Proponents say the projects that have already been completed made a significant difference to irrigators this past year
It’s full bore ahead for the nearly $1 billion Alberta Irrigation Modernization program launched more than two years ago that will see hundreds of kilometres of open canals converted to underground pipes, improved infrastructure and expanded reservoir capacity.
Richard Phillips, chair of Irrigating Alberta, a consortium of 10 irrigation districts set up to manage the financial aspects of the modernization program, said most of the work is expected to be complete by the 2028 deadline.
“We’re not going quite as quickly as we hoped to collectively just based on pipe supply. That’s forcing some of us to slow down slightly compared to what we had ideally hoped to do,” said Phillips.
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The issue of pipe supply will likely only affect two conversion projects that might require an additional season past 2028 to complete.
The already completed projects are demonstrating the value of the modernization program, said Phillips, as southern Alberta deals with the worst hydrological drought on the area’s rivers since 2001.
“We saw the real difference this year with pipelines that have gone in and reducing spill on what used to be open canals,” said Phillips.
The 2023 season demonstrated the value of Alberta’s irrigation network as Phillips highlighted that despite having the worst conditions in more than 20 years, farmers still harvested good crops.
“Coming out of this year, collectively the districts are in better shape as a whole than we were coming out of 2001,” he said. “We had more water available this year. Reservoirs were drawn down pretty hard in some districts — not all but some districts — which was hard for some districts but that’s what they are there for, to use in a dry year.”
This fall has seen the Eastern Irrigation District able to reach or come close to reaching its reservoir winter levels while the Bow River Irrigation District’s reservoirs are in fair shape heading into the off season.
Issues continue to persist at the Oldman Reservoir, which feeds the Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District. It is slightly above 25 percent capacity and the St. Mary River Irrigation District’s reservoirs are also experiencing lower than normal winter levels.
All the more reason why the modernization program is necessary as irrigation districts continue to find efficiencies in water use, said Phillips.
“The efficiencies that we’ve gained from pipelines over the years are why we did better this year than in 2001, plain and simple,” he said. “If you look at BRID as an example, 2001 we were irrigating 80,000 acres less than we did this year and yet we used less water this year. That is the perfect example of what these modernization projects do. They save so much water.”
But two major projects on the Bow River, outside of the modernization program, have the potential to improve water management and availability for irrigators, drought and flood mitigation, as well as hydroelectric power production.
The results of a feasibility study on a new reservoir upstream from Calgary is scheduled to be complete by the end of this year.
That study is considering three options: a new reservoir on the Stoney Nakoda reserve upstream of Cochrane, a new reservoir between Cochrane and Calgary, and a relocated Ghost Dam.
As well, another study just launched is looking at the Eyremore Dam project, which is being proposed for midway between Bassano, Alta., and the forks of the Bow and Oldman rivers.
Phillips said the Bow reservoir “will be desperately needed in the future.”
He said future projects that could prove valuable include developments to increase intakes that better capture early season mountain snowpack runoff from rivers, and improvements to the ability to move water from the Waterton River to the St. Mary Reservoir.
