A sizeable investment has been made by the Manitoba Government to preserve and maintain the province's freshwater lakes for generations to come.
The $990 million will go towards a total of 72 actions and water-related projects that look to preserve the many bodies of freshwater Manitoba has, including:
- $763.5 million in capital investment in provincially owned water-related infrastructure through the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure’s 2023 Multi-year Infrastructure Investment Strategy, which includes $600 million for the Lake St. Martin channel;
- $221 million for programming under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership over the next five years, cost-shared 60 percent federally and 40 percent provincially;
- $4 million in enhanced resources for the Manitoba Water Services Board;
- $1.64 million for enhanced drinking water safety; and
- $1.47 million in new funding within the Department of Environment and Climate for water strategy implementation, including $600,000 for watershed districts.
Manitoba has 100,000 freshwater lakes within its borders, and these plans will look to protect not only the natural areas but aid in agricultural development and keep drinking water clean and safe.
The money will be rolled out to these new and continuing projects over the next five years.
Agriculture Minister Derek Johnson is quite happy with how this plan's Agricultural Partnership "allows agricultural producers to continue being good stewards of the land while playing an important role in Manitoba’s overall economy.”
Updates will continue to come as various projects start up, and to provide clarity of the next steps of this undertaking.
If your looking to read the full Water Action Plan you can visit The Goverment of Manitoba's Website, or check out the PDF of the plan directly from this link.
