Alternative Watering Systems

By removing livestock from entering their drinking water supply, a District is able to achieve several desired effects.  Animals can remove valuable vegetative cover along the water's edge which increases the amount of soil being erode and sediment load problems in streams.  They can also release dangerous bacteria from their waste into water bodies.  This is the same bacteria that has proven fatal to humans in other parts of our Country (i.e. Walkerton and North Battleford).

A local citizen conservation group recently conducted an experiment on offsite watering.  The allowable e. coli and fecal coliform counts per sample for human drinking water is 0.  This same group has found that a dugout where cattle regularly drank contained nearly 12,000 bacteria per sample.  This meant that cattle were constantly having to expend energy on fighting bacteria.  Therefore, potential summer weight gains would be dramatically improved by removing cattle from direct watering sources and providing them with an alternative watering system.

The initial high costs of such a setup will eventually be redeemed by improved livestock yield, general herd health and water quality improvements.

Application Form and Terms and Conditions

If you would like to see projects like this preformed in your community please contact LSRBCD.