On Monday, August 22, Oneil Carlier, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, announced $1 million in grants for Alberta farmers to improve water management.

Both the provincial and federal government will be contributing to the grant that will help with environmental sustainability and production.

“Modern and reliable irrigation is critical to the success of Alberta farmers," said Carlier. "This funding will support Alberta farm families with the freshwater resources they need to improve the efficiency, sustainability and productivity of their operations across southern Alberta.” 

The grants will improve the efficiency of Alberta's irrigation systems by developing tools and new innovative ways to help irrigators within each of the districts.

“Irrigation is the lifeblood of farm operations in southern Alberta," said Lawrence MacAulay, Federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. "This investment will provide efficient, innovative and sustainable water resources to Alberta’s farmers while contributing to the growth of the Albertan agriculture and food industry, as well as the Canadian economy.”

The grant will provide an estimated 56,000 jobs and approximately $3.6 billion a year to the provincial Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The $1 million grant program is part of the Growing Forward 2 – federal-provincial-territorial partnership, enabling a competitive and profitable Canadian agriculture and agri-food sector.