Water,
our provincial heritage
The importance of water to provincial
residents and the need to address critical water issues has
led the Government of Saskatchewan to develop a Long-Term
Safe Drinking Water Strategy.
This has resulted in the re-focusing
of SaskWater as a commercial Crown corporation providing water
and wastewater solutions to municipal, industrial, government
and domestic customers in the province.
SaskWater will work in partnership
with communities and the private sector to design and build
regional water supply systems that treat and deliver water
to communities, individuals and businesses. SaskWater also
designs, builds and operates water treatment plants and will
operate and maintain community-owned systems under contract.
SaskWater owns and operates regional
and stand-alone water systems including five treatment plants,
765 km of pipelines, 137 km of canals, five storage reservoirs,
33 pumping stations, and two wastewater facilities.
SaskWater will continue to operate
the Luck Lake, Riverhurst, Macrorie and South Saskatchewan
River Irrigation District No. 1 irrigation projects.
Defining new roles
Following the release of the Laing
Commission report in 2002, the Saskatchewan Government has
responded with a reorganization of departments and government
organizations in a manner that reflects several key recommendations
of the Commission report.
The Saskatchewan Watershed Authority
has been created with a primary mission of protecting source
water supplies. SaskWater Corp has been mandated a service
and consulting role of assisting municipalities and others
in developing water services facilities. Saskatchewan Environment
has been assigned a responsibility of protecting the public
as a water regulator and water watchdog.
Source water protection
A new Crown corporation, the Saskatchewan
Watershed Authority, has been given specific responsibilities
that include:
- • watershed and aquifer
planning,
- combating contamination of surface
water,
- safeguarding the health of aquatic
and riparian ecosystems plus drinking water sources,
- encouraging conservation of
wetlands,
- increasing the public’s
awareness of water management planning and several other
duties.
The creation of the Saskatchewan
Watershed Authority is a part of the provincial Government’s
response to the Laing Commission recommendations as well as
its own internal review and assessment of how best to address
the Province’s water quantity and quality issues.
The Saskatchewan Watershed Authority recognizes that an important
part of fulfilling its mandate will be its ability to establish
strong, effective partnerships with the wide variety of agencies
and organizations that have similar interests and mandates.
This will involve municipal and rural governments, producer
organizations, conservation and environmental protection agencies,
industry, other levels of governments and equally important,
the general public. |
