At the confluence of the West Kootenay’s Slocan and Little Slocan rivers, there’s a patch of land taking shape under the careful guidance of a conservation-minded organization.
Elk Root Conservation Farm Society‘s (ERC) vision is to have the Little Slocan River watershed, Slocan Valley, and beyond teeming with fish, the land abundant with wildlife and healthy people living a sustainable, low-footprint life. With a mission of alleviating food insecurity and inspiring ecological stewardship, ERC founder Kate Mizenka and her team are making that vision a reality, one project at a time. One of their more recent efforts to bring this vision to life was the creation of a plastic-free pond that also supports biodiversity at their Educational Demonstration Farm.
Water insecurity is a rising concern for landowners across Canada. For many farms, the solution to agricultural water needs is to build artificial ponds. A typical pond design features several thick layers of plastic and protective fabric to keep plants out and water in. A pinprick hole can send the whole project down the figurative drain as water seeps back into the soil. Even without holes, over time the plastic wears down and eventually needs to be replaced.
Since the start of Elk Root Conservation in 2018, Kate has envisioned a water catchment system that provides sanctuary for native species and demonstrates is a model for farmers to protect their crops and livestock during seasonal water shortages without the negative impact of installing plastic and contributing to the world’s plastic crisis. In 2024, she was able to bring that vision to life with the support of ERC’s amazing team of professional volunteers whom she gives full credit to: “Without ERC’s amazing dedicated volunteers and youth intern employees the biodiversity catchment pond would not have come to life,” she affirms.
The creation of this plastic-free pond will provide an emergency back-up water source at Elk Root Conservation’s Educational Demonstration Farm to support its efforts to feed community members in need cost-free through its Community Food Box Program. The goal, explains Kate, was to create a catchment system that not only holds water, but provides habitat features to attract and support amphibians, reptilian creatures like painted turtles, and more at the same time, contributing to the health of the landscape.
Path to the pond
The path from idea to implementation took several years, as Ryan, ERC’s volunteer pond engineer, researched, planned and tested methods for water retention. After extensive testing, they were confident enough to move forward with a full-scale project using bentonite clay and a number of other carefully engineered substrate layers to create the foundation of the pond in the summer of 2024.
With a careful eye for biodiversity values on the land, the team, including volunteer senior wildlife biologist Paul Sargent, added features to create suitable habitat for various species: floating logs, shelves for amphibians, burrowing spaces for turtles, and sandy areas for egg-laying. The pond was specifically designed to accommodate creatures like painted turtles, spotted leopard frogs, and a host of native water-loving plants.
The layers of substrate — including clay that forms the base — were engineered to seal naturally, preventing leaks and allowing the pond to hold water. The pond is 3,200 sq ft, holding 350 cubic metres of water — about 30 times as much volume as a concrete mixer truck or 2,000 times the capacity of a bathtub. This pond also cost less than a traditional pond, coming in around $3/sq ft. compared to $4-5/sq ft for a traditional plastic-lined model.
While the pond is meant to be an educational and demonstration feature at the farm and would need to be larger in volume if installed on bigger farms, ERC will continue to study the pond as it evolves in symbiosis with the landscape, and they aim to continue design improvements for potential installation on other BC farms. The pond will serve as an example of how to create a backup water source to sustain farm crops during drought, as well as ebbing and flowing in the fashion of a naturally occuring seasonal wetland to promote on-farm biodiversity.
During the fall and winter, the pond fills up with rain and snowmelt, creating a rich, wetland environment. As the weather warms and the water evaporates in the spring, it slowly recedes to a level that sustains the creatures that depend on it.
“It’s a living, breathing system,” Kate describes, adding they are calling the experiment a success so far because it’s retaining water. The next milestone will be to see how much life the pond attracts during its first season and beyond.
“We’ll monitor year to year to see how the habitat builds up, what critters come in on their own and how the pond evolves,” she explains.
One of the most rewarding parts of the project for Kate has been seeing the potential for others to replicate it. Through workshops and consultations, Kate and the ERC team plan to share their journey with other farmers and landowners. A farm near Cranbrook has already reached out to ERC and is seeking funding to replicate Elk Root Conservation’s pond model on their cattle farm. Kate hopes this pond, like Elk Root Conservation’s Farm overall, will serve as a demonstration of what’s possible when sustainability and biodiversity are prioritized and land and water are conserved— thriving communities where feeding people and conserving the environment for future generations go hand-in-hand.
