Cattails & epinctiéres: filtering the watershed of the Rat River

Abstract

The current state of Lake Winnipeg is a direct result of ninety years of human abuse. Today, this body of water is the most eutrophic lake in the world (Partners for the Saskatchewan River Basin Board, 2009, p. 142). The pollution of Lake Winnipeg has resulted from excessive nutrient loading in the watercourses. Three major contributors to this eutrophic condition include intensive farming, large sewage treatment facilities within the Lake Winnipeg watershed and the inverted drainage pattern of the lake caused by hydroelectric dams. Intensive farming is increasing the nutrient loading into the lake due to the intensified drainage and the methods in which fertilizer is applied to fields. There is potential to mitigate these effects. This design practicum is about water and water management and how cattails can play a key role within it. The primary goal is to explore the possible capacities of landscape design to combine the functional aspects of filtration and energy generation. The outcome of the practicum will be to distill a site within the Lake Winnipeg’s watershed to carry out a physical design. The selected site with all of its facets functions as a test area for the effectiveness and applicability of ecological, economical and aesthetic dimensions through landscape architecture.