Wet Prairie people, land, and water in agricultural Manitoba
- Author/Creator:
- Stunden Bower, Shannon, 1977-
- Publication/Creation:
- Vancouver [B.C.] : UBC Press, c2011
- Resource Type:
- Book
More Details
Additional/Related Title Information
- Full Title:
- Wet Prairie people, land, and water in agricultural Manitoba / Shannon Stunden Bower ; foreword by Graeme Wynn
- Series Titles:
- Nature, history, and society series,
Nature, history, society.
Subjects/Genre
- Subjects:
- Watershed management--Manitoba--History
Drainage--Manitoba--History
Agriculture--Manitoba--History
Agriculture and state--Manitoba
Agriculture--Social aspects--Manitoba
Description/Summary
- Table of Contents:
- Introduction : the wet prairie -- Drains and cultural communities : the early years of Manitoba drainage, 1870-1915 -- Juridictional quagmires : dominion authority and prairie wetlands, 1870-1930 -- Drains and geographical communities : experts, highlanders, and lowlanders assess drainage -- Internaional bioregions and local mementum : the International Joint Commission, Ducks Unlimited, and continued drainage -- Permanence, maintenance, and change : watershed management in Manitoba -- Conclusion : chequer board squares in a dynamic landscape -- Appendices.
- Summary:
- The Canadian prairies are often envisioned as dry, windswept fields; however, much of southern Manitoba is not arid plain but wet prairie, poorly drained land subject to frequent flooding. Wet Prairie brings to light the complexities of surface water management in Manitoba, from early artificial drainage efforts to late-twentieth-century attempts at watershed management. Irregular water-flow patterns challenged the checkerboard landscape of the 1872 federal Dominion Lands Act, and homesteaders found their agricultural ambitions at odds with local environmental realities. Thus, in keeping with liberal principles, the provincial government undertook substantial drainage efforts. Flooding and drainage became the subjects of intense and persistent debate among provincial officials, drainage experts, and Manitoba residents. New alliances and rivalries emerged amid shifting social, political, and environmental contexts, with enduring consequences for both the landscapes and people of the wet prairie. This account of an overlooked aspect of Prairie environmental history traces how the biophysical nature of southern Manitoba helped shape both Manitoba society and the provincial state.
- Language:
- English
- Language Note:
- English
- Physical Type/Description:
- xxiii, 238 p. : ill., maps
Additional Identifiers
- Catalog ID (MMSID):
- 9936952931002486
- ISBN:
- 1-283-24548-5
9786613245489
0-7748-1854-9 - Other Identifiers:
- doi: 10.59962/9780774818544
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