Saskatchewan’s food processing sector will never compare to that of its Prairie neighbours unless the province learns to deal with drought, says an economist and author of a 50-year plan for water development.
Graham Parsons, who is also vice-president of international affairs for engineering firm Clifton Associates, said the province has to drought-proof itself by establishing more irrigation and water storage.
He “conservatively” estimated the cost to do that at between $18 and $20 billion in private sector investment.
“If the environment is right, the capital flows will come,” he said. “It’s not such a big amount of money. Every time we (plant) a crop each year … it’s a billion dollar investment.
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“The last six droughts cost $6.7 billion in payments from governments. We’re spending it already.”
Parsons told a conference on drought proofing the economy that major droughts occur about two years per decade, causing $1 billion each in crop loss.
Based on that frequency, Saskatchewan could experience 10 droughts in the next 50 years. If they were all as severe as 2002, when crop losses topped $2.5 billion, they would cost $25 billion at the farmgate.
His plan calls for extensive irrigation, the development of water storage reservoirs and the creation of comprehensive water development corporations, which would operate regionally and include urban processing centres.
He said reliable water supply is key to a food processing industry and processing is a prerequisite for rural employment. But Saskatchewan has been the Rip Van Winkle of water develop-ment, he said.
“We’ve just slept while they’ve developed on either side of us.”
Manitoba has developed its water into energy and food processing, and Alberta has become one of the largest food processing centres in North America.
“We can build that into Saskatchewan,” Parsons said. “We will never have major food processing in Saskatchewan unless we can deal with drought.”
Parsons said federal and provincial governments should provide $300 million over 10 years to help finance projects along with private sector money. He said the financing commitment should be long term so that the plan is sustainable.
Deputy premier Clay Serby said the province is working on an irrigation strategy and would take Parsons’ report into consideration. It will likely be a year before that strategy is unveiled, he said.
Meanwhile, Saskatchewan Agrivision Corp., which hosted the conference, announced that Wayne Clifton of Clifton Associates will chair the newly formed Saskatchewan Water Council. The council will co-ordinate the implementation of the 50-year plan.
