fund who told us about some "International Success Stories", which were fascinating.
We were then introduced to the Manitoba Museum's Lake Winnipeg exhibit, which is under development and looks like an exciting tool to get kids and adults alike interested in watersheds and thinkihttp://www.blogger.com/blog-this.gng differently about water.
James Beddome, Leader of the Green Party in Manitoba, kicked off the next session, which was a bout "Moving together but worlds apart : the intersection of spiritual, social and scientific values" with a joke about lawyers (his own profession). Bob Sandford, Chair of the Canadian Partnership Initiative of UN Water for Life Decade, talked to us about "Worlds moving apart: the accelerating global hydrological cycle and what it means to Canada", which introduced the idea that 'stationarity' no longer exists in terms of climate data making it hard to predict the future and plan for what is to come. Merrell-Ann Phare, Executive Director of the Centre for Indigenous Resources Inc, also made a lawyer joke, before giving her views on "Ethical Water: Learning to value what matters most" from which I took away the message Remember, Responsibility, Reciprocity, and Reconciliation. This was followed by Allan Casey, author who made a journalist joke before telling us about what he learned about "How citizens, scientists and other species can work together for water" as he wrote his book 'Lakeland: Ballad of a Freshwater Country'. Questions for the panel were followed by lunch and plenty of networking.
I had the task of moderating the afternoon session on "Lake Winnipeg: the global climate canary?", which was a challenge as we were behind schedule, plus I also had to speak in the session. First up was Danny Blair from University of Winnipeg to take us through "Global Climate Change: Implications for Lake Winnipeg and its Watershed" - lots of graphical illustrations of the problem. Warmer wetter winters? Drier? Wetter? winters. We are into 'non-stationarity' now... Shannon Stunden Bower from University of Alberta followed this with a "Historical Perspective on Drainage in Manitoba" - the fertile land was attractive to settling farmers, but the regularisation of drainage early on based on political boundaries soon caused problems, but the shift to watershed basin management has been a slow realization. Phil Slota from Manitoba Hydro, followed this with some of the history and a look at the future for "Adaptation Planning for the Manitoba Hydro System: Improved Decision Making for a Changing Climate".
After a break, we took a look at local watershed solutions: John Ewing from the Dunnottar project took us through studies to look at rural sewage treatment in a new way, Hank Venema from IISD took us through the Bioeconomy model, and Ken Lucko of Springfield RM took us through the Edie Creek water retention drainage improvement project. I then finished up the session with an overview of one of the "Watershed Apadptation Options" the WSRP is working on at University of Manitoba with its partners.
With the chef bringing in canapes and the bar being set up before I had even finished my speech, we went straight into a launch of the "Natural and Social Capital Program" at IISD - all three huge screens were filled with ideas and we were encouraged to try out the knowledge suite and information software as we enjoyed the food and drinks.
We then moved venue for "RED ZONE III" the Living Lakes/Lake Winnipeg Foundation Community Forum at the Radisson Hotel. Here we had a panel of speakers on the topic of "Managing Land and Water in the Lake Winnipeg Basin under rising GHGs", which included some repeating their messages from earlier in the day for the benefit of a new and old audience (Danny Blair, me, Phil Slota, Shannon Stunden Bower) and with additional speakers: Bill Franzin a retired fisheries research scientist on the the "Potential Climate Change Effects on the Biota of Lake Winnipeg", Pascal Badiou of Ducks Unlimited on the question of "Can we/should we restore wetlands", Charles Wong from University of Winnipeg on the impacts of human effluent in the Dead Horse Creek, and Lissette Ross from Native Plant Solutions who took us through "SHIM" - the survey of the southern basin of Lake Winnipeg that looked at the impact of humans on the shoreline to identify management issues. We had a short panel discussion with the smell of food tempting us, before enjoying a feast.
For me, it was a long and hard day, but I was able to raise my profile a little, do what I like doing and learn stuff, so it was worth it!
Selena Randall
I joined in for May 24 for a day of learning 'Lessons from Living Lakes and Other Partners', at the Manitoba Museum.
As we were on Treaty 1 land, and talking about water, the water ceremony and prayers offered by Shirli Ewanchuk, seemed appropriate as she smudged waters from across Canada that delegates had brought.
Minister of Conservation and Water Stewardship, Gordon MacIntosh opened the meeting. Four months into his new role, he is learning that watershed management is complicated. He is keen to see things done differently and move towards a coherent water strategy, which was good to hear. He made his views clear about the planned closure of the Experimental Lakes Area, and urged everyone to sign petitions and write to government ministers and their MP's. For more information on how to help save this resource see http://saveela.org/
Alex Salki moderated the first session when we heard from John Pinder from England. He talked about the value of lakes from a Living Lakes International perspective - "Our World, Our Lakes, Our Responsibility", with plenty of pictures of the English Lake District to remind me of home! He was followed by Udo Gattenlohner from the Global Nature Fund who told us about some "International Success Stories", which were fascinating.
We were then introduced to the Manitoba Museum's Lake Winnipeg exhibit, which is under development and looks like an exciting tool to get kids and adults alike interested in watersheds and thinkihttp://www.blogger.com/blog-this.gng differently about water.
James Beddome, Leader of the Green Party in Manitoba, kicked off the next session, which was a bout "Moving together but worlds apart : the intersection of spiritual, social and scientific values" with a joke about lawyers (his own profession). Bob Sandford, Chair of the Canadian Partnership Initiative of UN Water for Life Decade, talked to us about "Worlds moving apart: the accelerating global hydrological cycle and what it means to Canada", which introduced the idea that 'stationarity' no longer exists in terms of climate data making it hard to predict the future and plan for what is to come. Merrell-Ann Phare, Executive Director of the Centre for Indigenous Resources Inc, also made a lawyer joke, before giving her views on "Ethical Water: Learning to value what matters most" from which I took away the message Remember, Responsibility, Reciprocity, and Reconciliation. This was followed by Allan Casey, author who made a journalist joke before telling us about what he learned about "How citizens, scientists and other species can work together for water" as he wrote his book 'Lakeland: Ballad of a Freshwater Country'. Questions for the panel were followed by lunch and plenty of networking.
I had the task of moderating the afternoon session on "Lake Winnipeg: the global climate canary?", which was a challenge as we were behind schedule, plus I also had to speak in the session. First up was Danny Blair from University of Winnipeg to take us through "Global Climate Change: Implications for Lake Winnipeg and its Watershed" - lots of graphical illustrations of the problem. Warmer wetter winters? Drier? Wetter? winters. We are into 'non-stationarity' now... Shannon Stunden Bower from University of Alberta followed this with a "Historical Perspective on Drainage in Manitoba" - the fertile land was attractive to settling farmers, but the regularisation of drainage early on based on political boundaries soon caused problems, but the shift to watershed basin management has been a slow realization. Phil Slota from Manitoba Hydro, followed this with some of the history and a look at the future for "Adaptation Planning for the Manitoba Hydro System: Improved Decision Making for a Changing Climate".
After a break, we took a look at local watershed solutions: John Ewing from the Dunnottar project took us through studies to look at rural sewage treatment in a new way, Hank Venema from IISD took us through the Bioeconomy model, and Ken Lucko of Springfield RM took us through the Edie Creek water retention drainage improvement project. I then finished up the session with an overview of one of the "Watershed Apadptation Options" the WSRP is working on at University of Manitoba with its partners.
With the chef bringing in canapes and the bar being set up before I had even finished my speech, we went straight into a launch of the "Natural and Social Capital Program" at IISD - all three huge screens were filled with ideas and we were encouraged to try out the knowledge suite and information software as we enjoyed the food and drinks.
We then moved venue for "RED ZONE III" the Living Lakes/Lake Winnipeg Foundation Community Forum at the Radisson Hotel. Here we had a panel of speakers on the topic of "Managing Land and Water in the Lake Winnipeg Basin under rising GHGs", which included some repeating their messages from earlier in the day for the benefit of a new and old audience (Danny Blair, me, Phil Slota, Shannon Stunden Bower) and with additional speakers: Bill Franzin a retired fisheries research scientist on the the "Potential Climate Change Effects on the Biota of Lake Winnipeg", Pascal Badiou of Ducks Unlimited on the question of "Can we/should we restore wetlands", Charles Wong from University of Winnipeg on the impacts of human effluent in the Dead Horse Creek, and Lissette Ross from Native Plant Solutions who took us through "SHIM" - the survey of the southern basin of Lake Winnipeg that looked at the impact of humans on the shoreline to identify management issues. We had a short panel discussion with the smell of food tempting us, before enjoying a feast.
For me, it was a long and hard day, but I was able to raise my profile a little, do what I like doing and learn stuff, so it was worth it!
Selena Randall
Thursday 3 May 2012
IISD-GWSP Conference on the Water-Energy-Food Nexus, Winnipeg May 2, 2012
This conference ran for 4 days, but I was able to make one of them.
The agenda was filled with speaker names from across the globe, gathered to discuss the complex issue of meeting our needs for water, energy and food in the foreseeable future.
Today, the focus was on the integration of such issues, that is, that you cannot just consider water or food, or energy on their own. They all need each other. It takes energy to produce food, collect, distribute, clean and treat water. Food production takes energy and water.
We had a federal perspective of how the water-energy and food security is monitored in Canada and integrated across the world, and what is coming in terms of innovation in the agriculture sector and its use of enegry and water in the production of food in Canada. This was followed by a panel session with representatives from Manitoba Water Stewardship, Agriculture, Agri-Food Canada and NASA who each gave their pitch for their views on issues going forward and then fielded comments or questions from the floor. There was a suggestion that sustainable growth is not the best way to use natural resources but they should be seen for their intrinsic value. This was a controversial point, but no-one seized it. However, the idea of working at the community level and the idea of water being needed for agriculture and food production as well as for environmental health were strong themes.
The discussion session after the networking break was a bit of a struggle. The chair posed about 10 questions for those present to consider, but too fast for us to note down and really take in. People did try, but I think we were all ready for lunch!
Plenty of time for more networking over lunch, and then we had a mix of presentations. First a presentation on the bioeconomy philosophy that IISD are developing from its voice - Hank Venema. Then a historical look at the drainage of wetlands in the Assiniboine valley and how significant that was for flooding from Pascal Badiou of Ducks Unlimited. This meshed neatly with Greg McCullough's presentation of data that shows the was flood waters carry nutrients and how significant these are in the Assiniboine and Red River Valleys. David Lobb of University of Manitoba then presented some options for managing water on farm that the WSRP is developing, and Bruce Shewfelt of Agriculture Agri-Food Canada provided his observations of how farmers are using tools and innovating on water management.
Later we heard about how the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret) is being managed to meet the complexd water needs in Israel from Doren Markel, which was followed with a presentation from Stuart Taylor from iDE on some of the problems and water-energy-food solutions in parts of Africa and Asia where the program is operating. Darren Swanson of IISD then provided us with some policy making approaches and governance ides.
Across the world, water management and protection, food production and energy management are dealt with by different government departments, but there was a clear message coming through that this needs to change and policy makers need to have a wider understanding and be a little more flexible, and users too have to recognise that their actions often cross these.
Gave me a lot to think about...
Selena Randall
This conference ran for 4 days, but I was able to make one of them.
The agenda was filled with speaker names from across the globe, gathered to discuss the complex issue of meeting our needs for water, energy and food in the foreseeable future.
Today, the focus was on the integration of such issues, that is, that you cannot just consider water or food, or energy on their own. They all need each other. It takes energy to produce food, collect, distribute, clean and treat water. Food production takes energy and water.
We had a federal perspective of how the water-energy and food security is monitored in Canada and integrated across the world, and what is coming in terms of innovation in the agriculture sector and its use of enegry and water in the production of food in Canada. This was followed by a panel session with representatives from Manitoba Water Stewardship, Agriculture, Agri-Food Canada and NASA who each gave their pitch for their views on issues going forward and then fielded comments or questions from the floor. There was a suggestion that sustainable growth is not the best way to use natural resources but they should be seen for their intrinsic value. This was a controversial point, but no-one seized it. However, the idea of working at the community level and the idea of water being needed for agriculture and food production as well as for environmental health were strong themes.
The discussion session after the networking break was a bit of a struggle. The chair posed about 10 questions for those present to consider, but too fast for us to note down and really take in. People did try, but I think we were all ready for lunch!
Plenty of time for more networking over lunch, and then we had a mix of presentations. First a presentation on the bioeconomy philosophy that IISD are developing from its voice - Hank Venema. Then a historical look at the drainage of wetlands in the Assiniboine valley and how significant that was for flooding from Pascal Badiou of Ducks Unlimited. This meshed neatly with Greg McCullough's presentation of data that shows the was flood waters carry nutrients and how significant these are in the Assiniboine and Red River Valleys. David Lobb of University of Manitoba then presented some options for managing water on farm that the WSRP is developing, and Bruce Shewfelt of Agriculture Agri-Food Canada provided his observations of how farmers are using tools and innovating on water management.
Later we heard about how the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret) is being managed to meet the complexd water needs in Israel from Doren Markel, which was followed with a presentation from Stuart Taylor from iDE on some of the problems and water-energy-food solutions in parts of Africa and Asia where the program is operating. Darren Swanson of IISD then provided us with some policy making approaches and governance ides.
Across the world, water management and protection, food production and energy management are dealt with by different government departments, but there was a clear message coming through that this needs to change and policy makers need to have a wider understanding and be a little more flexible, and users too have to recognise that their actions often cross these.
Gave me a lot to think about...
Selena Randall
Wednesday 4 April 2012
April 3, 2012 Surface Water Management Summit
On April 3, 100+ people with a range of interests met to input to the development of a Surface Water Management Strategy at the Canad Inn in Polo Park, Winnipeg.
Chaired by the Water Council, Jean Friesen and Rhonda McDougall of Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship steered us through the day. Keynote speakers Shannon Stunden Bower, author of 'Wet Prairie - People, Land and Water in Agricultural Manitoba' (a good historical perspective) and Danny Blair, a contributor to 'The New Normal - the Canadian Prairies in a Changing Climate', set the scene for us, and Wayne Hildebrand reminded us of what happened in the past 2 years with floods and wildfires.
It wasn't all about listening, networking and eating though and we were soon put to work to answer some key questions. The theme on my table was strongly towards education, regulation, enforcement and taxation and we called on the government to be bold and show its teeth!
Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship will be consulting over the next few months as it develops its strategy, and more information is available on its website http://www.gov.mb.ca/waterstewardship/
Selena Randall
Chaired by the Water Council, Jean Friesen and Rhonda McDougall of Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship steered us through the day. Keynote speakers Shannon Stunden Bower, author of 'Wet Prairie - People, Land and Water in Agricultural Manitoba' (a good historical perspective) and Danny Blair, a contributor to 'The New Normal - the Canadian Prairies in a Changing Climate', set the scene for us, and Wayne Hildebrand reminded us of what happened in the past 2 years with floods and wildfires.
It wasn't all about listening, networking and eating though and we were soon put to work to answer some key questions. The theme on my table was strongly towards education, regulation, enforcement and taxation and we called on the government to be bold and show its teeth!
Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship will be consulting over the next few months as it develops its strategy, and more information is available on its website http://www.gov.mb.ca/waterstewardship/
Selena Randall
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)