SEAWA IWMP
SEAWA’s Integrated Watershed Management Plan (IWMP) provides long-term direction for protecting watershed health across the South Saskatchewan River Sub-Basin. It brings together science, local knowledge, community values, and collaborative partnerships to guide sustainable land and water management for the next 20 years.
Introduction
Definition
Integrated Watershed Management (IWM) is an approach that considers water, land, ecosystems, and human activities as part of one connected system. Decisions made in one part of the watershed affect many others. IWM ensures that environmental, social, economic, and cultural values are balanced in long-term planning.
SEAWA uses this approach to build a shared understanding of watershed conditions and to work with partners toward sustainable, community-supported outcomes.
Why It Matters
The IWMP sets long-term direction for watershed health. It identifies shared priorities, provides guidance for decision-making, and supports coordinated stewardship across jurisdictions and community sectors. The plan guides approximately 20 years of watershed work, with a formal review every five years.
Process
The IWMP follows an adaptive, collaborative cycle. Each phase builds on the last, and ongoing monitoring ensures the plan responds to new information, climate pressures, and community needs.
IWMP Phases
The IWMP moves through a sequence of phases that repeat over time. As you move down the page, you move through the same cycle SEAWA uses: building understanding, engaging people, shaping strategies, putting them into action, and then adapting as conditions change.
SEAWA reviews scientific studies, monitoring data, existing reports, Traditional Knowledge, and local expertise to identify watershed conditions, key issues, and emerging stressors. This shared understanding forms the foundation for the entire IWMP.
Municipalities, Indigenous communities, agriculture, environmental organizations, landowners, developers, industry, and residents participate in shaping priorities and identifying challenges and opportunities throughout the watershed.
Using what has been learned and heard, SEAWA and its partners develop strategies to address key issues and stressors, enhance resilience, and support sustainable land and water use across the region.
Partners apply the strategies through planning, operations, restoration projects, policy, and community-based programs. Implementation is coordinated so actions reinforce one another across the watershed.
Ongoing monitoring and reporting track progress and feed back into the IWMP. The plan is reviewed and updated approximately every five years so it can respond to climate change, growth, and new information.
Support
The development of SEAWA’s Integrated Watershed Management Plan is made possible through the support of our funding partners, municipalities, Indigenous governments, and community organizations.
Documents
These materials are currently being prepared. Once finalized, the IWMP documents will be available for download here.
Draft materials are in development.
Preliminary draft will be published for review.
Final report will be available following approval.
