by BOB GRYLLS
Reporter
OSCEOLA — Last Friday afternoon at the edge of Tim Egan’s crop field on Egan Line in the Township of Admaston/Bromley, 15 people were huddled in continuous spitting rain to hear an informative presentation on Controlled Tile Drain (CTD) install projects by the Muskrat Watershed Council (MWC) and Algonquin College’s Office of Applied Research in Pembroke. This is the first project of this kind in Renfrew County. It’s hoped the CTDs will reduce the amount of nutrients from farmland going into waterways, one of the pollutants that has caused the demise of Muskrat Lake in Cobden.
Sarah Hall, program co-ordinator and professor of the Environmental Technician Program at Algonquin College and Julie Sylvestre, director of the Science & Water Quality Committee for the MWC, were the presenters. The MWC summer co-op students, Martyna Tomczynski and James Wheatley, were also in attendance. Some others in attendance were Karen Coulas, Chair of MWC, and Martin Gaudet, Andrew Laird, and Evelyn St. Amour, all of MWC, as well as Michael Donohue, the Mayor of Admaston/Bromley Township and interested farmers from throughout the area.
Progress has been made towards the clean-up of the Muskrat Lake Watershed due to partnerships between MWC and Algonquin College’s Office of Applied Research and Environmental Technician Program, as well as other collaborations with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC), Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, as well as the townships of Whitewater Region, Laurentian Valley, and Admaston/Bromley, and other local organizations.
In 2016, the MWC received funding from the Great Lakes Guardian Community Fund around the same time that Algonquin College’s Office of Applied Research received funding from OMAFRA’s Best Management Practices Verification and Demonstration Fund. Both grants were specifically for shoreline work and CTD installations.
As a result of an already strong partnership between the MWC and Algonquin College, both organizations decided to unite their efforts. Friday afternoon’s presentation was an excellent example of some of the shared deliverables achieved to date.
An overview of the project was given by Ms. Sylvestre. This included talking briefly about the work done prior to these pilot projects, such as three years of water sampling performed by Algonquin College and the important work done by MWC’s Agricultural Committee on engaging farmers to participate on projects.
Ms. Hall talked about the research done in other parts of Ontario by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada regarding the effectiveness of a CTD system in reducing phosphorus and nitrogen coming out at end-of-pipe from drained agricultural fields. She explained that two CTD systems were recently installed at both Tim Egan and J.T. Enright’s properties, in fields adjacent to tributaries of the Snake River. Installation of a fifth CTD system on Ron Raddatz’s farm is planned. All three farmers are making a positive contribution to the pilot phase of this project, Ms. Hall noted.
On Mr. Egan’s property, two CTD systems were installed at the edge of a field, and a third drain was left free flowing — without a CTD structure — for comparison purposes. Ms. Hall mentioned the importance of farmers contributions to this project and that ongoing communication between the farmers and the researchers regarding water level adjustments will enhance everyone’s understanding of CTD’s.
The CTD structures have a series of stacked adjustable plates that can be altered as needed to elevate or lower the water table and enhance nutrient uptake by crops. The research by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada showed an increase in crop yield by an average of three percent for corn and four percent for soybeans in other parts of Ontario, depending on the conditions of the growing year, as a result of CTDs being installed.
The CTD systems were purchased from Agri-Drain at an approximate cost of $1,500, not including installation. Installation was completed in July by drainage contractor Peter Neill of Water Management System, with the help of both Algonquin College and MWC summer co-op students. Ms. Hall explained that pairing the CTDs with real-time data loggers that measure flow, volume, and other environmental parameters, will allow for understanding nutrient reduction levels at end-of-pipe. Ultimately, these CTD installations are seen as ‘demonstration site’ pilot projects that will test their effectiveness for reducing phosphorous and nitrogen in Renfrew County waterways. If the science shows that CTDs benefit farmers and the environment in a positive way, then perhaps farmers will think about installing these structures on their properties in the future.
A weather station that measures temperature, rainfall, wind speed, and soil moisture was also installed on Mr. Egan’s property. Algonquin College’s Environmental Technician students are currently doing soil analysis, as well as installing buffer strips on various properties in the Muskrat Lake Watershed to control erosion.
These are all agricultural best management practices that may help reduce the amount of nutrients going into Muskrat Lake.
Ms. Hall said, “The collaboration between Algonquin College, MWC, and local farmers allows students to gain significant field experience and enhances everyone’s understanding of the agricultural industry in Renfrew County.”
The dry summer of 2016 limited water monitoring in the CTDs, but everything is in place for monitoring and research to ramp up in the spring of 2017, she said. Reducing nutrient inputs is a long process and there is no quick fix, but the MWC feels these efforts are meaningful examples of progress being made at the local level.
