Sask. dugouts, lakes serve unique purpose as carbon sinks

There's something special about the water in Saskatchewan.

Many boreal lakes across Canada release carbon dioxide, according to University of Regina biology professor Kerri Finlay.

Several years ago, Finlay was researching lakes in the Qu'Appelle valley when she and her team noticed the opposite effect happening. The lakes wereserving as a carbon sink.

"So you realize the chemistry of the water in Saskatchewan seems to be conducive to bringing C02 in. This was really quite new," she told CBC Saskatchewan's Morning Edition.

Finlay will be at Western Canadian Agribition on Thursday talking to farmers about new researchand how this discovery applies to them.

Saskatchewan lakes and dugouts' abilities to absorb carbon dioxide seemto be related to the unique pH values, which are affected bylocation and soil type, she said.

Farmers could potentially build or manage their dugouts in such a waythat they could apply to have these dugouts listed as an offset to a carbon tax, she said.

Most absorb nitrous oxide

The research doesn't stop there.Researchers are also looking at how lakes might absorb nitrous oxide or methane, she said.

"Seventy-five per cent of the ones that we sampled were sinks for nitrous oxides. That seemed to be related to the depth of them. The bigger they are, the better they are at removing nitrous oxide," Finlay explained.

Methane is a bit trickier, as all lakes and dugouts seem to produce at least some methane, she said.

"As it gets a little bit more saline, then it tends to reducethe amount of methane that's being produced," she said, noting this is based on preliminary research. This may make it difficult to manage, as too much salinity prevents the dugout from being a useful water source for animals.

The focus now is on science, but Finlay said the next step will be to look at water management, to balance water quality issues with water's capability to absorb greenhouse gases.

Her purpose at Agribition is to speak to farmersabout how to test their water, but she's also interested in learning what farmers' issues areand what theywant to know.

"We're not just doing science in vacuum," she said. "We want to make this research useful to people that might using it."