WID receives funding for canal rehabilitation

By Sean Feagan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Western Irrigation District (WID) is receiving new funding from the provincial government to make water delivery to producers more efficient.

On Aug. 13, the government of Alberta announced in a press release that the Irrigation Rehabilitation Program (IRP) will provide $10 million in funding to irrigation districts throughout the province for infrastructure improvements. The WID will receive $934,854, according to the release.

The funding will be used to rehabilitate about two kilometres in the WID Glenrose canal system, located near Rockyford, said WID general manager David McAllister, who added the project will help ensure long-term security and sustainability of the irrigation system.

The work will also spur the expansion of private irrigation in the area.

“It really triggers producers to invest in their own infrastructure for the long-term; they’re adding irrigation and investing in new systems,” said McAllister.

Given this tendency, WID has found that investment in irrigation results in a three-to-one benefit to the local economy, he said.

Investing in irrigation ensures that producers can irrigate more land, more efficiently, said Devin Dreeshen, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, in the release. “Irrigation provides a huge economic potential and every dollar that’s invested in irrigation results in economic returns.”