The Manitoba government is investing $44,000 to upgrade watershed district signs to reflect the enhancement and modernization of the Conservation Districts Program to become the Watershed Districts Program. The announcement was made at the 2021 Manitoba Watershed Conference.
“The Conservation Districts Program has had a long, successful history of working in co-operation with agricultural producers and watershed residents to provide grassroots programming that promotes sustainable landscapes and addresses local watershed issues and priorities,” said Agriculture and Resource Development Minister Ralph Eichler. “The program’s modernization in 2020 and the transition to watershed districts was an opportunity to expand on this historical success. This new signage represents a final piece of the transition to watershed districts and watershed-based boundaries.”
Watershed districts provided essential drought support to the department and to landowners this year, serving as a valuable connection at the local level to provide quick updates to provincial technical experts while rapidly adapting and working with local landowners to address challenges with this summer’s drought conditions, the minister said.
Watershed districts are formed as a partnership between the province and local municipalities to protect, restore and manage water resources on a watershed basis. Modernization of the program included re-aligning 18 conservation districts to watershed-based boundaries. When the Watershed Districts Act was proclaimed in January 2020, the 18 conservation districts transitioned to 14 watershed districts with new names for each of the 14 watershed districts.
“It’s important to see the watershed districts’ names appropriately reflected within their jurisdictions as a means to recognize and promote the valuable work being done to protect and preserve Manitoba’s water and soil health by the districts,” said Garry Wasylowski, board chair of the Manitoba Association of Watersheds.
With today’s announcement, former conservation district signs along Manitoba highways will be replaced with 87 new watershed district signs over the next six months. The new watershed district highway signs will be managed by Manitoba Infrastructure to ensure they meet the authorized sign size requirements.
For more information on watershed districts in Manitoba, visit manitoba.ca.
