Saskatchewan’s Water Security Agency has announced funding to rehabilitate part of the M1 Canal, which extends from Lake Diefenbaker to Broderick Reservoir, near Outlook. The $5-million project will begin in September, and will focus on relining and widening 1.3 kilometres of the canal.
The province has invested $11 million in the canal’s rehabilitation since 2010. The 22.5-kilomtre supply canal, which was built in the 1960s, provides water for 37,000 acres of irrigation in the Saskatchewan River Irrigation District, as well as 18,000 acres of irrigation, five reservoirs, towns and villages, three potash mines, 13 wetland projects, and the Blackstrap Provincial Park in the Saskatoon South East Water Supply system.
“The M1 Canal is a vital piece of infrastructure for irrigators in the province,” said Saskatchewan Irrigation Projects Association chair Rodger Pederson. “Irrigation plays a major role in Saskatchewan’s agricultural economy and we support the government’s commitment to rehabilitating this structure as we continue to focus on expanding irrigation across Saskatchewan.”
