Milk River Watershed Council Canada June 17, 2025
Notification of Irrigation Shut-down for Alberta Milk River Irrigators was received yesterday afternoon on the decision of the Accredited Officers of the International Joint Commission the notice states:
“The natural flows of the Milk River have decreased to such an extent in recent weeks that use by irrigators in Alberta exceeded Canada’s portion of the natural flow for every day of the apportionment period from June 1 to June 15, 2025.
An “Emergency LOI Call” was held today, June 16, to present the latest division results from this period and to discuss the Accredited O:icer’s reaction and decision related to those results. As of the end of the period, June 1-15, cumulative irrigation use in the Milk River drainage in Alberta was greater than Canada’s portion of the Milk River natural flow by 38 cfs-days. Under the current procedures of the Accredited Officers, any deficit generated needs to be repaid during the next apportionment period (June 16-30).
Given the continuing decrease in Milk River flows at Eastern Crossing, and the unlikelihood of significant recovery in the coming week, the Accredited O:icers are asking irrigators in the Milk River basin in Alberta to cease drawing water from the Milk River by 11:59 PM on June 16, 2025, and until such time as natural flows recover sufficiently to allow withdrawals without generating a deficit, which is typically in late September or October.
Anticipating a challenging 2025 irrigation season, we issued a “Notification of Anticipated 2025 Milk River Conditions” on September 23, 2024, for Milk River basin irrigators in Alberta to consider modifying their irrigation practices in 2025 by planning to utilize available water in the Milk River during April, May, and June when water supplies are most likely to be available. Unfortunately, the reduction in natural flow occurred earlier in June than we had hoped, but current water supply conditions now require an end to irrigation.
We recognize this directive may cause economic hardship for Milk River irrigators in Alberta and will prioritize the resumption of withdrawals should natural flow conditions permit.”
@ryanhumphrey.bsky.social:
“cease drawing water… until such time as natural flows recover sufficiently… which is typically in late September or October”
Wow. They’re just done for the year. Anyone depending on that irrigation just lost their entire growing season
Any sense of how much agriculture this impacts?
Refer also to:
A proportion (25% to 100%) of the water used in hydraulic fracturing is not recovered, and consequently this water is lost permanently to re-use, which differs from some other water uses in which water can be recovered and processed for re-use.