Reverse Auction for Wetland Restoration in the Assiniboine River Watershed, Saskatchewan

Wetland habitat continues to be lost in many watersheds across Canada and new program tools are needed to help restore drained wetlands. We used a reverse auction to restore drained wetlands in the Assiniboine River Watershed (ARW) of east-central Saskatchewan which is an important target area for wetland restoration in the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP). The reverse auction format was discriminative, with sealed bids and two rounds of bidding. Bidders could submit bids for 12-year term agreements and/or perpetual conservation easements, and bids were submitted by quarter section (160 acres). Bids could be either in cultivated cropland or perennial forage, and were evaluated using an environmental benefits index based on the incremental increase in predicted hatched waterfowl nests relative to bid price. Potential bidders were solicited via contacts with existing conservation project cooperators, and a public media campaign. In the first round, 20 bidders submitted 118 bids to restore 713 wetlands totaling 670 acres at a price of $837,000. All bids were for 12-year term agreements. Bid prices to restore drained wetlands within cultivated land were higher than for perennial forage. In the second round, 30 bids from seven bidders were approved to restore 211 wetlands totaling 211 acres in perennial forage at a price of $182,000. The price of successful bids varied from $20.83 to $391.22 per acre per year (average $118.52). The reverse auction provided information on cost variability and funding required for achieving NAWMP wetland restoration objectives in the ARW. La perte d'habitats humides dans de nombreux bassins hydrographiques du Canada se poursuit, d'où la nécessité d'élaborer de nouveaux programmes et outils pour favoriser la restauration des milieux humides qui ont été drainés. Nous avons procédéà une enchère inversée en ligne pour restaurer les milieux humides drainés dans le bassin hydrographique de la rivière Assiniboine dans la partie du centre-est de la Saskatchewan, qui constitue une zone cible importante de la restauration des milieux humides dans le Plan nord-américain de la gestion de la sauvagine (PNAGS). L'enchère inversée en ligne était discriminatoire et comprenait des offres secrètes et deux tours d'enchère. Les enchérisseurs pouvaient soumettre des offres soit pour des ententes d'une durée de douze ans, soit pour des servitudes de conservation perpétuelles, pour une superficie de un quart de section (160 acres) dans