The Qu’Appelle Nutrient Mass Balance Report
The Qu’Appelle Nutrient Mass Balance reports were completed because of the significant cultural, environmental and resource importance of the Qu’Appelle watershed to Saskatchewan.
The Qu’Appelle Nutrient Mass Balance reports examine the concentration and load of nutrients entering, being retained and leaving the Qu’Appelle River.
Like other prairie ecosystems with naturally rich soils, the Qu’Appelle Watershed is a naturally nutrient-rich system. The two reports identify key load sources for nutrients and highlight some significant steps taken to reduce phosphorus and nitrogen entering Pasqua Lake.
The second report also examines the load reduction from Regina’s 2017 wastewater treatment plant upgrades. Data collection summarized in the two reports occurred under different flow periods – the first being an abnormally wet period and the second a drier period. The reports provide important scientific information to better understand the formation of algal blooms in the downstream lakes.
The Water Security Agency (WSA) will continue to gather and evaluate information to inform decisions regarding options to manage nutrient inputs in the Qu’Appelle Watershed. WSA’s work includes regulating sewage effluents, moving forward with the Agricultural Water Management Strategy, and continuing collaborative work with researchers, local watershed authorities and municipalities.
These studies do not specifically evaluate agricultural contributions to overall non-point source (diffuse) nutrient loading to the Qu’Appelle River or its tributaries. Nor does the study consider the quality of water as it relates to a raw source water used to produce potable drinking water supplies. Drinking supplies are already regulated for safety by WSA in cooperation with municipalities through the watershed.
To read a summary and questions-answers about these reports, the plain language summary, or the reports please select the corresponding link in the column on the right side of this web page.