A dugout covered in duckweed, which is considered beneficial. However, producers should monitor for water quality issues such as blue-green algae, sulphate and salt.

Keep an eye on water quality this summer

Low winter snowfall, low rainfall, heat and water use all heighten concern for dugout quality

On the Canadian Prairies, a green Christmas doesn’t exist. However, a brown Christmas sure did in 2023, thanks to El Niño.  Snow was scarce on the Prairies earlier this winter, with temperatures rarely falling below -20 C, or even -10 C. With a drought stretching through multiple years, the dry winter is causing even more […] Read more



The SWOT spacecraft is moved into a transport container inside the Astrotech facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base on Nov. 18, 2022. (Photo: USSF 30th Space Wing/Chris Okula)

NASA to conduct first global water survey from space

Data would bolster weather and climate forecasts

Los Angeles | Reuters — A NASA-led international satellite mission was set for blastoff from southern California early on Thursday on a major Earth science project to conduct a comprehensive survey of the world’s oceans, lakes and rivers for the first time. Dubbed SWOT, short for Surface Water and Ocean Topography, the advanced radar satellite […] Read more



A City of Iqaluit worker fills a water truck at the Sylvia Grinnell River after authorities ordered the Nunavut capital’s 7,000 residents not to drink the city’s water due to suspected fuel contamination, on Oct. 14, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Casey Lessard)

Iqaluit confirms ‘exceedingly high levels’ of fuel in water supply

Water not safe for cooking or drinking, city says

Reuters –– The Canadian city of Iqaluit said lab results confirmed that fuel had entered its water supply, officials announced Friday. Analysis of samples from one of the city’s water tanks found “exceedingly high levels of various fuel components,” Amy Elgersma, Iqaluit’s chief administrative officer, said, adding it was likely diesel or kerosene. Residents in […] Read more

Farmers plant saplings in a rice field on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India on July 5, 2019. (File photo: Reuters/Amit Dave)

India unveils new rice variety to reduce water use, labour

New Delhi | Reuters — India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched an array of new high-yielding crop varieties, including herbicide-tolerant rice that can be directly sown into the soil, cutting expenditure on water and farm workers. In India, the world’s biggest rice exporter, the conventional method of rice cultivation requires farmers to sow […] Read more


Workers unload humanitarian aid from a U.S. military helicopter at the airport at Les Cayes, Haiti on Aug, 18, 2021 after Saturday’s 7.2 magnitude earthquake. (Photo: Reuters/Henry Romero)

Haitians grow impatient for quake aid as hungry crowd gathers

Victims say they still lack food, shelter, clean water; some major hospitals damaged

Les Cayes, Haiti | Reuters — A hungry crowd gathered outside an airport in southern Haiti on Wednesday as people left homeless by an earthquake that killed some 2,000 people voiced anger that government aid was slow to arrive five days after the disaster, leaving many without food and water. Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who […] Read more

Prairies hit hard by drought

Prairies hit hard by drought

Parts of south-central, southwestern Manitoba among driest

MarketsFarm — A new nationwide drought map released by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Canadian Drought Monitor (CDM) shows just how dry conditions are in the Prairies, especially in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Areas in southern Manitoba and southern Saskatchewan have experienced at least six months of drought conditions, according to CDM’s drought assessment as of March […] Read more


One issue with the Navigation Protection Act is that it expands the definition of a navigable waterway.

Comment: New legislation may be coming to a creek near you

You may never look at a spring creek the same way once you’ve learned about the proposed amendments to the Navigation Protection Act, which were introduced as part of Bill C-69 in February 2018. A Senate committee has been holding public hearings on the bill this spring. The Navigation Protection Act ensures people can travel […] Read more