Wednesday, January 6, 2021
The Shuswap Watershed Council (SWC) has just released a short video describing how four local farms are reducing their impact on the environment with the assistance of SWC's Water Quality Grant Program.
The grant program is a new initiative by the Council. It was launched early in 2020, and invited farm businesses to apply for grant funding. Funding goes toward improving on-farm nutrient management, which ultimately protects water quality in rivers and lakes. Excessive amounts of nutrients such as phosphorus can contribute to water quality degradation and algal blooms.
"Nutrients are an important factor of water quality and soil health," explains Erin Vieira, program manager for the SWC. "Our goal with the grant program is to help farmers keep nutrients on the land and in the soil, not washing off into nearby creeks and rivers through rain, snowmelt, or flooding. It's a win-win situation for the farms and for our water quality."
Featured in the video are four grant recipients, all farms in the Salmon Valley: Lakeland Farms, Hillside Dreams Goat Dairy, Swaan Farms, and Grass Root Dairies. A fifth grant was also awarded to BC Cattlemens Association in partnership with Splatsin First Nation.
The SWC hopes their video will inspire other Shuswap-area farms to consider new nutrient management strategies.
"The SWC has confirmed the Water Quality Grant Program will continue in 2021. We will be inviting another round of applications in February," Vieira says.
View SWC Media Release (PDF)
The five-minute video was produced by Salmon Arm-based Single Shot Productions, and can also be viewed on the SWC's website, YouTube channel, and Facebook page. Press release contributed by the Shuswap Watershed Council.