July 26, 2024
Dear Irrigators,
Below is the most recent information regarding our water supply situation:
The Akamina, Flat Top and Many Glacier Snow Pillows are no longer showing a Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) at the elevation of the pillows.
The St. Mary Headworks Reservoirs, made up of the Waterton, St. Mary, and Milk River Ridge reservoirs, are sitting at 429,500 acre-feet or 92% Full Supply Limit (FSL) as of July 24, 2024. SMRID Reservoirs have made minor gains in storage since our last update in June and now contain 220,500 acre-feet of storage, or 69% of our Irrigation FSL.
Based on information provided by Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation (AGI) and projected water usage in the District, allocation will remain at 9-inches.
We anticipate that the combined reservoir storage levels at the end of the 2024 irrigation season will be below average but higher than 2023’s season-ending storage levels.
We expect allocation will remain at 9-inches for the remainder of the 2024 irrigation season. Irrigators are encouraged to factor this into their decisions with respect to fall irrigation, and land preparation.
Please continue to irrigate responsibly as we are still under the Water Sharing Memorandum of Understanding within the South Saskatchewan tributaries sub-basin.
If you are interested in purchasing/selling water allocation from/to another irrigator, please contact the Lethbridge office at 403 328 4401 to add your name our Marketplace https://smrid.com/__marketplace/.
Sincerely,
David Westwood
General Manager
St. Mary River Irrigation District