REGINA — In ponds scattered through some of Regina’s busiest neighbourhoods, teams of students and City of Regina workers in rubber boots knelt beside the water this week, planting native grasses and wetland species into floating islands designed to clean the city’s water naturally.
The project may look simple on the surface. But city officials say the floating wetlands now being installed in the Lakewood, Lakeridge and Rochdale stormwater retention ponds could play a major role in improving water quality flowing into Wascana Creek while creating new habitat for birds, insects and pollinators across Regina.
The City of Regina is partnering with the Saskatchewan Association of Watersheds and Wascana & Upper Qu’Appelle Watersheds Association Taking Responsibility on the freshwater stewardship initiative, which is supported through Environment and Climate Change Canada.
“So today we're installing floating wetlands,” said Shelley Wellman, manager of environmental services for the City of Regina. “The floating wetlands work to improve the water quality in our stormwater retention ponds.”
The floating treatment wetlands function like suspended natural filtration systems. Built as floating garden islands, the platforms allow native wetland plants to grow long root systems beneath the water’s surface, where they absorb excess nutrients and help beneficial bacteria thrive.
Those nutrients — especially phosphorus and nitrogen from lawn fertilizer, runoff and urban drainage — can fuel algae growth when concentrations become too high.
“When there's too much algae, it turns the ponds green and it can create some odour issues and depletes the oxygen,” Wellman explained. “So these floating wetlands help remove those excess nutrients, promote beneficial bacteria and then reduce the algal blooms.”
The project also highlights something many Regina residents rarely think about when passing the ponds woven into neighbourhood parks.
“Everyone comes to these beautiful parks and they see these ponds,” Wellman said. “But I think a lot of the time residents forget what their main purpose is. And that main purpose is to prevent flooding and improve the water quality before it enters Wascana Creek.”
The wetlands themselves are planted with native Saskatchewan species, including sedges and rushes commonly found in shallow prairie water systems.
“We really wanted to make sure that what we were putting in our stormwater retention pond was native species,” Wellman said. “Native birds like red-winged blackbirds will find habitat in these.”
The floating islands are expected to remain in place for roughly a decade, anchored into deeper water with concrete blocks while requiring relatively little maintenance beyond occasional trimming to encourage new growth.
The city says water quality will now be monitored monthly over the next five years to evaluate how effective the wetlands are and whether the program should expand into other stormwater ponds across Regina.
For the students helping build the islands, the project also became a living classroom.
Campbell Collegiate science teacher Barry Houlden brought environmental science students to participate directly in the installation.
“I think the City of Regina trying to put some projects in place to improve water quality within the city and I think that's great,” Houlden exclaimed. “And engaging kids to be able to participate in the community and help out is awesome.”
Houlden said the project connected directly to the Grade 10 and 11 environmental science curriculum focused on aquatic systems and water quality.
“There’s great connections for the kids in terms of what they're learning in class and what they get to participate and learn today,” he said.
Wellman says involving students was one of the most important parts of the project.
“It’s great to have students learn how the city works and how important water quality is to our environment,” she said. “Getting them involved at younger ages sets them up for caring about it in the future.”
And while the floating wetlands are designed to clean the ponds, support wildlife and reduce algae blooms, city officials say the broader goal reaches even further downstream.
“Any of that improved water quality will then improve Wascana Creek as well,” Wellman said.
“We’re always looking at new and different ways to support the water quality in our ponds,” Wellman stated. “We’re hoping that this is a way to do that.”
