Conservation Specialists Concerned About Irrigation Expansion in Southern Alberta – Lethbridge | The Canadian News

On October 13, the Alberta Wilderness Association (AWA) issued a statement of concern regarding the potential environmental impacts of a massive investment in irrigation in southern Alberta.

Last fall it was announced that $ 815 million in funding from the Alberta government, the Infrastructure Bank of Canada and eight irrigation districts will go towards modernizing irrigation infrastructure and increasing water storage capacity throughout southern Alberta.

Its first phase includes the conversion of canals into pipelines, while the second phase involved the expansion of four reservoirs.

“It appeared that the project had not gone through any kind of public consultation or environmental impact assessment period,” AWA conservation specialist Phillip Meintzer told Global News.

“Our concerns were really around whether a stream is flowing, so the water that remains in the waterways for the needs of the ecosystem, (if) was being considered.”

Meintzer said the group is not opposed to the projects as it understands the efficiencies that come with it.

“If we can do an environmental assessment that considers the cumulative impacts of this project as a whole on internal flows, that is our top priority here.”

1:59Alberta hopes to attract investment by financing irrigation projects.

David Westwood, general manager of the St. Mary River Irrigation District, said a total of eight canal-to-pipe conversions within his jurisdiction will be completed next spring.

“All of this takes place on private land.

“There are no requirements to perform any type of environmental impact assessment to do that type of work,” he explained, adding that the expansion of the reservoir will require an environmental impact assessment.

That project has an eight-year timeline. He added that there are also potential benefits to the investment.

“Through these infrastructure projects, we will be able to irrigate more acres with the same amount or less water than we are currently using,” added Westwood.

“Those canals were created by man sometime in the last century, and one of the mandates every time we convert back to a closed pipe, (and) put it underground, is for the landscape to return to its natural state. . state was “.

Global News also reached out to the province for a response to the AWA’s concerns, but was told it could not provide one on Wednesday.