Regina city councillor voices concerns about Lake Diefenbaker irrigation

As the provincial government looks to push ahead with the plan to create widespread irrigation for agriculture with Lake Diefenbaker, some community leaders are worried about the province’s drinking water into the future.

Regina city councillor Cheryl Stadnichuk brought up her concerns at the bear pit session with provincial cabinet ministers Wednesday on the last day of the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) convention.

The drinking water for about 60 per cent of the province comes from Lake Diefenbaker and the southern Saskatchewan river system, including those flowing into Buffalo Pound for Regina and Moose Jaw.

Stadnichuk has been hearing the concerns out of Alberta, where much of Saskatchewan’s water comes from, about drought and retreating glaciers.

“So, do we want to have a project that is pulling water out of Lake Diefenbaker?” she asked.

There are also concerns about drought and reservoirs that won’t fill up in Saskatchewan.

The councillor said she’d brought up her concerns to officials from the Water Security Agency (WSA) earlier in the convention and they told her that one metre of water in the lake is enough to supply water to 300,000 people for 18 years.

“But that’s based on now, that’s based on current levels, and what I’m more worried about is, have they done any climate change modelling? Have they looked at what’s happening with the glaciers and expected water flow?” said Stadnichuk.

She wants to know if those things are being looked at and planned for in the future to make sure there’s a good supply of drinking water for the province.

David Marit, Saskatchewan’s minister of agriculture, is the one who took her question during the bear pit session. He seemed to dismiss her concerns, reassuring her that the WSA has done a lot of work on that and saying Lake Diefenbaker has more water in it than all the reservoirs in Alberta combined.

“We are obviously watching our reservoir levels and I’m very confident that the work that the Water Security Agency folks have done in maintaining the communities that are utilizing that water and need that water will definitely have water for the long-term future,” said Marit.

Stadnichuk said that answer wasn’t enough for her and she wants more than an environmental impact study.

“It’s not just about environmental impact, we need climate scientists who have been monitoring the glaciers to be involved in some kind of independent study,” she explained.

Stadnichuk plans to continue pushing the issue, saying others had already raised it at other events and assemblies.

SUMA president Randy Goulden said she has heard concerns about the project from members as well.

“We would encourage our provincial government to work with SUMA and work with those communities to determine what the need is and what the feasibility of all this is and how much water can be used in the future and how best to use it,” said Goulden.

She said she looks forward to working with the provincial government on needs assessments for future use.

Saskatchewan gave the OK to the $4-billion project in 2020, which at the time was to be worked on in partnership with the federal government.

This winter the province announced it would be going ahead with at least one portion of the project.