The Saskatchewan Association of Watersheds is offering the Tree for Life program again – in addition to the benefit of planting more trees, money raised will go toward programs safeguarding Saskatchewan water supplies.
A watershed is, essentially, a bowl-like formation of the land which collects water from precipitation. Rain, snow, hail, sleet – it all goes into the ground and runs downhill to collect in the watershed area, also called a drainage basin.
A watershed can also be drained into by other groundwater sources, streams, and smaller drainage basins uphill from it.
The important part of a watershed is that it collects the area’s water and drains it into a common outlet, feeding a river in many cases, and forming the source of the water coming from our taps.
The Moose Jaw River Watershed area is nearly 10,000 square kilometres in size. It includes 22 rural municipalities, two towns, 10 villages, and Moose Jaw.
It is crucial to preserve the environment of a watershed to protect drinking water sources.
The environment of a watershed is part of the collection and filtering of its water, including concerns that aren’t always intuitive. For example, the roots of trees native to the area play a role in keeping soils loose enough for groundwater to easily flow through. Native grasses are part of it, and so is the native animal life.
The ecological health of drainage basins has evolved over tens of thousands, often millions of years, leading to a comfortable equilibrium. Each part has become used to, and dependent on, each other part.
For these reasons, watersheds are usually protected from industrial activity, major development, or excessive agricultural modification.
The Moose Jaw River Watershed Stewards Inc. is a local non-profit charity whose mandate is to protect and educate about the Moose Jaw River watershed.
Nine total watersheds make up the membership of the Saskatchewan Association of Watersheds.
The Tree for Life Program is selling six species of tree saplings:
- White Spruce
- Blue Spruce
- Hill Poplar
- Prairie Sky Poplar
- Sandbar Willow
- Pussy Willow
The saplings are sold in $50 bundles of 10. Proceeds will support watershed stewardship programming across the province.
Purchases must be made online from: saskatchewan-tree-for-life.myshopify.com.
For more information about the Moose Jaw River Watershed Stewards, visit mjriver.ca.
