The snow was off the prairie fields. He could see the thick accumulation of raw livestock manure covering the land. It ran to the tens of percentages of field area. In other parts of Canada, livestock pastures run right to the edges of streams. Forestry companies cut trees to the banks of rivers.
People drain wetlands as if they are a boil on the landscape.
All of it threatens the quality of the freshwater supply. Add that to the fact that livestock farming has grown exponentially, vastly expanding the source of toxic bacteria and protozoa. And consider that water-monitoring systems are plainly not working. You have the makings of a, well, a North Battleford. Or another Walkerton.