Gardiner Dam

Are the reservoir dog days ending?

Are the reservoir dog days ending?

In 1967, when the Gardiner Dam backed up the South Saskatchewan River to create the 200-km-long Lake Diefenbaker in the middle of Saskatchewan, the plan was to irrigate 500,000 parched acres. To this day, the giant T-shaped lake — named after Saskatchewan politician and Canada’s 13th Prime Minister, John George Diefenbaker — irrigates only 100,000 to 150,000 acres. “The Dief” is, one might say, an untapped resource, a ’60s-era feat of engineering stuck in vaporization mode. (It is said the lake loses more water to evaporation each year than it gives up for crop watering.)

Sask.'s $4B irrigation plan must address changing climate, Indigenous rights: professor

Sask.'s $4B irrigation plan must address changing climate, Indigenous rights: professor

The Saskatchewan government has announced a $4-billion plan to expand irrigation out of the Lake Diefenbaker reservoir. Work is set to begin immediately, and will be completed in three phases over the next decade. CBC reporter Jason Warick spoke Friday with John Pomeroy, a Canada Research chair and director of the University of Saskatchewan's Global Water Futures program.