Water for agriculture is among the top priorities for the new provincial government, and the ripple effects of on-farm practices are in the spotlight as the Shuswap Watershed Council (SWC) invites another round of applications for its four-year old Water Quality Grant Program.
“One of our objectives as a watershed council is to protect and maintain water quality in Shuswap and Mara Lakes,” explains SWC program manager Erin Vieira. “We’re looking to partner with and support Shuswap-area farms to introduce new nutrient management strategies and improve soil health.”
Vieira says the grant program is especially focused on preventing nutrients from finding their way off the landscape into rivers and lakes. Phosphorus and other nutrients can contribute to algal blooms which reduce the quality of water for drinking and recreation, with water potentially becoming toxic to people, pets and livestock.
“Water quality monitoring and research have shown us that agricultural and settled lands in the Salmon River valley and Shuswap River valley are significant contributors of nutrients to the lakes,” Vieira says. “Therefore, our grant program is geared toward helping farms in those areas undertake projects or implement new practices to improve nutrient management and soil health.”
Grants aim to fund projects that ensure nutrients continuously cycle in the soil, where they nourish crops and vegetation rather than washing away into nearby creeks and rivers through rain, snowmelt, or erosion.
“It’s a win-win for farms and for water quality,” Vieira says, noting that greater uptake of nutrients by plants reduces waste and in turn costs for farmers.
The latest intake began accepting applications December 1. It’s offering up to $45,000 to farmers, agri-businesses, Indigenous organizations, hobby farmers, wineries, nurseries, landowners, and stewardship groups within the Shuswap watershed.
The program offers funding on a cost-shared basis, with applicants expected to over at least half of project costs either financial or through in-kind contributions.
Since 2020 the SWC has provided 18 grants valued at $238,130 to Shuswap-area farms and stewardship groups for projects that protect water quality such as riparian planting and restoration, riverbank stabilization, wetland restoration, livestock fencing, manure and effluent storage, cover cropping, irrigation efficiency, fertigation and no-till agriculture.
This spring’s grants went to projects at Sunnybrae Winery and Vineyards, Tappen; Gietema Farms, Grindrod; Syme Farms, Salmon Arm; Foxtrot Dairy, Salmon Arm; the Czepil family, which is developing a ranch along Kingfisher Creek in Enderby.
Funding through the latest intake will be distributed in early 2025.
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