Western Irrigation District Memories – Gordon and Darlene Koester

By John Godsman Times Contributor

The Koester family originated in Germany, moving first to Iowa where the family started farming.
In 1928, Gordon’s grandparents, Joseph and Mary (Praeker) Koester, left Iowa and moved to the Rockyford area, where they purchased land and established their farm. When the dirty ’30s came, they planted a huge garden to make ends meet.
Gordon’s father, Joe Jr., served during the Second World War, and on returning home in 1946 worked for his brother Herman on the Andy Strang place, near Redland. After grandfather Joe passed in 1948, Joe Jr. returned to the family farm at Rockyford and worked with his brother Dick. In 1949, Joe Jr. married Tillie Weisberger, born in Schuler, Alta. and they had eight children. Their fourth child was Gordon, born in 1954, who attended school at St Rita’s in Rockyford before graduating from Strathmore High School.
Gordon married Darlene Newton in 1976. Her parents were Bud and Olga Newton from Strathmore. Gordon and Darlene have four children, and now have 10 grandchildren. Darlene was born in Strathmore and remembers swimming in the Western Irrigation District (WID) canal, at first bend. She has a fond memory of the garden plots rented and irrigated by WID to townspeople.
The first irrigator would have been Gordon’s Dad, Joe Jr., in 1950. C canal passed to the north, and a ditch was dug to provide water by gravity, for flood irrigation. This method only irrigated a maximum of 40 acres at a time. In the 1970s they changed to hand moves. As previously discussed, these were very labour intensive, and the four children in the family would walk 40 feet apart, carrying two 20-foot pipes for 60 feet, before reconnecting. Pipe sizes started at six inches, then reduced to five inches, then to four inches. It was all aluminum pipe half a mile long and would irrigate a quarter section at a time.
Gordon’s first memories were walking around with a spade and a tarp, digging ditches, then placing the tarp across the ditch at appropriate locations to form a dam for flood irrigation. In 1976 they purchased their first pivot which is still in use today. In the 1980s, they bought two new pivots, and with the wheel moves, are able to provide sufficient irrigation. They took advantage of elevation changes by burying the pipeline to provide pressured water to irrigate with.
The future of irrigation will see the canals, where possible, replaced with pipelines, which will eliminate seepage, evaporation and waste, and be more efficient.