Northeast swale plan back before Saskatoon council

A plan to protect a wide swath of Prairie wilderness in the northeast section of the city will be back before Saskatoon council on Monday. 

The Northeast Swale is a 26 km tract of land, scraped over time by glaciers, that stretches from Peturrson's Ravine in Saskatoon to the Rural Municipality of Aberdeen. Three hundred hectares lie within the city of Saskatoon limits.

It's considered a unique place in Prairie geography, especially for its grassland ecosystem of wetlands and high levels of biodiversity. In the Meewasin Valley Authority plan it described the swale as containing, "a variety of environments including steep rocky ridges, rolling prairie, lush valleys, treed areas and ephemeral and semi-permanent wetlands." 

But the area is under pressure as the city grows, especially with new neighbourhood developments encroaching upon this part of the Prairie and proposed traffic infrastructure such as the North Commuter Parkway bridge and a proposed perimeter highway bridge. 

The Meewasin Valley Authority has proposed a set of limitations to protect the swale, while also making it accessible to people. 

The plan includes trails, boardwalks, parking, signs, fencing and lighting. It would also include facilities such as an outdoor education staging area. The total capital cost is estimated at $14 million. 

But some say the plan doesn't go far enough. Writer and wilderness advocate Candace Savage wrote a letter to council dated Oct. 5, asking for the city to take a pause before deciding. 

"The Northeast Swale is a biodiversity hotspot, Saskatoon's answer to Vancouver's Stanley Park, Calgary's Nose Hill and Toronto's Rouge Valley," Savage wrote. "So how can it be that this ecologically important landscape — a place that everyone agrees is a priority for conservation — is soon to be bisected by two major traffic arteries within a stone's throw of each other?"

Savage said she's concerned about several impacts on the ecosystem including animal collisions with vehicles, the introduction of invasive species and noise pollution among others. She wants the proposed perimeter highway location to be moved further east 

On Monday, Council will be asked to approve the Meewasin Northeast Swale Master Plan "in principle." 

In the council agenda, the Standing Policy Committee on Planning, Development and Community Services, which is recommending the plan, said if the plan is not accepted, "it would lead to significant uncertainty for the future conservation and use of the Swale."