A world-renowned water expert is warning Saskatchewan’s agricultural industry that it faces hard choices about water use in the near future.
“We’re really getting to the end of an era where we’ve been able to expand our supply to meet our demands,” Howard Wheater, a professor in the University of Saskatchewan’s School of Environment and Sustainability, said during a recent lecture.
Wheater, a prominent water specialist from Britain, joined the university last month as the Canada Excellence Research Chair. His previous work includes studying the effects of intensive sheep farming on water systems in Wales and studying nitrate levels in the River Thames.
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Wheater said Western Canada’s rivers are not exempt from a global trend of reduced river flows. He also said agriculture has dramatically altered the prairie landscape.
“Seventy percent of prairie wetlands have been lost to agricultural drainage.”
He said Western Canada is already seeing the effects of climate change.
“The biggest land use change that has been seen has been associated with warmer winters and the effect of beetle infestation on forest death.”
He said better use of rain fed agriculture and more efficient irrigation will be key for agriculture.
