miistakis droughtproofing prt 1 - miistakis institute · rob gardner. the prairie in southeastern...
TRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
DROUGHTPROOFINGThoughts from
ROB GARDNER
![Page 2: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry.
![Page 3: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping the grass get through dry periods.
![Page 4: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
How the streams are managed can also have a big effect
on the ranch’s long-term viability.People may complain about the
the lack of water, but don’t realize they could do something about it.
![Page 5: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
Prairie land managers know the impactof adding consistent water.
![Page 6: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
Lower areas along the streams have more potential.With good moisture, these areas can support
as much grazing as the rest of the quarter section.
![Page 7: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
Droughts appear to be getting more severe,even as floods get more frequent.
The answer might seem to be more dams.
![Page 8: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
Typical check dam Often over-used, surrounded by mud, and chance of disease. Tends to focus grazing in a small area.
![Page 9: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
In a shallow valley, this zone of increasedgrowth could be a hundred yards wide.
The entire valley floor will act asan underground reservoir.
The stored water might be used by plants,but it won’t be wasted by evaporation.
How does this site compare?
![Page 10: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
Putting in dams is costly and inefficient:a lot of “red tape” brings just a little storage.
It would take many dams to make a real difference.
![Page 11: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Can we do an “end run” around the government?
How could we get dozens, or even hundreds, of small dams quickly and at low cost?
![Page 12: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
Let’s hire our favourite web-footed water manager.
![Page 13: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
Benefits of Beaver
• Beaver dams can store substantial amounts of water.
• Beaver work cheap with no maintenance costs.
• They don’t need water licences to store water.
• They create more habitat than they eat.
• The dams aren’t big enough to cause damage if they wash out.
• Beaver are rodents, not a long-term commitment.
![Page 14: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
People who have heard stories may want to think about the situation this way:
You don’t have to keep the beaver to gain the benefits.The dam will store water for years without upkeep.
![Page 15: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
Make sure you have all the possible benefits. Beaver can make many
dams along a stream,each one holding valuable water.
![Page 16: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
The leaky dams are key to the benefits brought by beaver.
![Page 17: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
Unlike man-made dams, beaver ponds always have space to hold more water.
![Page 18: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
The flow through the dams is not wasted, but is captured by lower
dams in the chain.
![Page 19: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
In the driest part of the year, the creek’s flow is supplemented by water trickling out of the banks.
![Page 20: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
A fairly small beaver dam has spread water across a wide floodplain, supporting a broad band of willows. Note the healthy sagebrush on the far side. The dam has raised the water table, helping this riparian species flourish. Now, let’s turn to the right and look downstream.
![Page 21: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
The only trees for miles grow downstream of the dam, supported by the steady flow.
On the other hand, the water table is lower than above the dam, and the sagebrush is struggling.
![Page 22: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
The increased shrubby vegetation greatly improves the stream’s Riparian Health score.
![Page 23: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
A prairie stream flourishing with beaver
![Page 24: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
A stream hoping for beaver
![Page 25: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
- no willows- eroding banks- muddy water
Even here,beaver can
be restored.
![Page 26: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/26.jpg)
As a keystone species in the grassland of southern Alberta,
beaver created habitat that supports many species.
The hay is not a coincidence. Dried-up beaver complexes often become hay fields.
![Page 27: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/27.jpg)
Although beaver still live in all grassland rivers, as well as the Cypress Hills, . . .
![Page 28: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/28.jpg)
. . . many streams in the drier parts of the grassland have few, if any, beaver present.
They were trapped out more than a century ago. With no maintenance, the dams washed out, and the shrubs were chewed down by cattle.
![Page 29: Miistakis Droughtproofing prt 1 - Miistakis Institute · ROB GARDNER. The prairie in southeastern Alberta can be dry. Ranchers generally manage grazing to ensure good carryover, helping](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050304/5f6d3577c19c9e5333412287/html5/thumbnails/29.jpg)
Evidence of their work still persists. Old willows and remnants of dams show where beaver once lived.
This stump was about 86 years old when it was killed by beaver, many years ago. This plant dates back more than 100 years.