SAGE Submission to Municipal District of Taber

I appreciate the opportunity to address you today on the proposed conversion of 24 quarter sections of native grassland to irrigated cropland on public lands within the MD of Taber. My comments are relevant to Agenda Item 9.1 Scope Reservoir Joint Project – Bow River Irrigation District and Municipal District of Taber. Also relevant is Agenda Item 11.1 Grazing Lands Policy and associated Grazing Land Leases.

I am here as a member of the Board of the Southern Alberta Environmental Group based in Lethbridge who since 1986 has been a leading voice for a healthy and environmentally sustainable community.

We recognize that native grasslands are valued by Albertans as habitat for a broad diversity of plants and animals, including over two dozen species at risk. Southern Albertans benefit greatly from the ecological goods and services native grasslands provide such as water storage, carbon storage, erosion control, pollination and pest control. Native grasslands support ranchers in sustainable livestock production. Conversion of native grassland for expansion of irrigated cropland would compromise these invaluable and irretrievable assets.

Since 2021 SAGE has engaged with other environmental organizations active in southern Alberta to understand the potential environmental impacts of proposed major irrigation expansion within the South Saskatchewan River Basin. In May 2024, together with the Alberta Wilderness Association, southern Alberta Chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Alberta Chapter of the Wildlife Society and Nature Alberta, we submitted a brief to the Ministers of Environment, Agriculture and Irrigation, Forestry and Parks and Municipal Affairs to suggest improvements in government policy and legislation towards a more integrated approach to managing land-use pressure on native grasslands and biodiversity from irrigation agriculture expansion.

In response the Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation on behalf of his Cabinet colleagues stated “The South Saskatchewan Regional Plan (SSRP) commits to numerous strategies to support biodiversity and ecosystem function, including long-term planning around the management and conservation of grasslands. Each irrigation district in Alberta must act in accordance with this and any other applicable Alberta Land Stewardship Act regional plan.” This also applies to municipalities.

Minister Sigurdson went on to say “The SSRP sets out guidelines to protect species at risk and maintain intact native grasslands on public lands. Decision makers are required to consider these guidelines. Further, strict guidelines for land exchange are also in place to minimize the conversion of native grasslands – conversion may take place only in specific circumstances and only as long as an equivalent intact grasslands area is available for exchange.”

In proposing changes to the MDs Grazing Lease Policy and the Scope Reservoir Joint Project, MD of Taber and BRID violate the spirit and intent, if not the legal obligations, of the Alberta Land Stewardship Act (ALSA) and the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan 2014-24: amended May 2018 (SSRP).

• Despite rumours to the contrary, these are native grasslands with habitat for sensitive wildlife species on public lands – municipal public lands. This parcel of municipal public land is surrounded by provincial public land also with native grassland and mapped as such in the SSRP (Appendix G, Map 13).
• Breaking native prairie along with associated irrigation infrastructure (roads, pivots, pumps, pipelines) will lead to land fragmentation inconsistent with the SSRP’s strategic direction to limit fragmentation, avoid conversion and maintain intact native grasslands on public land (SSRP Section 3.7 and 8.20).
• Changes to the MD’s Grazing Lease Policy and lease agreement that enable termination of a lease with 30 days of notice to facilitate sale of the lands or to grant a lease to a third party for an alternative use would allow permanent conversion of municipal public native rangelands without environmental assessment. This direction does not align with strategic direction of the SSRP to conserve native grasslands and species at risk with managed livestock grazing the primary approach (SSRP Section 3.2, 3.7, 3.8, 3.14, and 8.19).

On August 25, 2025 SAGE and four provincial conservation organizations issued a media release alerting Albertans to the bad precedent that would be set by MD Taber reversing course on grassland protection. We request the MD Taber Council re-confirm their commitment to comply with the SSRP and ensure the integrity of the regional planning framework is upheld with respect to conserving native grasslands and biodiversity. We urge the MD to shelve plans for converting environmentally significant grasslands to irrigation through the Scope Reservoir Joint Project and re-evaluate proposed changes to the MD’s Grazing Lease Policy and agreements. We suggest alternative options such as conservation easement agreements be considered to prevent breaking of municipal public land while providing some additional income.

Thank you for listening to me. I appreciate your serious consideration of these matters.