Two irrigation districts in southern Alberta are increasing the region’s irrigation capabilities by 50,000 acres.
The St. Mary River Irrigation District (SMRID) will add 40,000 acres, bringing its total to 412,000 acres under irrigation. The much smaller Taber Irrigation District (TID) will add 10,000 acres, bringing its total to 92,200.
“I think it’s a positive move for St. Mary’s and I think it’s a win-win situation for the farmers, and I truly hope that they’ll be able to take advantage of it and be able to increase their farms and their sizes and crops,” said SMRID general manager Tom Crooks.
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Farmers will pay a one-time fee of $1,800 per acre for the expanded acreage in the SMRID, plus water rates of $20 per acre per year.
In the TID, the one-time fee is $1,000 per acre plus annual per acre fees.
Increased acreage, once fully allocated, will generate $10 million for the TID and $72 million for the SMRID. The money goes back to the respective districts.
“That money is staying in St. Mary’s,” said Crooks.
“We’re putting that into reserves and the interest from the reserves will help stabilize water rates and then it will help … our ability to do maintenance on the system.”
He said the expansion will take place over five years.
“We are not in a hurry to sign these acres. This is a slow expansion.”
Increased water use efficiency has made the new acres possible.
Roger Hohm, head of Alberta’s irrigation secretariat, said expansion is allowed if districts have increased efficiency to the point where no additional water needs to be drawn from the system and if producers agree to it through a plebiscite.
“Most of this efficiency gain has really been on the backs of the producers themselves, by investing in these high efficiency irrigation systems,” said Hohm.
As well, most irrigation districts have rehabilitated canals and replaced some with pipelines, which wastes less water.
Crooks said that is the case in the SMRID.
“There’s not any more water being used. It’s just the efficiencies that the district has gained over the last number of years.”
Hohm said irrigation districts consider the risk of insufficient water before suggesting expansion. Recent years aside, Alberta’s south more often suffers from conditions that are too dry rather than too wet.
Environmental groups often object to irrigation expansion, believing water gained through agricultural efficiencies should be returned to the river system. However, no objections of that nature were raised at either the TID or SMRID meetings, said Crooks.
Added Hohm: “As long as there continues to be efficiency gains after the expansion, the long-term impact on the rivers should keep them in the same position as they are today. That’s the districts’ perspective.”
This is not the first time irrigation districts have expanded in recent years. The Bow River Irrigation District that surrounds Vauxhall has expanded in the past and is considering another expansion, according to a recent newsletter.
The Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District approved a gradual expansion in 2010 of 50,000 acres, at $1,250 per acre.
Hohm said the Leavitt Irrigation District based in Cardston is also considering expansion, as is the Western Irrigation District based in Strathmore.
