Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Fixing the Nation River watershed for farmers

Fixing the Nation River watershed for farmers

For decades, farmers and politicians have talked about fixing Nation River drainage to make the region more reliable for farming.

The latest iteration is a promised from the federal government to give  $997,654 to the South Nation Conservation Authority to develop a hydrologic model that will provide farmers with real-time weather and water information to help inform water management decisions.

That won’t be the fix that many have hoped for, but will provide some warning before disasters strike.

When I worked in Ottawa, my boss, a municipal councillor who grew up in the Ottawa Valley, said there is a large area of farmland that is inside a rock-ridged bowl and what's really needed is to blast a bigger hole through that rim so the water can drain.