MEDICINE HAT — Repairs continue on the canal leading from the Oldman Dam reservoir headworks to the Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District canal, with expectations the system will be operational by spring.
The section of canal has been plagued with problems. In 2022, access to the headworks was restricted due to a dispute between the reservoir’s owner, the Alberta government, and the Piikani Nation. In 2023, repairs failed along the same stretch of canal, resulting in a delayed start to the irrigation season for LNID ratepayers.
LNID board member Peter Bos said work is proceeding along the troubled stretch of canal. Construction is being done by a firm with experience in irrigation infrastructure and repairs are expected to be done in time for the start of the 2024 growing season.
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“It’s going good right now. It looks like it’s close to 60 percent complete and it looks like the target date at the end of March should be met,” said Bos. “We’re getting regular updates from the government, and they’ve been really good at that.”
Additional work will likely be required that will stretch past the March target but that shouldn’t impair water flow by April, said Bos.
He stressed the importance of meeting target dates, given delays in the previous two years.
“When we needed the water, there was no water,” Bos said of 2022 and 2023.
“We’re in feedlot alley. We have a lot of livestock producers that need the water early in the spring. The specialty crops require moisture to germinate for emergence and (while it’s not) very crucial that we (have) big flows at the beginning, we do need the water.”
Last spring was especially challenging when canal flow rates were set to increase but were instead cut in half due to failures in repair work.
“It was devastating,” said Bos of that situation.
While environmental conditions are out of producers’ control, Bos said canal infrastructure repairs are one of the few things that can be controlled, and successful repairs are even more important given forecasts for another dry year.
