WINNIPEG (Manitoba) (Reuters) - Manitoba will be tightening the rules on the expansion of hog farms and prohibit the application of manure to interrupt the flow of phosphorus in 11th largest lake of freshwater in the world, as Lake Winnipeg deteriorates the growth of algae.
The western Canadian province, which has a third herd of pigs in the country, will also protect wetlands, which filter pollutants and the capital city of Winnipeg to construct a plant of treatment of wastewater of the force, the premier Greg Selinger said Thursday.
The accumulation of nutrients such as phosphorus from wastewater, farms or natural sources is a major environmental problem in the world of lakes and rivers, including Lake Winnipeg.
It causes the growth of the algae blue - green which can produce toxins that make sick humans and animals and use oxygen from the water. "The objective is to save the Lake dead going on us," Selinger told journalists.
The Canada is the third largest sender of pork in the world. But changes in Manitoba are not likely to affect markets because swine production decreased for several years, in the province.
Lake Winnipeg 24 000 square kilometres (9,000 square miles) collects water from a farming area across four Canadian provinces and the plains of the North of United States. Ultimately, the Lake empties into Hudson Bay.
Use of fertilizers on crops and the expansion of Manitoba for its herds of cattle since the 1990s are the main causes of algal bloom on Lake Winnipeg, according to a five-year study commissioned by the province, which called for a reduction of 50% of the phosphorus in the Lake.
Said Selinger is the goal of the province, but it gives no time limit.
He said that in Manitoba will block expansions of hog farm that do not use environmental practices to protect water, as the lagoons treated chemically. From 2013, it will also prohibit the spreading of swine on the fields in the winter to fertilize the soil.
Karl Kynoch, a hog farmer and President of the Manitoba Pork Council, said that the Government already plans to prevent winter spreading, who continue to do so a few hog producers.
He said that the province is unfairly blame the swine industry problems of Lake Winnipeg, then worsened even the number of hogs in Manitoba have declined.
"(It's) extremely disappointing to see the Government address industry and accuse it of dumping of pig manure, in the Lake" he said.
Selinger called the plan a starting point and said that the province can later examine restrictions on commercial fertilizers for crops as well.
Some of the most popular beaches of Manitoba are on the Lake, with a commercial fishery.
Spring floods in Manitoba have added algae accumulation as standing water absorbs nutrients from the fields before flowing into the Lake.
Problem of algae of the Lake is about to worsen considerably, said provincial study author, Peter Leavitt, of the University of Regina.
Diverting nutrients such as municipal waste water and runoff farms has improved the quality of water in other parts of the world. But regulating the issue of wider sources was more difficult, the study said.
(Edited by Janet Guttsman)
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