Canada Research Chair in Water Resources says mountain runoff in the future may come too soon for adequate capture
MEDICINE HAT — It will be increasingly difficult to predict conditions on southern Alberta rivers, according to John Pomeroy, and the University of Saskatchewan professor is confident that there will be changes to mountain runoff in coming years. Pomeroy, who also holds the title of Canada Research Chair in Water Resources and Climate Change, said […] Read moreTag Archives soil moisture

El Nino does strange things with prairie winter weather this year
WINNIPEG — The weather in December, as many Canadians noticed, was abnormal. As an example from the Prairies, the average daily high in Saskatoon was 0.5 C for the first three weeks of the month. That’s eight degrees warmer than the normal daily high for the month of December. Barrie Bonsal, a research scientist and […] Read more

Irrigators plan for a dry year if conditions hold
Crop types that require less water can reduce growers’ exposure to below normal precipitation and runoff
Soil moisture and precipitation in Alberta are far from ideal for field crops and even irrigated land had challenges in the last growing season — a situation that had many producers talking options during the Ag Connections conference in Medicine Hat in November. “This is the first year that we’ve ever talked about water shutoffs […] Read more
Soil-moisture management in dry times
Soil cores can be used to see if a field has enough moisture reserves to carry a crop, or if fertilizer rates should be cut
Prairie farmers who dealt with drought during the summer are now facing a soil moisture deficit in several areas as they cross their fingers for snowfall needed to help launch next spring’s growing season. Although precipitation this fall boosted soil moisture in some areas, “there’s definitely these pockets that have been extremely dry,” said Phillip […] Read more