Cattle producers forced to haul water since early in the summer as lack of rain dries up dugouts across the province
The drought in Alberta has caused multiple rural municipalities to declare agricultural disasters, urban communities to issue water restrictions and warnings from the province about tough times for next season if present conditions continue.
That warning includes irrigation districts that got through the 2023 season by tapping into its robust reservoir system built over the past century for just such years.
Those reservoirs, dotted across southern Alberta, have done the job they were designed to do but could be hard-pressed to repeat the feat if they aren’t refilled over the next six months.
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It’s not only irrigators who require the water. Ranchers and farmers in the heart of Canada’s agricultural production region rely on the South Saskatchewan River basin.
“Hope isn’t a good management plan but that is kind of all we got right now,” said rancher Kent Holowath about the lack of water that has persisted since spring.
The Rumsey, Alta., cow-calf operator said his dugouts have been able to hold out through most of his 31 years at his ranch without the need to haul water except for the dry conditions faced by south-central producers in 2002.
Following that experience, Holowath said they expanded and cleaned out dugouts.
That didn’t stop them from drying out this year as he’s been hauling water almost daily since the beginning of July.
“We had snow cover last winter but when it melted, the ground was so dry, there was no runoff. The snow just melted and the moisture went straight into the ground,” he said.
The current water shortages along Alberta’s rivers and creeks extend from Edmonton to the Montana border and encompasses the North Saskatchewan and Milk River basins.
But of the 41 water shortage advisories in place, it’s those that make up the South Saskatchewan River basin, which includes the Bow, Oldman and St Mary rivers, that pose the biggest threat if conditions don’t improve.
The St. Mary Reservoir, which feeds its namesake irrigation district, was drained, leaving a little more than two percent of its high-water level. The massive Oldman Dam reservoir is down to 27 percent of capacity.
The Eastern Irrigation District’s Lake Newell has also dipped to a third of its full capacity.
The Bow River Irrigation District and Western Irrigation District are going into winter in better shape.
At stake is not only Alberta producers’ ability to access water but also access by those downstream in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
The basis of ensuring each province gets its fair share is made up in the Master Apportionment Agreement (MAA) created in 1969.
That agreement is overseen by a secretariat under the auspices of the Prairie Provinces Water Board (PPWB) with members from all three prairie provinces and the federal government.
“It’s been another year with drought and the South Saskatchewan River basin has been a focal point and one of the driest areas,” said Patrick Cherneski, PPWB secretariat executive director.
The MAA is meant to ensure 50 percent of natural flows from Alberta river basins reach Saskatchewan, with that province expected to send half the water it receives to Manitoba.
As of August, the total stream flow into Saskatchewan was at 58 percent of natural flows.
The amount is on the historically low side and only matched by conditions faced in 1988 and 2001.
“We keep a running total throughout the year and when it’s dry… typically, if the percentage of apportionable flow gets around that 60 percent level, concern increases,” said Cherneski.
That concern translates to increased monitoring, going to monthly rather than quarterly.
This year, that began in July.
“We’re very likely to continue into October,” he said.
So far this year, river levels are trending above the 2001 marks.
“Future conditions will determine how this trend goes. If we get fall recharge moisture, like (what)typically falls, flows will recover,” said Cherneski. “If we don’t and things remain dry and we get an abnormally warm fall and winter with low snowfall, that’s going to continue to negatively impact flows.”
But he stressed the MAA allows for flexibility in times of shortage and it promotes co-operation between provincial jurisdictions and water managers.
“The overall intent (of the MAA) was to maintain equitable apportionment throughout the year and that is why there is a board and there is this ongoing forum for discussion,” said Cherneski.
“In the entire 54 history of the board, there has not yet been a situation yet — low flow or otherwise — the board has not been able to resolve amongst itself.”
But there continues to be serious concerns regarding the ability of the Oldman Dam reservoir to prop up stream flows as it tries to refill while putting out more water than it is taking in.
There are questions over how much longer the trend can continue, said Shannon Frank, executive director of the Oldman Watershed Council.
While the situation at the Oldman Dam reservoir will likely stabilize when the gates shut to Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District’s canals on Oct. 6, “I still haven’t gotten an answer to my question about how long the water will last that’s in there,” said Frank.
She added it’s likely it will be at least spring before the reservoir is functionally empty unless there is significant precipitation and mountain snowpack runoff.
The Municipal District of Pincher Creek is hauling water to feed its treatment plant to provide its residential, commercial customers and other municipalities in the rural district after Oldman Dam reservoir levels fell earlier this summer.
“They are going to have a rough, expensive winter,” she said. “How many more municipalities will run out of water and have to start trucking…. I won’t be surprised if there’s more this winter.”
Alberta is at Stage 4 of its water storage management plan with Stage 5 requiring an emergency declaration under the provincial Water Act.
