Armed with a report showing the capacity for 370,000 more irrigated acres in western Saskatchewan, a steering committee is considering forming a new irrigation district.
Doug Ball, chair of the Westside irrigation project, said more than 200 people attended a meeting in Conquest, Sask., in April to hear the results of his group’s latest research work.
The group tapped funds available through the Canada-Saskatchewan Water Expansion Program to create a business plan and study the feasibility of irrigation for an area that runs along the South Saskatchewan River valley from the Gardiner dam to Perdue, Sask.
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“It’s a big diverse area,” he said.
The report found water was available from the Lake Diefenbaker reservoir to irrigate 370,000 acres.
Participants at the Conquest meeting passed a motion to proceed with creating district boundaries and an irrigation district and applying for a water licence from the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority.
The project’s proposed six stages could take 20 years to complete, Ball said. Water would allow for a diversified economy, he added, such as livestock and fruit and vegetable production, as well as biodiesel and ethanol industries.
“That’s how the project will pay for itself,” he said. “It won’t be strictly on food production.”
