It’s been a topsy-turvy spring for irrigation districts in southern Alberta, as a cooler-than-normal spring gave way to record-setting heat in the middle of May. As well, potentially damaging ice jams were averted in some districts, while emergency canal repair was necessary for others. “There is no such thing as a normal year,” said Richard […] Read more
Irrigation
Rivers face increased demand and dwindling water supply
First Nations and sensitive delta environment at highest risk as users scramble for an increasingly limited resource
First Nations in areas such as the Saskatchewan River Delta in northern Saskatchewan near the Manitoba border could face environmental degradation due to lower flows, said Lucas Vonderbank of the University of Calgary’s Schulich School of Engineering.
Ag students hone ‘soft skills’
The Work Experience in Agriculture course is designed to help budding agrarians take academic training into the broader world. Second- and third-year students, while on the job, build targets for soft skills in leadership, listening, communication and time management that their academic training has not exposed them to.
Canada urged to start national water dialogue
A researcher says many sector players are involved in water management issues but they are often poorly connected
Many players are involved in water issues and water management, but they are often poorly connected. Irrigation authorities, municipal governments, Indigenous, provincial and federal authorities, industries and communities grapple with water issues. With Canada’s enormous supplies of fresh water, conflicts have not been as intense as in other parts of the world, for now.
Water management is another form of risk management
With climate change, the potential and need for water management has grown dramatically, but we’re still a long way away from making most of these water management and risk reduction potentials a reality.
Potato research targets disease
The research is part of wider efforts to combat economic loss in the burgeoning potato industry in southern Alberta, which is expected to grow with expansion of the McCains processing facility and expanded irrigation networks.
Soil erosion causes problems on irrigated land
Five-year research project will test practices that improve crop production systems in areas such as southern Alberta
Soil erosion is affecting some of the most expensive land in the province, with farmers permanently losing soil in a day that took hundreds, if not thousands, of years to build up, said Ken Coles, executive director of Farming Smarter.
Irrigation expansion not a good idea
Irrigation expansion in the context of a declining supply of water lies on the razor’s edge between optimism and delusion, between audacity and foolishness and between imagination and flimflammery.
Water shortage advisories in Alta.
A cooler spring and below average snowpack have set the stage for slower-than-normal mountain runoff
A cooler than normal spring coupled with a below average mountain snowpack has added to problems across the southern Alberta irrigation network.
Mountain snowpack below average this year
Irrigators in southern Alberta remain confident that water supplies will be adequate for the upcoming growing season
The transition of La Nina to El Nino appears underway, with the expectations of more moisture for the Prairies this season. Mountain snowpacks across the Rockies are variable, with the United States seeing excessive buildups and most northern parts of the mountains at or below average. The latest Water Supply Outlook for Alberta report is […] Read more
