However, after hearing feedback from the Final Plenary, we think there is a need for us to suggest a modified approach to wetland drainage regulations that would meet the desire of farmers who want to drain, and our need for water quality testing and an inventory of wetlands by location and classification prior to drainage. [...] To address SES’s environmental concerns the permit should require the QP to include the classifications (e.g., Stewart and Kantrud or other recognized system) of the wetlands being proposed for drainage and the GPS reading of their locations as well as a GPS reading of the proposed AO location. [...] The QP should also be required to send in a sample of the water at the location of the proposed AO. [...] However, as evident in the previous examples, in the past there were also good ideas that came forward but there was a failure to clearly address the concerns of the farmers and the Ministry of Agriculture, so nothing happened. [...] In most cases, if you obtain permission to move water onto, or across another person’s land, to the point of adequate outlet, and implement mitigation conditions, you will be able to receive an approval.” Experience tells us that an incremental approach, such as the one we suggest, may avoid the outright resistance to change we have seen in the past and may indeed contribute to change over the lon.
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