Farm and Ranch Water Infrastructure Program – Pre-Screening Water Development Projects

As we have entered the final year of the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) suite of programming, producers are preparing and planning to complete their water development projects to utilize the funding under the Farm and Ranch Water infrastructure Program (FRWIP).  FRWIP is a rebate program that provides producers a 50 percent rebate on eligible expenses to a maximum of $50,000 for the development of dugouts, wells, and pipelines for agricultural use.  Before beginning any water development projects, producers should ensure that all regulatory requirements are met. 

Depending on your project location, approvals that may need to be obtained include:

• Wildlife Habitat Protection Act (WHPA) - This act ensures the management, conservation and protection of wildlife and wildlife lands on certain Crown lands. Any Crown leased land designated under WHPA require approval prior to proceeding with any development on these lands.  
• Crown Conservation Easement (CCE) – Any private land with a CCE registered on title require approval from the Ministry of Environment prior to proceeding with any development project  
• Critical Habitat (CH) - Falls under the Species at Risk Act. This helps to protects provincially threatened and endangered species and their habitats from risks to their survival associated with human activity.  
• Aquatic Habitat Protection Permit (AHPP) - AHPP ensures aquatic habitat is maintained and protected from impacts that may occur from development in or near a bed, bank, or boundary of water.  
• Saskatchewan Water Security Agency Groundwater and/or Surface Water Approval – Water Security Agency (WSA) approval is required for the right to use surface or ground water if the volume of a dugout is greater than 5000 m3 or if annual usage is greater than 5000 m3. 
• Municipal Approval – written approval from the rural municipality is required if a pipeline project will be crossing any road allowances  
• Authorization to Construct – written authorization from landowner will be needed if your water development project is on rented land  

Your local Agriculture Program Specialist is your one stop shop for all program inquiries. They are able to assist you with questions about eligibility and pre-screening your project for any approvals that may be needed

We had some much needed precipitation across much of Nebraska over the past week. Can we expect more of the same? Eric Hunt has your answer.