Clean Water

Issue

Agriculture depends on adequate supply of good quality water for plant and animal production. Safe, reliable water supplies and the accompanying infrastructure are necessary for irrigation, livestock watering and processing operations, as well as domestic and potable uses.

Agriculture also has the capacity to affect water quality and it is in the sector's interests to minimize its impacts on water quality, in order to help ensure that its future needs for good quality water can be met.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, PFRA Activities

AAFC-PFRA applies its expertise in the biological, geological and engineering disciplines to ensure secure supplies of water, good water quality and water infrastructure on the Prairies. Assistance is available for regional initiatives such as ground water exploration and mapping, community water conservation and supply projects, basin studies, water supply pipelines and tank-loader facilities. AAFC-PFRA also provides technical assistance in the planning, investigation and design of water supply projects, including wells, dugouts, springs and water quality enhancement projects.

AAFC-PFRA assists with the development of water supply and water quality improvement projects through the Rural Water Development Program (RWDP), with partners including rural people, provincial and local governments.

In recent years, PFRA has supported efforts to increase water use efficiency in relation to agricultural irrigation and municipal/domestic use. Joint research in the area of irrigated crops and water use efficiencies is carried out at the Manitoba Crop Diversification Centre (MCDC) and the Canada-Saskatchewan Irrigation Diversification Centre (CSIDC).

Water use efficiency has both financial savings and environmental benefits. For example, by improving the efficiency of water use, operational costs for pumping and treating both the water and wastewater will be lowered. In addition, expenditures for expansion or new development of water sources, and water or wastewater treatment infrastructure can be deferred. Water savings from conservation efforts can be re-directed to meet additional agricultural needs. Environmental benefits include leaving more water in natural systems for instream uses and improving the quality of water in those same systems.

AAFC-PFRA's approach to water quality issues focuses on protection, enhancement and treatment of rural water supplies. PFRA's expertise in both land and water management is blended with knowledge of water science to provide a balanced approach to water quality issues across the Prairies. This combination of expertise is vital in developing and delivering the integrated approach required to address agricultural water quality issues.

AAFC-PFRA also works with rural clients and local farm groups to demonstrate and promote best management practices (such as grassing buffer strips around dugouts, grassed waterways, conservation tillage and directing runoff from livestock operations) which reduce sedimentation and contamination of surface and groundwater. Partnerships with a wide variety of clients and agencies, including Sask Water and Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) allow applied research into cost-effective solutions to on-farm and regional water quality issues.

In addition to water quality issues, many regions of rural Prairies suffer chronic water shortages. For example, the Palliser triangle which extends from southern Alberta across southern Saskatchewan to the south-western corner of Manitoba, is the only region of Canada where evaporation exceeds precipitation. Water supplies are stressed during floods and droughts. Visit the Drought Watch site which provides water supply monitoring information, maps and drought-related factsheets.

Related AAFC documents

• Health of our water

Related sites

• Sustaining the environment and resources for Canadians
• Prairie Water News
• Environment Canada Water Page