Wascana & Upper Qu’Appelle Watersheds Association Taking Responsibility, Inc. is better known by its abbreviation WUQWATR. The nonprofit organization works to protect source water in the Wascana and Upper Qu’Appelle watersheds. WUQWATR’s boundaries extend from Humboldt to Tyvan and from Central Butte to east of Regina. The organization has received a $50,000 grant from Nutrien to support an environmental stewardship of marginal lands in Saskatchewan.

“Since inception, WUQWATR has delivered more than 800 projects covering 3,848 acres,” says David Sloan, chair of the WUQWATR Board and a producer southeast of Regina in the Wascana Watershed.

WUQWATR activities align with Nutrien’s environmental stewardship goals of “facilitating actions that promote ecosystem health; helping protect the quality of air, water, and soil.”

“We deeply appreciate in Nutrien’s support, which will…help us find more producers to participate in the ALUS program,” says Sloan. Conserving freshwater on marginal lands by paying producers for stewardship actions is the goal of the ALUS and WUQWATR partnership through a grant from Environment and Climate Change Canada.

“Next year, if a producer seeds tame forage, creates pollinator habitat, puts up exclusion fencing or restores a wetland, we (WUQWATR) can help fund these types of projects,” says Sloan.

“To be an ALUS project recipient, producers could restore a wetland, reforest an area, plant a windbreak or a riparian buffer, manage for sustainable drainage, or any other stewardship effort on marginal lands and receive a per-acre payment for these environmental benefits.” says Sloan. “WUQWATR also provides annual payment to maintain them for five or more years.”