WINNIPEG -- Manitobans will soon face more rules on what they can put on their lawns and farmland.
Details from the government's water protection plan include a minimum three-metre buffer along every waterway in which homeowners, groundskeepers, municipalities and farmers will not be allowed to apply fertilizer.
The buffer will be 15 metres wide along rivers that provide drinking water, such as the Red and Assiniboine, while the restricted area around vulnerable lakes -- including lakes Winnipeg and Manitoba -- will be 30 metres wide.
Water Stewardship Minister Christine Melnick says the aim is to protect the province's rivers and lakes from harmful chemicals.
There are also restrictions coming over the next few years on the application of nitrogen and phosphorus to all types of land.
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Specific limits on the two fertilizers will depend on whether the area is high-yield farmland, grazing pasture or urban.
