New study finds irrigation contributes $5.4 billion annually to Alberta GDP
LETHBRIDGE, AB. — It`s information that is certainly not lost on Southern Alberta farmers, who have a first hand understanding of the value of irrigation.
However, a new study sets out exactly how much of an impact irrigation makes on Alberta`s annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The Alberta Irrigation Districts Association commissioned a study – the Economic Value of Alberta’s Irrigation Districts and it was completed by Acera Consult Inc. The study re-examined the benefits of irrigation within Alberta’s 13 irrigation districts and found irrigation’s annual contribution to provincial GDP increased over previous information published in 2015.
Alberta’s Irrigation districts, situated within the South Saskatchewan River Basin, represent the most diversified and intensive irrigation development in Alberta, with 83-per cent of the province’s irrigated land found within the 13 irrigation districts.