(CHAT News file photo)

By Brendan Miller

Water use restriction issued for County of Newell

Jun 27, 2023 | 4:39 PM

BROOKS, AB – Low water flow in the Bow River has forced the Eastern Irrigation District (EID) to issue a water use restriction for the County of Newell.

The EID says they have seen a dramatic drop in average river flow levels in both the Bow River and Highwood River this year.

In a typical year flow in the Bow River starts to drop off by the middle and end of July. This year the EID says the Bow River dropped by the beginning of June.

“So quite a dramatic difference in what we would be used to,” says Ivan Friesen, General Manager of the EID.

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“So we did make the decision to cut allocations to our water users,” adds Friesen.

The county has also received less than average rainfall and snowpack from the mountains this year.

According to Environment Canada, Brooks has only seen 16 millimeters of precipitation this month or roughly four times less than average.

That means residents in the county have been asked to cut back on their water usage when washing their vehicles and watering their lawns.

“We are not looking to dry up trees or kill trees, generational trees or gardens but where we can, maybe not irrigate the lawn as often,” explains Friesen.

Municipalities under the water usage restriction include Brooks, Bassano, Duchess, Rosemary, Rolling Hills, Tilly and Patricia.

Local producers are being significantly impacted by these water restrictions.

The EID says during a dry year the district is able to provide the farm gate with 16 inches of water per square acre but this year they are only able to provide 13 inches of water per square acre currently.

“Our producers need to make decisions quickly as to what they want to do so now they are required to make decisions about ‘which crops do I short irrigation on so I can apply it to other crops that may require more than 12 inches?’ So they have to make some of these tough decisions,” says Friesen.

The EID says they are confident they will be able to supply producers with at least 12 inches of water per square acre despite how dry conditions remain this year.

The EID says they plan to raise water restriction levels if the region experiences significant rainfall.