Westlake Watershed District

About us

Manitoba’s Watershed Districts Program is a voluntary provincial-municipal partnership program that enhances healthy and sustainable watersheds through land and water stewardship programs and partnerships. With funding from the Manitoba government and included municipalities, locally-appointed watershed district boards make planning and management decisions to improve watershed health across most of municipal Manitoba.

Westlake Watershed District was established in 1978. Lying along the west shore of Lake Manitoba, the district encompasses approximately 4,695km² with more than 840 km of order in council infrastructure drains. The district includes the Rural Municipalities of Alonsa, Lakeshore, Mossey River and Westlake Gladstone.

The beef cattle industry dominates the local economy along with a considerable involvement in commercial fishing in the winter months.

Mandate

Watershed districts have a mandate to sustain healthy watersheds through land and water stewardship programs and partnerships. Watershed district boards are responsible for planning and management decisions to improve watershed health.

Under the authority of The Water Protection Act, watershed districts play a lead role in the development and implementation of integrated watershed management plans in Manitoba. Watershed management plans provide a decision-making framework for the protection, restoration and management of water, aquatic ecosystems, and drinking water sources.

History

Westlake Watershed District (previously known as Alonsa Conservation District) has always been involved in soil and water management, with its initial establishment being to deal with issues pertaining to agricultural drainage.

The district originally encompassed 2,680 km2. In April 1999, the majority of the RM of Lakeshore joined the district as well as in 2020 a portion of the Mossey River Municipality also joined our district. Which added approximately 14.5 more km2., bringing the new area to approximately 4,450 km².

The Watershed Districts Act enables the board of a watershed district to enter into agreements with others such as Indigenous communities, community pastures, or provincial or national parks to support actions within integrated watershed management plans. In October 2022, the Westlake Watershed District signed a partnership agreement with the Manitoba Indigenous Reconciliation and Northern Relations to deliver conservation–based programming in the Northern Affairs communities of Crane River, Meadow Portage, Rock Ridge, Spence Lake and Waterhen.

An amendment to the Watershed Districts Regulation came into force on July 5, 2024, formalizing an expansion of Westlake Watershed District. The Manitoba government has allocated additional provincial funding to The Watershed Districts Program to expand a few watershed districts. The amended Watershed Districts Regulation formalizes the expansion of municipal participation into new districts such as ours, which is an expansion into Municipality of Westlake-Gladstone. Thank you to landowners, board, councils, and staff that provided valuable input during the expansion process. This expansion does not consist of Infrastructure management but does enable the Westlake Gladstone landowners to take part in valuable Programs that Watershed Districts are key delivery agents for such as the Conservation Trust created in 2018 and are currently the sole delivery agents of the Growing Outcomes in Watersheds (GROW) Program announced in 2019.

As of July In December 2014, WWD completed the Westlake Integrated Watershed Management Plan (WIWMP) which focuses on employing watershed-based decision-making. This provides an opportunity to address water quality, water quantity, community, and habitat issues beyond municipal boundaries, allowing a focus on cumulative impacts of land use practices in the watershed.

Also in 2014, the district added GIS survey equipment to its assets, allowing the organization to complete ground survey work more efficiently.

Transition from Conservation Districts to Watershed District

2020 Change for Districts

On January 1st, 2020, Manitoba’s 18 Conservation Districts became 14 Watershed Districts with the proclamation of the Watershed Districts Act. This legislation brings important changes into effect for Manitoba’s Watershed Districts. As described by the Province of Manitoba, The Watershed Districts Act has:

Moved the districts to watershed-based boundaries to improve management of floods, droughts, and water quality;
Renamed Manitoba’s “Conservation Districts” as “Watershed Districts” to emphasize their mandate; and
Allowed Watershed Districts to form partnerships with non-municipal entities, including Indigenous nations, to enhance watershed management.

The Watershed Districts Act empowers the new Watershed Districts to take the next steps to build Manitoba’s resilience to floods, droughts, climate change, nutrient loading, and more.

In addition to the new legislation, Manitoba’s Watershed Districts have access to new resources to get more done on the landscape. Watershed Districts are key delivery agents for the Conservation Trust created in 2018 and are currently the sole delivery agents of the Growing Outcomes in Watersheds (GROW) Program announced in 2019.