MORE CROP PER DROP.Distribution and water efficiencies
allow for more acres to be irrigated
BY RIC SWIHART
AF CONTRIBUTOR |LETHBRIDGE
The St. Mary River Irrigation District is getting bigger.
By a three-to-one vote, SMRID ratepayers have approved a 35,000-acre expansion of the district’s irrigated land base. Four voting meetings were held and 350 people cast a ballot – with 259 ratepayers in favour and 91 opposed.
“The plebiscite turnout was very good, especially compared to the producer response to the annual meetings,” said district manager Tom Crooks. “The vote result was a solid vote of confidence for the decision to expand.”
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SMRID, Canada’s largest irrigation district, will now have 412,000 acres available for producers. Crooks said the new acres will be divided in four segments, and allocated according to the district’s ability to deliver the water and the water needs of producers who apply for extra or new acres. Crooks said acreage was capped at 377,000 about 20 years ago but significant improvements in district water conveyance and on-farm irrigation have improved water-use efficiency and that trend is expected to continue. That water-saving effort will exceed the extra water needed to support the increased irrigable land in the district, said Crooks.
“Those efficiencies will also mitigate the risk of water shortage in times of severe drought,” he said.
A key to the expanded acreage, keeping within the district’s water licence allocation, is the potential new development within the district that stretches from near the Milk River Ridge Reservoir near Raymond to the Medicine Hat area. At the same time, the district will expand its annual revenue base at very little cost to the district. Crooks said revenue from the additional acres will enhance the district’s financial reserve. That fund will be used partly to stabilize the annual water rates charged to farmers, and also to maintain the district and contribute to irrigation rehabilitation. With more money, rehabilitation work may be accelerated.
“The window of opportunity to expand, as provided in current legislation, is now,” said Crooks. “We can’t guarantee it will remain that way into the future.”
Crooks said the expansion will also be positive for Irrican Power, a company created for the St. Mary River, Raymond and Taber irrigation districts to generate electricity at three sites along the St. Mary River Project. On-farm water-use efficiencies have decreased water demand, decreasing power production and revenues for Irrican Power. But the expansion will result in increased flows in the canals, boosting power production and revenues.
