The Alberta government has agreed to pay the Western Irrigation District $85 million to settle a decades-old dispute over water rights.
The government rewrote the district’s water licence in 1963, reducing the allocation to 160,000 acre feet from 600,000.
An acre foot is the amount of water required to cover an acre of land in one foot of water.
The irrigation district maintained that it was entitled to compensation.
A lawsuit was launched 11 years ago but never went to court.
The recent settlement grants the district $85 million for constructing and rehabilitating irrigation works and canals, many of which have crumbling dirt banks and leaking walls.
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federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
It also compels the district to end its long legal battle against the province.
“We’ll fix up the canals that are in bad shape and are too big to pipeline,” said Irwin Braun, manager of operations for the district, which serves 400 farms and more than 15,000 people in the area.
The district has 1,100 kilometres of canals but could afford to repair only about 300 km. In some areas, underground pipelines may be installed.
The cash infusion also paves the way for the district’s $15 million deal with the Municipal District of Rocky View to transfer water to the municipality for a $1 billion mall and racetrack development near Balzac, just north of Calgary. Insufficient water supply had jeopardized the project.
Details as to where the water will be diverted are still being resolved.
Alberta irrigation districts annual repair work is covered in a cost share agreement with the province and irrigation districts.
The province contributes 75 percent of the cost and the farmer-run districts provide the remainder. The WID receives $2.5 million this year from that program.
The repairs for better water management and conservation are vital for the district, which is located in one of Canada’s fastest growing regions.
