This week, the Municipal District (MD) of Taber council voted in favour of proceeding with a planned irrigation project that would convert six sections of municipal public native grasslands into irrigated cropland, despite previous promises to not convert this grassland.
Alberta Wilderness Association, along with conservation organizations, joined the Municipal District of Taber grazing lessees, Oldman Lease Holders Association, and the Vauxhall Stock Grazing Association in opposing this decision. Alberta’s recent policy shift to develop and expand irrigation in southern Alberta threatens an already heavily devastated grassland ecosystem, as well as the ranchers who rely on this land.
The decision narrowly passed by a vote of 4 to 3. Reasons cited by councillors opposed include the speed of the process and a lack of compliance with the protection of native grassland as stipulated in the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan.
Other options are being explored, including legal action. Should the project proceed, it will be a permanent loss of native grasslands, affecting rancher livelihoods and species at risk.
Background
In the 2000s, after receiving tens of thousands of acres of tax recovery lands from the Government of Alberta, the MD of Taber made assurances that the native grasslands on these lands would not be broken. This was codified in the grazing lease agreement prohibiting conversion, and in the “Prairie Conservation Bylaw.”
In 2020, the Government of Alberta announced a plan to spend $815 million on irrigation, adding another $118 million in 2021. This will expand irrigated agriculture by an estimated 230,000 acres of land. Initially, promises were made that irrigation expansion would not include sections of native grassland, although the expansion of reservoirs is expected to flood native habitats.
In August, AWA learned of an investigation to determine the feasibility of irrigating 6 sections (approximately 15 square kilometres) of native grassland. We joined Alberta Chapter of the Wildlife Society (ACTWS), Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS – Southern Alberta), Nature Alberta, and Southern Alberta Group for the Environment (SAGE) to oppose this decision, which violates promises to maintain the grassland. Letters were written expressing our concerns to Reeve Miyanaga (MD of Taber), the Bow River Irrigation District and Premier Smith.
On September 23, the council of the MD of Taber met to discuss the Bylaw 2022 and the “Scope Reservoir Project Agreement,” an agreement with the Bow River Irrigation District (BRID) that would allow native grassland to be irrigated. Bylaw 2022 will permit the Municipality of Taber to borrow up to $6 million for the project to irrigate 24 sections (62 square kilometres) of environmentally significant native grassland.
AWA and SAGE gave presentations at the council meeting expressing support for continued stewardship by the leaseholders and protection of the native grassland, as well as outlining our concerns about the project and non-compliance with the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan.
Temperate native grasslands are considered one of the most endangered ecosystems worldwide. These grasslands provide many benefits. In addition to habitat for species at risk and services such as carbon sequestration and flood mitigation, native grasslands are important for ranching and agriculture. Ranching is a sustainable use of this land. The native grasslands under consideration for irrigation have been identified as environmentally significant in work done for the MD of Taber.
Alberta has already lost an estimated three-quarters of this ecosystem, and development continues to threaten the remaining sections. In acknowledgement of their importance and vulnerability, the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan (SSRP) encourages the protection of grasslands and includes objectives for sustaining grassland habitat, and for the protection and recovery of species at risk.
In a September 18 letter to the Alberta Wilderness Association, Matthew Wispinski of the Land Use Secretariat indicated that “municipalities are required to ensure their regulatory instruments comply with the SSRP, and continued compliance with the SSRP is an ongoing expectation.”
Conversion to irrigated cropland will result in permanent loss of this precious landscape and its wild species.