PhD student issues blueprint to save Saskatoon's swales

A PhD candidate at the University of Saskatchewan is taking a close look at a rare and valuable ecosystem now under threat by a rapidly growing city.

Conservation on this scale is disruptive, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.- Warrick Baijius

The new report authored by Warrick Baijius challenges all levels of government to work together to understand and protect Saskatoon's Swale ecosystems.

For Baijius, that work begins with recognizing the region's value.

"If we take a position of wanting to protect it," Baijius said in an interview with CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning, "then the first thing we need to do is actually protect it and put some legal boundaries around it, so that development will not infringe on it."

Northeast Swale and Small Swale are natural grasslands home tomore than 100 bird species, 200 plant species and at-risk animals as varied as short-eared owls and northern leopard frogs. This sort of natural prairie ecosystem is vanishing on a global scale.

"We just don't see much of this," warned Baijius.

Baijius's call to action is being supervised by Ryan Walker, a professor in the department of geography at the U of S.

"I don't think the Swaleis fully understood in terms of its boundaries and in terms of the natural processes within it," Walker said.

"I think we just need to turn up the level of attention that we're giving to this and figure out exactly how we can or can't undertake future development."

Under pressure

The areasare already under pressure as urban sprawl encroaches on these ancient riverbeds. Saskatoon's new Chief Mistawasis Bridge and its connecting roadways already pass through Small Swale. Future plans would bring new neighbourhoods and a proposed $2-billion perimeter highway to the region.

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The swales are ancient, but the idea of protecting them is fairly new. Public and environmental advocates have become more aware of their existencemainly because development has pushed city boundaries farther and farther to the northeast.

Hearts and minds

Walker sees encouraging evidence that the public is learning more about the region, and that there may be some new momentum building for those working to save its integrity as an ecosystem.

"You can see the use by school groups, education groups, adults seeking passive recreation and naturalists, bird-watchers and so forth, just ramping up their appreciation and enjoyment as it becomes a more familiar environment for people in Saskatoon. It's gaining in its popularity and I think that it's also gaining in terms of the public priority for its preservation and restoration as well."

Baijius agrees. His new report offers more than a dozen specific recommendations that could save Saskatoon's swales from developmentand keep the ecosystem intact.

"Conservation on this scale is disruptive, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, especially when we start considering our future with climate change," Baijius said. "If we're looking to build a resilient city and [want to] be able to service it into the future, we need to make sure that we have a tight footprint and that we give nature space to change in response."