Water, Water, Everywhere

I had mentioned in a previous post that our irrigator hadn't had to be turned on due to the rain we've had, but I thought I would talk about the importance of irrigation. First of all for those of you who don't know, irrigation is the application of water to land or soil through sprinklers. The water for irrigation may come from groundwater sources, surface water such as rivers and canals, and even treated waste water. There are a few different types of irrigators.



 

Here is a center pivot. The sprinkler
rotates around a pivot. They are run
by electric motors and may have a
GPS system.



This is a lateral move irrigator, which
is propelled on a number of wheels
that let's it move around to reach the
entire crop.



The flood system simply lets water
move across the crop in turn flooding
it. This is the oldest form of irrigation.



 Basically, farmers and ranchers use irrigation to assist in the growth of their crops and has always been used when there isn't enough rain to do the job. Only 5% of Alberta's farmed land is irrigated, but it produces almost 20% of the gross provincial agricultural production! Irrigation is so important to agriculture production in Alberta. Not only that, but irrigation provides water support for over 80,000 acres of wetland habitat. These wetlands provide habitat for an incredible amount of wildlife in the province.

There are 13 different irrigation districts in Southern Alberta. My family is in the Western Irrigation District, also known as the WID.

The WID, which began in 1944, (taking over from the Canadian Pacific Railroad who started irrigation in 1894) provides irrigation water to more than 400 farms and 96,00 acres of land. They also supply municipal water to over 12,000 people in four different communities.



Ducks on the canal, just a few of the many animals who
benefit from irrigation

 In 1929 my great grandfather purchased our ranch and promptly obtained irrigation rights, as he planned to use the ranch for summer pasture, grow a huge vegetable garden, orchard, tree lots and hay. One year thanks to flood irrigation, he even grew rice!

My family, including many others, have permanent water rights, which allows us to use water for crops and livestock. Others may just have stock watering rights, which is used for watering of livestock. The water is turned on May 1st and shut off October 1st. Water users pay yearly based on how many acres you irrigate.

Irrigation has helped many agriculture producers out in tough times, when rain shortages greatly affected the growth of their crops. I don't know what we would do without this great resource. In the summer months, there are many nights I go to sleep listening to the loud irrigator. Some may find the loud noise annoying, but to me, it is a comfort knowing that the water is there and that irrigation is sustaining us.




The "C" irrigation canal runs through our pastures
and is diverted to our hay fields.