Western Irrigation District Memories: Wes Sproule

By John Godsman Times Contributor

Wes’s maternal grandparents originated in the Crimea and emigrated to Canada in the 1920s. They travelled across Europe to England, then by sea to Halifax, then by train to Saskatchewan where they acquired land from the CPR.
On his father’s side, Wes’s grandparents emigrated to Canada in 1928 from Ireland, spending their first winter in Calgary, before acquiring a farm south of Chancellor in the spring of 1929. Wes’s father Winston, born in 1939, was the sixth of seven brothers.
Following the severe winter of 1948, the family moved to Bowness in Calgary, where Winston first completed public school and then attended Berean Bible College. Winston met his first wife Vera at college, and after their marriage on April 8, 1961 they moved to the Yukon as missionaries for four years. Regretfully, Vera passed away from cancer in 2007.
Wes was born in 1962 at the Indian Clinic in Watson Lake. He attended school at Wetaskiwin through Grade 7, and other schools in central Alberta before graduating from Drumheller High School. He was an instructor at the Alberta Hunter Education School (AHEIA) for two years where he instructed youths aged 12-17, in trapping, hunting safety and other wilderness activities.
After working for Riverside Packers in Drumheller for four years, Wes answered an advertisement for employment with the Western Irrigation District (WID). At this time in the late ’80s, WID was having problems with wildlife damage to the canals and Wes’s experience in wildlife control was beneficial after his hiring as a ditch rider. Wes has served as the ditch rider for the Rockyford area for over three decades, serving as the first contact for water users and ensuring water is delivered in a practical and timely manner.
In Wes’s early days as a ditch rider, he was equipped with a two-way radio so that the office could relay water orders to him in the field. These systems were not without their quirks, as the message could often change as it passed from farmer to office to ditch rider. Additionally, the systems were installed in the truck and if not turned off at the end of each day, could awaken people due to late night calls that were received in water season.
Wes sees great opportunities in the expansion of irrigation, particularly as land prices increase. The increased production from adding irrigation to existing land that a farmer already owns or leases compared to the cost of acquiring more land makes this an attractive option in many cases.