Wheatland County is helping its residents protect one of the area’s most precious resources; its water.
    Through the Water Protection Funding Initiative, landowners can obtain up to $3,500 to implement practices that increase the health of riparian areas, and protect surface and groundwater sources.
    “It’s a program to protect our sources of water in the county,” said Glenn Koester, Reeve of Wheatland County. “There are quite a few different programs that can be helped by the program.”
    Landowners considering off-site watering systems, portable livestock shelters, riparian fencing, decomissioning abandoned water wells, or any project that benefits the health of water systems in Wheatland are encouraged to apply.
    The money for the Water Protection Funding Initiative is provided by both Wheatland County and the Government of Alberta.
    This is the second year the initiative has been provided.
    “A few years ago there was a push for environmental farm plans and for farmers to get some of the same projects done. Since that has been gone, we, as a county, wanted to keep some money available to our ratepayers,” said Koester.
    For more information regarding the Water Protection Funding Initiative, residents are encouraged to contact Sarah Schumacher, agricultural conservation coordinator for Wheatland County, at 403-361-2027 or Sarah.Schumacher@wheatlandcounty.ca.

    The Crowfeet Creek, which runs through much of Wheatland County, has some room for improvement after being the subject of an intense research project last summer.
    The report, recently presented to the Wheatland County Council, gave Crowfoot Creek a rating of 70 per cent, or healthy, but with problems. The rating is in line with the provincial average.
    The study was a joint effort between Wheatland County, Siksika Nation, and Cows and Fish. The goal of the study was to assess the health of Crowfoot Creek, inform landscape management planning within Wheatland and Siksika, and encourage landowners to effectively manage riparian areas under their care.
    Riparian areas are the portions of landscape strongly influenced by water and contain water-loving vegetation along rivers, streams, lakes, springs, ponds, and seeps.
    “Crowfoot Creek is a fair-sized watershed in the county. We want to make acreage owners and producers aware there are grants available to clean up our water sources. It’s something everyone should be doing,” said Glenn Koester, Reeve of Wheatland County.
    The next steps to manage the health of the Crowfoot Creek watershed include maintaining native plant communities, monitoring and controlling invasive weeds, improving livestock grazing watering access, and maintaining or expanding existing buffers between cropland and Crowfoot Creek.
    The report on Crowfoot Creek is the second such study undertaken by Wheatland County. Two years ago Rosebud River was given the same in depth examination and was given a rating of 74 per cent; healthy, but with problems.
    Since the Rosebud River was examined, it has seen considerable improvement.
    “We targeted Rosebud River a couple of years ago and the health of it has improved quite substantially. The work there is continuing, but we felt it was time to start on Crowfoot Creek,” said Koester.
    The goal is to see a similar improvement along Crowfoot Creek.
    “It’s fairly good, but it can use a little bit of help to be as healthy as it can be for the years to come,” said Koester.