NEWS FILE PHOTO Alberta irrigators are posing major new reservoir projects as having potential economic boost in southern Alberta, the News has learned.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
Irrigation districts in southern Alberta are putting plans for new reservoirs front and centre as the province seeks out new capital projects to bolster the economy and obtain long-term economic growth, the News has learned.
That includes recommendation for a huge new reservoir near the Bassano Dam among 12 other projects that could expand irrigated acres while helping to mitigate floods, according to a report from the Alberta Irrigation Districts Association.
On Monday, Finance Minister Travis Toews told a meeting in Medicine Hat that his government would evaluate and add construction spending as a way to offset the effects of global economic downturn.
Attendees quickly pointed to the potential of twinning Highway 3 between Medicine Hat, Lethbridge and the Crowsnest pass as a way to bolster burgeoning agriculture sector.
On Tuesday, the Eastern Irrigation District included the proposed “Eyremore Reservoir” in official literature at its annual general meeting in Brooks. That project, which would add 300,000 acre-feet of water available to the EID in an on-stream reservoir near Lake Newell, could cost up to $1 billion to construct. It’s the largest of the storage projects.
“Eyremore we feel is a very good one for a lot of reasons,” said EID general manager Ivan Friesen.
“It helps us, the irrigator. It would help with flood mitigation for the City of Medicine Hat, and help with (water) apportionment on the whole South Saskatchewan. There are tremendous benefits for all of southern Alberta – irrigation and communities.”
“There are a number of good projects.”
That number includes reservoirs upstream of Calgary and on the bow and old man systems that the province is also studying through the lens of flood control around Calgary. The AIDA report evaluation is weighted toward direct and indirect benefits to their member districts.
Toews didn’t address irrigation directly on Monday, but took several questions from the audience about the potential for bolstering agricultural output with capital spending.
Toews said he has charged all cabinet ministers to review potential projects in their portfolios and submit projects they see as bolstering long-term economic activity.
He specifically mentioned Transport Minister Ric McIver, whose office oversees roads, but also water projects, and Agriculture Minister Devin Dreeshan, who is launching a value-added industry attraction program this winter.
“I believe in agriculture and the future of the industry, but it’s not going to grow without some real intentional work,” he said.
Gary Franz, chair of the St. Mary’s Irrigation District, attended Toews speech and supports both Highway 3 upgrades and irrigation projects.
“Any industry that comes to southern Alberta comes because of water security,” he told the News, saying irrigation districts don’t have the capacity to meet all members allocation in any given year.
Boosting storage and insuring water availability would give processors certainty that their contracted specialty crop acres could be productive even in dry years.
The “Eyremore Reservoir” was first proposed decades ago to add storage and hydro-electric potential, and was studied by the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Agency in the 1970s.
An updated proposal placed highest in an evaluation of a dozen potential projects by the AIDA that was presented to Dreeshan this past summer after it was touched upon in the 2018 EID annual meeting.
“The EID will continue to examine possibilities, inform stakeholders and government of the benefits, and plan for any storage opportunity that arises,” states this year’s official report.
Following the 2013 floods in southern Alberta, there was a general call to begin examining ways to both prevent flooding and lessen the effects of longer-term drought as part of a two-pronged water security strategy.
The province as well supported the concept that capturing more runoff during spring would lead to greater and more stable water supply in dry years, while in flood situations, levels could be adjusted to lessen the severity of floods downstream.
