Effects of Field Tile Drainage on Soil Health and Water Quality near Carrot River Watershed

Increasingly, agrifood processors demand verifiable evidence of sustainable farming practices through producers’ use of best management practices (BMPs) to meet corporate Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Food processors also encourage producers to reduce the carbon footprint of crops sold to prairie agricultural processors to meet the same SDGs. Producers, therefore, need to demonstrate the impact of their farming practices to receive the best value for their crops. Collective Impact is a Saskatchewan-based company that connects producers with a carbon or sustainability program that best suits a producer through their extensive experience in building and administering carbon and sustainability programs. They work with producers to build BMPs that help recover value from their BMPs in Carbon Credit Programs. While returning value to the producer, BMPs can also help protect soil health and water quality by limiting leaching and runoff of nutrients, agro-chemicals, and sediment into water bodies. The goal of this project is to determine how the implementation of Field Tile Drainage on agricultural lands impacts the soil health in the fields and the water quality of Round Lake, located in the Carrot River Valley Watershed.

Faculty Supervisor:

Alesia Malec

Student:

Partner:

Collective Impact

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Suncrest College

Program: