Natural Infrastructure Essentials

On the Canadian Prairies and around the world, the need for water storage to cope with extremes associated with climate change is increasing. Nature provides over 99% of freshwater storage globally, but unfortunately, this storage—natural buffering capacity—is declining. 

Across the Prairies, historical and ongoing drainage and landscape alteration have significantly reduced watershed storage capacity. Climate change may alter precipitation patterns, with more winter rain and less snow, reduced snowpack, and hotter, drier summers. At the same time, rising water demand from population growth and industrial uses, combined with less reliable supply, heightens the risk of water scarcity, where demand exceeds available resources. 

The Canadian Prairies need natural infrastructure that provides water retention and offers multiple benefits, such as flood protection and restored water storage capacity. 

Water retention refers to the ability of landscapes to capture, store, and slowly release snowmelt and rainfall. It includes both natural approaches, such as conserving and restoring wetlands, floodplains, grasslands, and riparian areas, and constructed measures like small reservoirs that mimic natural processes. Unlike grey infrastructure such as dry dams, which provide only short-term water detention, water retention measures store water long term and deliver added benefits, including flood mitigation, wildlife habitat, and improved water quality, with longer retention times yielding greater overall benefits. 

While momentum for constructed water retention projects is growing across the Prairies, this policy brief highlights opportunities for this natural infrastructure approach to expand, delivering flood mitigation alongside a range of additional benefits.