Sweetgrass First Nation #113

Summary of the Background Report for the Source Water Protection Pilot Project

Compiled by Denise Benfield, AAg Agricultural Council of , Inc. February 2008 The purpose of this Background Report is to provide stakeholders in Sweetgrass First Nation with relevant information to assist in the development of a Source Water Protection Plan (SWPP) to protect both surface and ground waters that exist on and around Sweetgrass First Nation Reserve No. 113. This report provides a wide range of information to help build awareness of the many factors which affect the First Nation, the North Saskatchewan River Watershed, and ultimately, water quality and quantity. The major economic activity on the Reserve is agriculture. For the purposes of this study, the oil and gas industry will be disregarded because it does not currently occur on Sweetgrass First Nation lands. Test holes have been drilled in the past, but nothing has ever been developed as a result of these.

The focus of this Source Water Protection Pilot Project is to protect source waters with an emphasis on drinking water sources. The people of Sweetgrass First Nation are dependent on groundwater specifically for their drinking water sources. The Source Water Protection plan to follow this report will assemble pertinent information, analyze threats and opportunities, and build commitments to protect water, as well as summarize the committee’s discussions and technical analysis in a number of recommendations. Finally, key actions will be formulated as to what recommendations will be implemented. General Reserve Characteristics • All Sweetgrass First Nation Reserve and TLE lands total 57,320 acres. • Land in Rural Municipalities #439 (Cutknife), #438 (Battle River), #436 (Douglas), #409 (Buffalo), #406 (Mayfield). • Sweetgrass First Nation is located in the North Saskatchewan River Watershed, which begins in ’s Rocky Mountains, runs through Alberta, Saskatchewan and , and empties into the Hudson Bay. • Landscape on the Reserve varies from slightly rolling hills to fairly level; land elevation gets lower the further north on the Reserve and the closer to the Battle River the land is. • Population in 2007 was approximately 565 persons • Approximately 70.8% of the Band’s population is 15+ years old. Ecology • Sweetgrass First Nation is located in the Aspen Parkland ecoregion (aspen bluffs scattered across grassland landscape). • Highly diverse wildlife populations. • Many waterfowl species may migrate across Reserve land, and may use it as resting spot during migration. • No fish suitable for catching and eating live on the Reserve, but Sweetgrass First Nations people used to catch fish on the Battle River, north of the Reserve.

1 • Species at risk that may exist in the local area may include: piping plover, sprague’s pipit, loggerhead shrike, monarch butterfly, long-billed curlew and yellow rail. • Leafy spurge (an invasive/noxious weed) reported on Reserve land along Highway #40 in 2005. It was sprayed twice with herbicide and left, so may still exist in a small patch in this area. • Soils perform many functions for life, including filtering water, influencing nutrient movement, supporting organisms in the soil, retaining moisture and providing a medium for plants to grow. • Many areas on the Reserve are suitable for agriculture because of the type of soil that is present there (loam, sandy loam,etc.). Some of the soils on the more northern end of the Reserve may be less suitable for agricultural uses (cropping), because they are very sandy. • Agricultural practices such as zero-tillage and seeding hay/forages can reduce soil moisture loss, reduce soil loss (erosion) and filter contaminants (e.g. agricultural chemicals and fertilizers) out of water entering the soil or running over the surface. Land Use • Sweetgrass First Nation: cropland (38%), native grassland (21%), tree cover (34%) and water bodies and marshes (2%). Other classes/uses include forage, residential areas/homes, other treed areas. Agriculture • General trend in the Watershed toward minimizing soil disturbance, by reducing tillage and summerfallow, increased herbicide application for weed control, increasing forage (hay/pasture) acres, etc. • The majority of Sweetgrass’ Band land is farmed by local non-Band farmers. • Two large Band farmers on Reserve (roughly 400 and 5000 acres each). • Crops seeded on the Reserve include barley, canola, field peas, wheat and oats. • Agricultural chemicals (pesticides) may be applied to cropland to prevent, control and/or destroy unwanted plant or animal life, such as bacteria, fungus, insects, nematodes, weeds and rodents. • There has been some concern about chemicals and fertilizers applied to cropland, and the impacts that they may have on the environment and the health of the people. • The most common fertilizers applied to agriculture crops include nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sulfur, to improve crop production. • Proper management of fertilizer application reduces nutrient movement to surface and groundwater resources – “right rate,” “right time,” and “right method.”

2 • Another concern regarding agricultural chemicals is improper disposal of chemical containers. These containers can be returned to ag chemical retailers to be properly disposed of. • There are approximately 13 sections (8,320 acres) of pasture land on the Reserve. Two large pastures south of Highway 40, the Band rents to non-Band cattle producers. In 2007 there were about 350 cow-calf pairs grazing on the East pasture; none in West pasture. Generally there are roughly 900 to 1000 animals grazing on both pastures together during the summer. This may be exceeding carrying capacity of the pastures, causing overgrazing of areas. • Brush control has become an issue in these pastures. Control solutions (burning, chemical application, mowing, etc.) have been discussed, and may start in 2008. • Approximately 15 horse producers, owning anywhere from 1 to 75 horses each; majority of operations run 3 to 9 animals each. • There are 4 to 5 cattle producers on the Reserve, with 30 to 100 animals each. A non-Band member also rents roughly 4 sections of Band pasture. • Some of these horse and cattle owners do not always pasture their own animals in their own pastures by their homes. Most animals are wintered in corrals near their owners’ homes. • No intensive livestock operations (hog barns, dairies, feedlots, etc.) on the Reserve, but there are some in the Watershed. Forestry • Currently no commercial timber harvesting on the Reserve. There will likely not be any in the future either, because it may not be economically or environmentally sustainable. Surface Water Resources • There is one small lake in the northwest corner of the main Reserve of Sweetgrass First Nation – Balls Lake. • The Battle River flows just north of the main Reserve. Tributary creeks, including Drumming Creek and Saline Creek, flow through the Reserve, into the Battle River, contributing to the Battle River’s flow. • The main processes in the hydrologic/water cycle that occur on the Reserve include: surface runoff, streamflow, precipitation, condensation, evaporation, percolation/infiltration and groundwater flow. Groundwater Resources • All of the water used for human use is from groundwater. • Municipal Water – Water Treatment Plant o The water treatment plant (WTP) draws water from one municipal well. This water is treated with chlorine (disinfection) and

3 potassium permanganate (removal of iron), and is piped to approximately 117 units. A second municipal well exists, but has not been used as such in recent years; there is the possibility of using it again to provide municipal water. o Miwayawin Health conducts regular water quality sampling for bacteria testing from the WTP and selected connected buildings weekly. A complete analysis is currently done annually, but in the future may be done monthly. o Raw water (before treatment) quality analyses conducted in October 2007 indicated that the water from both municipal wells was acceptable for human consumption. o Aesthetic parameters exceeding the Standards and Objectives in the October 2007 samples were dissolved organic carbon, iron and/or manganese. Water treatment and/or WTP upgrades may reduce these values and make the water more aesthetically pleasing (colour, taste, odour, reduce staining, etc.). These parameters do not necessarily cause health concerns.

• Domestic Water Wells o Approximately 9 active individual wells are on the Reserve. These are not all regularly tested for water quality by Miwayawin Health. o There are also 4 active wells that provide water for livestock in the Band’s pasture and corrals. o Only 4 of the 6 individual wells tested for water quality in October 2007 were suitable for human consumption, although 2 of these did exceed the recommended objective for dissolved organic carbon. o The other 2 individual wells sampled were deemed unsafe for human consumption because of levels of arsenic, total coliform bacteria or uranium exceeding the maximum acceptable concentrations. The samples tested from these wells also exceeded these aesthetic objectives (smell, taste, colour, etc.): hardness, dissolved organic carbon, iron, manganese, sum of ions, sulphates, and/or sodium. o Some of the reasons for these problems with the water quality may be caused by:  Improper well construction  Inactive wells nearby that have not been decommissioned properly  Livestock within an area close to the well  Cracked cement pads or ground sloping toward the well  Storage of agricultural chemicals or other chemicals near the well or in the yard  Trees nearby (roots)  Well caps cracked, rusted, improperly sealed or non-existent  Nearby septic tanks

4 Riparian Area Management • Riparian areas are the densely vegetated, green zones around lakes and wetlands; they are transitional areas between the drier uplands and the surface water of rivers, wetlands, or lakes. • Perform many important functions: o Abundant vegetation traps sediments o Filter farm chemical residues o Minimize erosion and wave action, slow water flows o Recharge groundwater o Plant roots bind the soil together and stabilize the banks o Provide wildlife habitat o Maintain cooler water temperature, natural stream channel shape and slow the natural wandering of a river across its floodplain • If properly managed, riparian areas can provide highly productive grazing areas for livestock. • Cultivation, burning and/or overgrazing of riparian areas can result in vegetation loss and the loss of these important functions that riparian areas do to protect water supplies. • Many wetlands (sloughs) have been drained in Saskatchewan since the 1920s, mainly to increase cultivated acres. However, wetland drainage and loss can have negative impacts on the water cycle, increase the effects of flood events and reduce wildlife habitat. Sewage Treatment • Sweetgrass First Nation has a covered 2-cell sewage lagoon on the Reserve, which collects sewage pumped through a municipal line from buildings in the core area of the Reserve. • A microbial decomposer in the first cell “eats” the raw sewage, reducing the waste left in the lagoon and speeding up decomposition. Sedimentation also separates the solid matter from the liquid waste. The contents of the second cell of lagoon are generally emptied every 180 days, into Drumming Creek, which flows northward to the Battle River. • The houses that are not on the municipal waste system are connected to septic tanks/infiltration systems, which are generally emptied annually into a truck, which transports the waste to the lagoon for treatment. Waste Disposal Grounds • The Reserve’s current waste disposal site is located west of the townsite. It has been in use since the 1970s. Prior to that, a site was located along the “Old 40 Highway” on the east side of the Reserve. • In the past, garbage was also often burned in barrels, and large objects or those that would not burn were taken to the bush or pushed over a cliff along Drumming Creek. Scrap metals dealers also occasionally picked up some objects from the Reserve.

5 • There is no recycling program on the Reserve; no monitoring of materials and objects that are disposed of in the waste disposal site. • Garbage in the dump burns often, which has many people on the Reserve concerned about air quality and their health. • Concerns have been raised about how this site may be better maintained and where some items can be taken for proper disposal or recycling. There have also been discussions about completely removing the waste disposal site from the Reserve, and transporting the Reserve’s waste to other municipal landfills, such as North or Unity. • Many auto salvage sites, some of which may have negative environmental impacts from chronic leaks of automobile-related fluids and other materials. • Many yards on the Reserve which may have small waste disposal sites, with old appliances, ag chemical containers, abandoned fuel storage tanks, miscellaneous garbage and toys, lumber, etc. Some of these sites may contain hazardous materials that could potentially impact the environment. Some sites may be difficult to eliminate or clean up because they may have been overgrown with vegetation or filled in with soil. Highway Maintenance and Salts • Highway #40 runs through the middle of the main Reserve; Saskatchewan Highways and Transportation performs road maintenance and road salting on this road. • The rest of the Reserve roads are gravel, so no road salting or de-icing activities take place on them. The Band contracts other individuals or companies to conduct road maintenance. Ground Water Well Decommissioning • Eliminates a direct pathway for contamination to enter the groundwater through an open well by by-passing the overlying protective sediment/soil layers. • Abandoned wells should be properly decommissioned to prevent groundwater contamination, for public safety (eliminate open holes in the ground), prevent machinery damage and reduce liability. • General procedure for decommissioning wells: shock chlorination of well, excavate and remove the casing to below the water intake and frost line, plug with 0.3 m bentonite pad, fill large diameter well with clean chlorinated sand or small diameter well with pressurized bentonite slurry, cap with a 0.3 m bentonite pad, and backfill and mound with clay. • On Sweetgrass First Nation, there are at least 11 abandoned water wells not in use. The actual number may be greater than this, but they were not found when this research was done, because current residents were not aware of them, could not find the well locations or they had been improperly filled in with rocks and/or soil.

6 Watershed Stewardship Activities and Programs • Ducks Unlimited (DUC) – www.ducks.ca • Saskatchewan Watershed Authority (SWA) – www.swa.ca • Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA) – www.agr.gc.ca/pfra/main_e.htm • Environmental Farm Plans (EFP) – www.fnacs.ca/EFP/index.html • Canada – Saskatchewan Farm Stewardship Program (CSFSP) – (See EFP website) • Partners FOR the Saskatchewan River Basin (PFSRB) – www.saskriverbasin.ca • Saskatchewan Network of Watershed Stewards (SNOWS) – www.snows.sk.ca

For more information on the Source Water Protection Pilot Project or the full Background Report for the Sweetgrass First Nation Reserve No. 113, please contact:

Denise Benfield, AAg First Nations Agricultural Council of Saskatchewan, Inc. 402 – Royal Bank Tower 1101 - 101 st St. , SK S9A 0Z5 Phone: (306) 446-7453 Cell: (306) 481-5899 Fax: (306) 446-7461 Email: [email protected]

OR

Sweetgrass First Nation committee members responsible for providing information presented in the Background Report: Juliette Fineday, Wes Paskemin, Omer White, Agnes Albert, Elsie Whitecalf and Bruce Paskemin. Band Office Phone: (306) 927-2990.

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