The Watershed Systems Research Program (WSRP) team had the great pleasure to host Merrin Macrae (University of Waterloo) for a 2-day visit on June 4-5, 2014. Merrin gave a seminar while she was here and provided us with a good overview of tile drainage impacts on hydrology and biogeochemistry from her network of Ontario sites. Merrin is initiating a new project in Manitoba through which she will be investigating surface and subsurface runoff and associated nutrient export through a system of surface drains, tile drains and retention ponds in the Red River Valley. The chosen site for this new research project is the Carl Classen’s farm in La Salle Redboine Conservation District, and Merrin had the opportunity to meet with the Classens while refining her plans for instrumentation and fieldwork. Merrin’s project will be done in collaboration with MCDA (Manitoba Conservation District Association) and the WSRP, and it is partly funded by the Lake Winnipeg Basin Stewardship Fund (LWBSF).
