The Swift Current Creek Watershed Stewards is no longer working with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture to assist producers with applications to the Farm Stewardship Program (FSP) and Farm and Ranch Water Infrastructure Program (FRWIP). All applications for these programs will be through the Ministry of Agriculture Ag Programs Specialists (APS) and AgriEnvironmental Specialists (AES). For more information on these programs call the Ag Knowledge Center at 1-866-457-2377 or visit www.saskatchewan.ca/CAP.

The SCCWS had been involved with the delivery of the FSP and FRWIP programs for almost 15 years. This work allowed us to engage with producers to help them implement projects that benefitted the watershed. The promotion of these programs by the SCCWS helped to bring rural and urban residents together to discuss how agriculture impacts water quality and watershed health and how the implementation of Agriculture Beneficial Management Practices mitigated or eliminated these impacts. The workshops, meetings, tours and webinars that were hosted to promote the FSP and FRWIP programs gave the SCCWS a chance to interact with producers, industry and stakeholders to create more awareness about what they can do to improve water quality and watershed health.

Agriculture is an important part of the social and economic fabric of our watershed and continues to play an important role in the health of it. When the SCCWS brought stakeholders together in 2019, mitigating the impacts of agriculture on watershed health was one of the three priorities identified by the stakeholders for the SCCWS to focus its work on for the next five years. The SCCWS will continue to search for opportunities to collaborate with producers, industry and stakeholders to enhance water quality and stream health and promote awareness and understanding to all water users in our watershed.