User:Jason Kerr/sandbox

Climate and Ecology

Willow Bunch sits in a small valley in southern Saskatchewan, about 740 metres above sea level. Like most of Saskatchewan, the climate ranges widely, from 40C degrees Celsius in the summer, to -40C in the winter. Traditionally, July is the warmest month on record while February and December are the coldest. The average temperature is in the high twenties during the warmest parts of the year, and around -15C during the coolest. The highest recorded temperature of all time for the area is 41C in 1988. The lowest recorded temperature is -41C, which occurred in 1983 and 1994.

The Willow Bunch area receives anywhere from 250 to 450 millimetres of precipitation over the course of a year, based on the weather station in nearby Coronach. Most of that precipitation comes during the spring and early summer, with the later part of the year typically being hot and dry. Occasionally flooding occurs, but it is usually caused by a large spring run-off as opposed to heavy rain fall. The last flood in the Willow Bunch area occurred in 2011 when highway 36 was washed out.

There are two major ecosystems surrounding Willow Bunch: prairie grassland, and the Big Muddy. Grasslands are dry, arid landscapes, characterized by low precipitation levels. As a result, the plant life consists mostly of small shrubbery and hardy plants like Prickly-Pear Cacti, Pasture Sage and Prairie Crocus which can grow without large amounts of rainfall. Trees rarely grow naturally in this type of ecosystem because they are unable to survive on so little water in their early stages of growth.

The Big Muddy is a 3 km wide flood plain left over from the last ice age. Although it’s named ‘Muddy’, the area consists largely of sandstone cliffs and buttes, as well as an alkali lake. The most notable feature of his landscape is the Castle Butte, a large natural structure that juts out of the ground providing a noticeable landmark.



The wildlife around Willow Bunch consists mostly of small rodents and carnivores. Foxes, coyotes, gophers, racoons, and skunks are the most common mammals. Prior to the development of agriculture larger grazing animals such as bison and antelope were more common, as were predators like wolves. Today, there are no bison in the Willow Bunch area. Antelope are struggling as well because they have trouble jumping over barbed-wire fences. However, they still exist in the wild around town. The grassland surrounding Willow Bunch is home to the only venomous snake on the Canadian prairie: the Prairie Rattlesnake. Although it is poisonous, this snake rarely attacks and frequently flees from human contact. Willow Bunch is also home to a diverse bird population. Crows, owls and grouse can all be found in the area.

Water conservation is of the utmost importance in the Willow Bunch area because of the dry nature of the climate. Long term agricultural success is dependent on closely monitoring the local water supply. Underground aquifers are one of the most important water sources in the area, although many are too deep to drill wells into. This difficulty has led to the widespread use of irrigation. Willow Bunch's aquifers and groundwater flows are charted by the Water Security Agency for the purpose of monitoring and managing them.

Environment Canada considers south Saskatchewan’s water usage to be strongly influenced by climate change. They say a rise in global temperatures would be accompanied by a rise in evaporation rates, which would cause the already dry prairie grassland to become even drier. Farmers could combat excessive droughts with irrigation techniques, but Enviroment Canada has concerns about how irrigation effects soil quality. Apparently it would bring more soluble salts to the surface, which would lower the quality of the soil.