MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – When southern Alberta irrigators realized water
was in short supply last year, they followed the moral high ground
rather than the legal track.
Rather than delivering water to those with the oldest dated licence,
irrigation farmers and other users agreed to share equally whatever
limited amount was available.
This year, similar agreements are already in place for those
withdrawing water from the St. Mary’s River system, said Kent Bullock,
manager of the Taber Irrigation District.
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The system supports nine irrigation districts serving 600,000 acres and
two dozen communities.
There are 14 reservoirs in the system supplied by three southern rivers.
Reservoirs are at record low levels and cannot start delivering water
until snowmelt begins to refill them this spring.
The major reservoir, St. Mary’s, is at 10 percent of normal.
A better snowpack and the potential for more snowmelt have raised
farmer hopes, but most have agreed prudent management is the best
policy to ensure a crop.
“The farmers need to get a crop this year to put them in a position to
weather what comes next year,” said Bullock.
These affected districts will provide 230 millimetres of water per acre
and if more is available it will be increased. Last year the districts
offered 200 mm but were able to increase that to 250 following some
timely June rain.
Average summer precipitation for the region is 270 mm between April and
October.
For the last six years precipitation has been lower than average with
the current situation at its worst since 1884.
“If we had one good year we could refill all those reservoirs,” said
Bullock at a meeting of the Alberta division of the Canadian Water
Resources Association.
