Alberta - In the early 1900s, posters produced by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) were a never-ceasing attraction to passersby of its office in Canon Street, London, that encouraged Home Seekers and Land Seekers to Canada.
 
In 1903, the government of Canada approved a 1.2 million hectare land grant to CP as final compensation for the construction of the railway.
 
And they needed to persuade people to live on those lands and to use its trains to get to them.
 
But the land across the prairies was too dry to produce good crops, so CP began work in 1904 on a large gravity-fed canal network drawing water from the Bow River, starting with the weir in Calgary, and divert it to farms to the east.
 
Water was carried to Reservoir No. 1, better known today as Chestermere Lake, that was filled for the first time in 1905.
 
By 1944, CP decided it no longer wanted to be in the water-distribution business and transferred the system to a group of local farmers.
 
They joined forces to form the Western Irrigation District that in 2019 will celebrate 75 years of delivering water to 38,500 hectares of land.
 
General manager David McAllister says, thanks to irrigation, local farmers can grow a diverse array of crops, allowing irrigation producers to take advantage of a wider range of markets.
 
Armed with his engineering degree and an MBA, McAllister was lured back to Alberta after spending 10 years on Vancouver Island, attracted by the opportunity to manage an environmental organization that has more hectares irrigated with less water now because of the actions the district and its irrigators have taken to save water.
 
Much had been lost over its more than 1,000 kilometres of canals and pipelines so the organization is constantly rehabilitating its water delivery system.
 
Smaller canals are being replaced with PVC pipe to eliminate water loss from evaporation or seepage.
 
Larger canals are cleaned and armoured to reduce siltation and improve water quality.
 
Chairman of the board is Ray Kettenbach, who grew up on the family farm but spent 26 years in corporate communications in the city.
 
All members of the board must be farmers in the irrigation district system.
 
Kettenbach has been a supporter for a number of years and is particularly enthused about its plans to enhance the quality of its water.
 
Much of the storm water from municipalities goes directly into our rivers, allowing all kinds of contaminants from streets, industrial sites, shopping malls and parking lots to flow through into the canals.
 
Passing through hectares of wetlands can clean the water, but a big problem is the rapid growth of invasive as well as noxious weeds.
 
The district is leading a plan to separate storm water from irrigation channels with a parallel system to halt its impact on agriculture.
 
Other rehabilitation, operations, and maintenance projects mean that the district has invested over $100 million in works since 2005.
 
Saving water, putting land to work, and enhancing water quality, are continuing key initiatives for McAllister and his staff of over 30 working out of their Strathmore headquarters.
 
He needs more storage for water to be prepared for shortages and there is a big push to help farmers convert from high-pressure to low-pressure pivots.
 
The district controls an amazing system that helps farmers provide table foods from carrots to watermelons as well as providing water to livestock that also finds its way onto the dinner table.
 
Raw water is supplied to a number of municipalities and to the Balzac area of Rocky View County and also generates revenue from the City of Chestermere for the use of its lake for recreation.
 
David Parker.