Irrigation: Quenching Thirst
Highlighting key AAFC programs and projects
Imagine what agriculture would look like without water. It simply wouldn't work. Sometimes though, nature has a way of not co-operating with agriculture, delaying the arrival of rain, rendering fields dry and making it difficult to grow crops.
This is why irrigation plays a key role in Canadian agriculture. Irrigation happens when dry land is supplied with water via streams, ditches and pipelines. The need for irrigation depends on a number of factors, including economic value of crops, climate conditions, the availability of water sources, and the extent to which infrastructure exists to support irrigation development. Western Canada has the largest area of irrigated farmland in the country - about 800,000 hectares according to a report by the Brace Centre for Water Resource Management at McGill University.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) provides a wide range of support to irrigation farmers across Canada, most directly through both their Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA) and Research Branches. Strong, on-the-ground practical support is provided to farmers in need of irrigation from several national research centres as well as western Canadian centres created through Federal/Provincial/Industry partnerships. The PFRA also has hands-on experience with irrigation, operating five irrigation projects in southwest Saskatchewan, including the dams and canals that provide the water in support of the livestock industry.
The following is a brief overview of some new AAFC - PFRA irrigation initiatives aimed at improving the lives of farmers and making the best use of our limited water resources.
Farmers get friendly with fish
Saving fish and farms in the Bow River
It's all in the timing: Irrigation scheduling on Cape Breton Island
Electro magnetic technology and Irrigation
Multitasking in Manitoba: One pipeline, two purposes
From irrigation to french fries
Farmers get friendly with fish
Floating "Fish Friendly"; Irrigation Intakes on Assiniboine River
near Treherne, Manitoba
It's not always easy being a fish, and irrigation systems haven't made it any easier. But now, the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA), a Branch of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), is developing new, innovative and cost-effective water intake systems for irrigation that also satisfy Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) guidelines and provide producers with environmentally friendly, low maintenance and cheaper ways to withdraw water from surface water sources. The new systems will stop debris from reaching fields and will protect fish and other aquatic life by preventing them from getting caught in the intake system. Intake structures come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and one of the main features of the new structures is their portability. With a floating portable system, producers can install the intake temporarily which saves them time and money and also protects fish habitat. The traditional, fixed structures are large and inconvenient and disturb river life due to their permanent nature.
For more information please see the DFO intake guidelines [PDF format | PDF-Help].
For more information on intake design and operation, please contact PFRA through:
Richard Powley
Phone: 403-292-5642
Email: powleyr@agr.gc.ca
or
Johan Botha
Phone: 204 822-7219
Email: bothaj@agr.gc.ca
Saving fish and farms in the Bow River
Irrigation Pipeline Installation
The life of a fish can sometimes be challenging. So can the life of a farmer. To make life a little easier for both, the Canada Alberta Water Supply Expansion Program (CAWSEP), the Alberta component of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's National Water Supply Expansion Program, has approved a $3.6 million project to build a pipeline to deliver water for irrigation to 32 turnouts for 18 landowners. The pipeline will replace the old canal system, in a move that will benefit producers and also the living creatures in the Bow River. The cost of the project will be divided between CAWSEP, which is investing over $1.2 million and the Bow River Irrigation District which is investing more than $2.4 million. The river's water levels fluctuate due to the diversion of water used for irrigation and this can affect the ecosystem by disrupting the normal flow of water. A canal is less effective than a pipeline because it is an open delivery system and water can be lost as a result of seepage or evaporation, and inability to access surplus flow that accumulates at the end of the canal. This new pipeline is a closed system, and will make water delivery easier and more efficient by using less water, and preventing seepage and evaporation. The water saved will stay in the river protecting fish and other plants and animals. A win-win situation for fish and farm!
A schematics of diversions is available for viewing on the following website, courtesy of the Alberta Irrigation Projects Association [PDF format | PDF-Help].
For more information, please contact
Bruce Shewfelt
Phone: 204 822-7270
Email: shewfeltb@agr.gc.ca
or
Bunny Mah
Phone: 403 292-4972
Email: mahb@agr.gc.ca
It's all in the timing: Irrigation scheduling on Cape Breton Island
Irrigation Tour in September 2005 Near North Sydney on
Cape Breton Island - Producers Discussing Irrigation
Scheduling and Efficiency
The last several years have been dry ones for most of Eastern Nova Scotia, which has led to a high demand for water for farms. To address this concern, the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA), a Branch of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), is working with Boulardarie Water Club on Cape Breton Island to promote irrigation scheduling to improve the use of water in the area. Irrigation scheduling controls the timing and the amount of water that is applied to fields. The program, which started in 2005 and will continue until 2008, promotes the use of scheduling technology for irrigation and has introduced new and specific equipment for watering different crops. The program also aims to meet the crop water requirements while preventing over-application of water which can have harmful effects on the environment and reduce crop yield. The project is looking at three irrigation methods: drip, sprinkler and travelling gun, each one designed for specific crops. Other new technologies such as soil moisture sensors and weather equipment which can measure evapo-transpiration (i.e. crop water demand) directly are also being tested for on-farm utility. The main goal of this project is to promote these technologies with the purpose of reducing costs, building farmer expertise and encouraging the efficient use of water.
For more information, please contact,
Steve Sager
Phone: 204 268-3233
Email: sagers@agr.gc.ca
Electro magnetic technology and irrigation
Em38 Equipment (GPS, Sled, EM38 Receiver)
Electro magnetic (EM) technology is helping farmers develop irrigation projects. This technology is being used to help find out if land is suitable for irrigation, reducing the risk to farmers of developing land that may not be appropriate and saving them time, energy and money. The EM technology has been around for more than 20 years, and is increasingly being employed in combination with irrigation. Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food adapted the EM technology for determining irrigation suitability of soils. In Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA), a Branch of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, has extended this technology providing direct technical assistance to farmers using EM to discover the soil's properties and structure. It assesses the soil's drainage capabilities, its water holding capacity, and can be correlated to chemical properties of the land. Most importantly for western producers, it also indicates the soil's salinity, which is a major concern for them. The technology can also help producers look for a specific type of land, such as clay. EM technology can "see"; down to varying depths to determine the underground geology, thereby minimizing the amount of drilling that producers might have to undertake to confirm soil properties.
For more information, please contact,
Steve Sager
Phone: 204 268-3233
Email: sagers@agr.gc.ca
One pipeline, two purposes: Multitasking in Manitoba
Stainless Steel Pipeline Risers Deliver Hog Manure Safely to
Fields In Manitoba
Manitoba farmers will soon have access to a new, cost-reducing method of irrigating their fields. A new pipeline built to transport liquid hog manure to farmer's fields in the fall, will also be used to deliver water for irrigation to these same fields in the summer, saving farmers money by making use of one pipeline for more than one purpose. This new way to irrigate is a welcome change for farmers as Manitoba is experiencing one of its driest summers, and irrigation has become an important part of watering crops. The pipeline also makes it easier to deliver manure to fields, as the traditional method is to transport by tank or truck and then drizzle or inject it onto the field. This experiment may pave the way for the creation of more systems serving multiple purposes on the farm.
For more information, please see these various websites:
Pipeline Design specifications are available through the National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) in the USA. The code is 634 titled Manure Transfer and 430 DD - High Pressure Underground Plastic Pipeline [PDF format | PDF-Help]
Stainless steel fittings, recommended for manure pipelines, are available through Hydro-Engineering in Minnesota
Irrigation pipeline design in Manitoba is typically based on the pipeline design standard Uni-tr-6-97 - PVC Force Main Design [PDF format | PDF-Help]. This is a lower standard than required for manure.
For more information on manure/water pipelines, please contact:
Bruce Shewfelt
Phone:204-822-7270
Email: shewfelb@agr.gc.ca
From irrigation to french fries
Typical Spring Runoff in Manitoba - Capturing Water in Off Stream
Reservoirs to Irrigate Potatoes in the Summer Months
Ever heard of designer french fries? Sounds like something fit for Hollywood stars, but in fact they are the regular fries we purchase at fast-food restaurants and in the frozen food aisle of the supermarket. What gives these fries the designer label is their look: perfectly cut, straight, golden and symmetric. So what do these perfect fries have to do with irrigation? Well, irrigation helps create them. To produce these fries, a certain size and quality of potato is required by processors. During dry periods, potatoes don't get as big, or have the quality characteristics to meet these standards. By irrigating the crop, potatoes grow the right shape, size and quality and the designer fries can be made. Potatoes are a huge industry in Manitoba with three french fry processing plants located in the province and about 80,000 acres of land dedicated to potato farming, 75 percent of which is irrigated. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's National Water Supply Expansion Program is conducting studies to help growers design sustainable irrigation systems to ensure crops like potatoes continue to meet industry standards. The CMCDC (Canada-Manitoba Crop Diversification Centre - one of the centres in western Canada formed by joint Federal / Provincial / Industry partnerships) is also working on agronomic packages to optimize production of process quality potatoes.
For more information, please contact
Bruce Shewfelt
Phone: 204 822-7270
Email: shewfeltb@agr.gc.ca