Mike Stepaniuk had problems with his yard and livestock coral being flooded during high water events. Mike approached SRRWD looking for a solution to this problem with the construction of this berm to the south of his yard future flooding problems will be alleviated. The back flooded area is located in an area that Mike uses for making hay and grazing his buffalo. Through the SRRWD ALUS program Mike will receive a annual payment for the impact that is water will have on his operation. Mike can still bale or graze this area later on in the year to protect nesting birds. While Mike benefits from increased flood protections this project will also provide environmental benefits to the community, these included carbon sequestration and limiting of nutrient runoff from the coral.
Mike Stepaniuk Water Retention
New Rosa
Benefits
- Reduces flooding downstream
- Reduces nutrient loading to the Rat River
- Increases aquatic and wildlife habitat
- Builds on-farm resiliency to climate change
- Increases carbon storage
Characteristics
- 45 acre-feet* of water stored
- Berm length is ~2800 ft and at its highest 4ft high
- Passive flow through level controlled culvert
*an acre foot of water is equivalent to having water spread 1 ft deep water across 1 acre of land
