MOOSE JAW, Sask. — Saskatchewan irrigators are proposing a new corporation to spearhead development over the next 20 years.
Roger Pederson, president of the Saskatchewan Irrigation Projects Association, said a new public-private corporation would need $25 million over five years to produce studies and designs, and secure investment for the work that needs to be done.
“The long-term nature of irrigation development means that the short-term ad hoc programs that have been provided by governments in the past in Saskatchewan have not been an effective framework for development,” says the proposal released at the recent SIPA annual meeting. “Longer term institutions and arrangements will be required.”
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The Saskatchewan Irrigation Development Corp. could be that vehicle, Pederson said.
The SIDC grew out of studies done in 2008. A Time to Irrigate identified the need for a framework to expand irrigation development. Alberta has a far more extensive irrigation system from a much smaller water supply than Saskatchewan has in Lake Diefenbaker.
“We really haven’t seen the massive irrigation development, the utilization of our water and our soils, to the potential that was envisioned with the construction of the Gardiner Dam and the establishment of Lake Diefenbaker,” Pederson said. “We have the potential to equal or surpass Alberta in our irrigated agriculture in the province and we certainly need to really address that seriously.”
About 300,000 acres are currently irrigated.
Estimates suggest Saskatchewan could develop 385,000 acres in the next 15 years, and another 1.8 million acres beyond that.
This would require investment of at least $3 billion over 40 years.
The SIDC proposal notes that Saskatchewan has suffered from an inconsistent and unstable framework for development. The responsibility for irrigation often shifts from one ministry to another or to crown corporations.
“Irrigation districts remain small and have extremely limited capacities to develop their own small acreages let alone plan for a transformation of the regional economy,” the proposal said.
Pederson said SIPA does not have the resources to lead an expansion process but its members were willing to work on the proposal for how that could be done.
The plan sets out a forecasted five-year budget, with about five percent of the annual cost allocated to administration and the remainder used for studies and design.
The SIDC would be financed by SIPA, federal and provincial grants, and private sector contributions.
Pederson said the corporation could be set up quickly if governments give their approval.
John Linsley, manager of irrigation services at Saskatchewan agriculture, said officials are evaluating the idea.
“The proposal’s fairly new to us,” he told reporters. “At this point we’re taking a serious look at it.”
