Awards & Achievements
2016 SK Municipal Awards - Regional Cooperation Award!
The Wallace Creek Watershed Association Board No. 11 (WCWAB) was formed under the provincial Watershed Act and officially incorporated in September of 2013. The WCWAB is comprised of an 11member Board of Directors appointed from the municipalities that make up the Wallace Creek Watershed membership area (see map below). The AWSA was appointed by the Board to act as the administrator/projects manager for the new Association. Unlike the AWSA and provincial watershed associations that were formed by the Water Security Agency under the Source Water Protection Planning Process, because the WCWAB is formed under the Watershed Act, they are considered a form of municipal government with the ability to levy funds from their membership. Thus, for most projects being undertaken by the WCWAB, each rural municipality pays for a portion of the total cost according to the percentage of area each RM has within the Wallace Creek drainage basin (see map below). The WCWAB operating model has proven to be quite effective thus far, with much work having already been completed.
About the Wallace Creek Watershed:
The Wallace Creek Watershed (WCW) is a sub-basin of the Assiniboine River Watershed located in East-Central Saskatchewan. WCW is approximately 692 km2, spanning just over 6 different Rural Municipalities: Good Lake (274, not a member), Sliding Hills (273), Wallace (243), Calder (241), Saltcoats (213), and Churchbridge (211). The only urban municipality located within the watershed is the village of Rhein. The main channel of Wallace Creek is an astonishing 302 km long! That’s almost the same distance as driving from Yorkton to Saskatoon! This inconceivable length is due to the unbelievable meandering nature of the creek which is a factor of the incredibly small amount of elevation drop from the creek’s headwaters to it’s confluence with the Whitesand River.
The Vision is to see Wallace Creek Watershed as a well-planned, productive, and economically and environmentally sustainable water management system.
The Mission is to proactively manage water resources within the Wallace Creek watershed in order to protect residences, municipal infrastructure, and agricultural and private property from flood-related damage, while balancing the agricultural and environmental interests of all stakeholders.
The Objectives of the WCWAB are:
To balance the agricultural, environmental, economical, and social interests of the watershed.
Coordination of efforts in relation to works and activities associated with flood management and emergency response.
Management of water related resources to prevent and reduce flooding impacts within the Wallace Creek watershed.
Protection of residences, municipal infrastructure, agricultural land, private property, and water wells from the negative impacts associated with flooding.
Mitigation of the effects of agricultural drainage contributing to increased flows and subsequent flooding within the Wallace Creek watershed.
Maintaining water conveyance capacity throughout the watershed by ensuring that an organized system of culverts and bridges of consistent and adequate design standards is maintained through roadways.
Wallace Creek RegionalCooperation 1920X1080P MP4.mp42014 Water Excellence Award
The AWSA was awarded with the prestigious 2014 Council of the Federation, Excellence in Water Stewardship Award - Saskatchewan at the annual SK Association of Watersheds conference on March 20th. The award was created by Canada’s premiers at the Council of the Federation in recognition that water is critical to human and ecosystem health. This award is presented in each province and territory in Canada. The award acknowledges the tremendous work the AWSA has done to assist agricultural producers in “greening up” various aspects of their operations through the Agri-Environmental Group Plan program the AWSA offered between 2009-2013 under Growing Forward. The association submitted over 1400 project applications, on over 1400 quarter sections of land, with a total project cost of over $9.3 million dollars!
