Guy Johnson of Eddystone and improving water management in Manitoba

Tuesday afternoon, I stopped in to visit with Guy Johnson. An admirer of the efforts which have occurred at improving water management in the Deerwood Project along South Tobacco Creek (see http://www.deerwood.mb.ca/stc01.html ) , Guy Johnson has done some work in his own farm to help retain water in the spring and to decrease flooding downstream.

In the photo above Guy Johnson is standing above a culvert below a low dam (which also serves as a road). The culvert can be closed to retain water in the spring on his field. The water can be then let out later on as needed. The low dam was very carefully constructed with the help of PFRA using stringent criteria to ensure it does not wash out.

Improved yields on the land which is used for hay land, rapidly covered the cost of the water management infrastructure. There is a big advantage in this approach because it offers an important alternative to just building bigger drains as a way to help decrease flooding.