Next year the Moose Jaw River Watershed Stewards group celebrates its 20th anniversary, but it will likely be an odd time because it is currently amalgamating with its parent organization.
The group is one of nine provincial watershed stewardship groups (WSGs), while its parent organization is the Saskatchewan Association of Watersheds (SAW). All have been discussing restructuring since 2018, but they began the process this year.
“The reason for this (restructuring and amalgamation) is to be more efficient, to be able to apply for larger pots of money and to just stop competing with one another because we all have the same initiative,” Carmen Kaweski, executive director of the Moose Jaw River Watershed Stewardship group, explained during city council’s 2023 budget deliberation meeting on Nov. 22.
“So, we really started building partnerships amongst ourselves, and … we are in the process of amalgamating with SAW.”
Moose Jaw and SAW will now share employees — Kaweski and watershed technician Stephanie Huel now work for SAW — while Moose Jaw will carry on within its regional programming.
Furthermore, the group will continue working with the Prince Arthur School Co-op Community Food Farm and help establish a committee to maintain and monitor the garden.
It will continue with its leafy spurge and purple loosestrife projects, including expanding its pull days, while it will also establish more leafy spurge beetle sites.
It also plans to hire a summer student to continue programming, and continue working with industry, organizations and SAW.
“The benefit to the members is that they (still) get the regional programming from the Moose Jaw River Watershed Stewards (MJRWS). As you can see, we’re quite busy. We do a lot of excellent projects to protect the water in the watershed,” added Kaweski.
“But they’re also going to have access to some of the bigger programs that we’re running through SAW.”
Council queries
Based on the council’s questions, Kaweski confirmed that:
- MJRWS has a relationship with Wakamow Valley Authority and its food farm
- MJRWS has a relationship with the Water Security Agency, which actually created the WSGs
- MJRWS engages with city hall about invasive species and would work on joint projects
- Leafy spurge beetles keep the invasive plant in check by eating its roots; the bugs are caught in July when they surface to breathe
- Sheep and goats can keep leafy spurge in check, but it’s difficult to find a shepherd and flock
- Leafy spurge spreads easily, including on shoes, clothing and tires; it is worse here than in Saskatoon
- MJRWS is looking for purple loosestrife beetles that could perform a similar function as their leafy spurge counterparts
2022 activities
The MJRWS gave two presentations in July during the Yara Centre’s summer camps, where it discussed the health of watersheds and gave a tour of the food farm, explained Huel.
Meanwhile, 121 people visited the group’s table at the farmers’ market, while 11,700 people saw its posts online and 718 engaged with them.
This was the third year the group worked with Gibson Energy to pull purple loosestrife weeds from the banks of the Moose Jaw River, an event that was successful, Huel said. Meanwhile, the public identified another location with a purple loosestrife outbreak, which the group hopes to tackle in 2023.
The food farm was also a success, as it was the first full growing season that produced many strawberries, raspberries and grapes. A back-to-school barbecue on Sept. 27 also allowed over 200 people to take carrots, tomatoes, squash, beets and peppers.
“We’re also very excited to announce that we have our first leafy spurge beetle colony established in Wakamow. It’s taken about five years … ,” said Huel. “We are now working toward establishing more colonies within the valley.”
The MJRWS freely gave 370 trees to local schools during its adopt-a-tree program, she added, while it distributed 1,500 trees across the watershed for $5 during its Tree for Life program.
The next budget meeting is Wednesday, Nov. 30.
