. Agri-news. Agriculture. CO CO CO CO 00 CO c May 31,1993 Irrigation development increasing in central and northern Alberta Dry conditions and increasing crop diversification have increased irrigation development in central and northern Alberta says an Alberta Agriculture specialist. 'Those two factors have also brought a trend of two different types of development," says Dennis Roll, regional irrigationist in Airdrie. One type of irrigation is for small market garden, fruit growing and tree nursery operations. 'Typically, they use the water conservation technique of trickle irrigation wi
. Agri-news. Agriculture. CO CO CO CO 00 CO c May 31,1993 Irrigation development increasing in central and northern Alberta Dry conditions and increasing crop diversification have increased irrigation development in central and northern Alberta says an Alberta Agriculture specialist. 'Those two factors have also brought a trend of two different types of development," says Dennis Roll, regional irrigationist in Airdrie. One type of irrigation is for small market garden, fruit growing and tree nursery operations. 'Typically, they use the water conservation technique of trickle irrigation with water supplied from dugouts or small reservoirs. The dugouts are filled from spring snowmelt run-off and seasonal precipitation," he notes. This type of irrigation system has been particularly popular in the Peace and northwest regions he adds. The other type of development is wheel roll and centre pivot sprinkler systems using a river as the water source. "Most current sprinkler development is taking place in the northwest, northeast and north central regions. The North Saskatchewan and the Red Deer rivers are the major water sources," Roll says. This irrigation method is used on a variety of crops including seed potatoes for export, commercial vegetables, turfgrass and forages in the northwest and northeast. Forages are the most commonly irrigated crop in north central Alberta. Both sprinkler and backflood irrigation are used. "Besides the specific needs of special crops, dry conditions for the past several years have placed increased demands on existing soil and water resources," adds Roll. All of these irrigation developments, unlike the irrigation districts in southern Alberta, are private projects he says. This means the development costs are paid by the individual producer. Costs include determining soil suitability for irrigation, equipment installation and operating costs. "As well, the priority on conservation has increased the individ
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