The St. Mary River in southern Alberta. The St. Mary River Irrigation District has increased its 2025 water allocation. (Photo: Georgialh)

By David Opinko

Farmers in St. Mary River Irrigation District allocated 50% more water for 2025

Apr 3, 2025 | 2:49 PM

Agricultural producers in the Lethbridge-Medicine Hat region can rejoice – more water will be available to you this growing season.

The St. Mary River Irrigation District (SMRID) set its water allocation for 2025 at 12 inches, an increase of 50 per cent from last year.

SMRID board chair George Lohues says the initial allocation in 2024 was eight inches as much of the province suffered from droughts. Timely rains in May allowed them to increase that to nine inches.

At the end of the growing season in October 2024, they had accumulated 503,650 acre-feet of storage.

“Our reservoirs look much better going into the new crop,” says Lohues. “Based on modelling, and storage and snowpack data, the Board is confident that the 12-inch allocation for 2025 is responsible and is in line with environmental realities.”

SASHA launches #BuyABed fundraiser to support vulnerable Lethbridge residents

Apr 04, 2025

$20K grants available: TELUS STORYHIVE Pan-Asian Edition opens applications April 1

Mar 18, 2025

What's Happening in Lethbridge this week: February 10-16, 2025

Feb 10, 2025

As of March 28, the City of Lethbridge reports that the St. Mary Reservoir, one of the major reservoirs that feeds the irrigation system, is at 51 per cent of its maximum storage capacity. At the same time last year, it was just 15 per cent.

SMRID General Manager David Westwood says they substantially completed four Alberta Irrigation Modernization projects in 2023/24, which has led to “impressive efficiency gains” across the district.

The SMRID is the largest irrigation district in North America. It has over 2,000 kilometres of canals and pipelines, which spans the area from Lethbridge to Medicine Hat and serves approximately 518,000 acres.

For local news delivered daily to your email inbox, subscribe for free to the Lethbridge News Now newsletter here. You can also download the Lethbridge News Now mobile app in the Google Play and the Apple App Stores.