Good morning.
Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee, for inviting me to speak today.
I'm a farmer and a rancher in Norfolk County, Ontario, as well as the CEO of the only farmer-led, community-based charitable organization in Canada delivering nature-based solutions. ALUS has been implementing one of the most effective and scalable solutions to water quality protection for nearly two decades. We build and restore natural infrastructure, or natural systems, on marginal or uneconomic farmland to provide solutions. I come to you today bringing an agricultural solution to Canada's freshwater priorities.
The agricultural sector both relies on and affects freshwater resources in Canada. The decline in Canada's inventory of natural assets such as wetlands and forests has removed critical infrastructure that helps protect water quality from activities that affect freshwater systems. Without sufficient natural infrastructure, we see impacts on water quality. Soil erosion and sedimentation can harm aquatic plants and wildlife and create an environment favourable to the development of algae blooms and pathogens. Runoff of nutrients, pesticides, organic matter and pathogens threatens aquatic life, drinking water systems and our food supply.
Natural infrastructure built by farmers and ranchers on their working landscape reduces nutrients from entering freshwater systems, thereby preventing harmful algae blooms. It reduces soil erosion and sedimentation of waterways. It slows water flow and increases absorption of water to reduce flood risk, and it supports groundwater recharge for increased water security for both upstream and downstream communities.
Wetlands restored by farmers help manage rising watercourse levels by slowing water flows and support groundwater recharge by capturing and absorbing excess water. They also protect food security by reducing the effects of severe weather as well as enhancing wildlife habitat to support birds, pollinators and other beneficial insects and insectivores.
ALUS knows the solution is at the grassroots level because it has supported over 1,600 Canadian farmers and ranchers in building nature-based solutions that enhance natural infrastructure on their lands to protect water quality and quantity, including restoring and/or creating tens of thousands of acres of wetland habitat. Our network is driven by 40 community partners that provide the grassroots leadership our program demands. We now operate in six provinces.
ALUS has quantified freshwater benefits produced by our projects in four Ontario watersheds and has proven that ALUS projects deliver positive results for water quality. With support from RBC Tech for Nature, ALUS modelled water-based outcomes across four watersheds within the Lake Erie basin in Ontario. The project demonstrated the effectiveness of nature-based projects on ALUS farms in reducing nutrients entering watercourses that feed into Lake Erie, with the largest benefits coming from restored or created wetlands.
We've demonstrated how the agricultural community can deliver effective solutions to freshwater quality concerns across the country. ALUS and its network of farmers are standing ready to scale their efforts and deliver measurable water quality outcomes through nature-based solutions on marginal farmlands for the benefit of all Canadians.
Thank you.