16 - PRAIRIE POST - Friday, March 20, 2009
Work continues on water demand management
Put a dozen people in a room and ask for • Include groundwater in basin since 2005 — in the east central region - SSRB to North
recommendations for ways to improve the management plans; Saskatchewan River Basin; North Red Deer River - SSRB
quality and quantity available for society • Increase resources for monitoring and to NSRB and; County of Westlock - Athabasca River to
long into the future, and you will likely get enforcement; NSRB.
thousands of ideas. • Water rights should appear as a financial No new surface water applications are being
John Thompson of Saskatoon recently asset on balance sheets, and; accepted, except parts of the Red Deer River, for the
took that assignment to heart. His list
Ric
• Amend other legislation to require SSRB.
reads like a man who knows his stuff. directors to consider approved basin plans The Alberta Water Council is developing efficiency
The list of recommended strategies for when making decisions. and productivity targets.
improvement is: Water is as high on the priority list as ever, Can that be considered a good start? Likely.
• Create a real or virtual market place;
Swihart
and promises to keep climbing. Water Such a potentially complex issue surely will require
• Simplify transfer the process graduating demand in most of the world exceeds considerably more work, and people such as Thompson
to more complexity; supply, and the have-water nations of United States, will likely will be at the forefront.
• Existing water licences should be purchased to meet Canada, France, Australia and Argentina must protect On the demand front, there are two extremes — will
instream flow needs in the South Saskatchewan River that resource for the world’s population. future demands for water in Alberta involve moving
Basin; Work continues on water demand management, says water to where it is needed which is supply
• Strengthen legislation and enforcement regarding Thompson. management or will basin residents be expected to
use of return flows; Three inter-basin water transfers have been allowed make do with available supply which is demand
management?
Conclusions, based on changes in the Water Act, point
to demand management.
UFA MEMBERS:
For the Lubricant Quality You’ve Come to Trust, Licence transfers can provide the flexibility to meet
Come to Your Imperial Oil Distributor!
changing water needs, but basically, basin residents
must live with available resources.
That is confirmed by the Water For Life strategy, but it
takes an additional step. The key solution
SALE RUNS to looming water shortages is a combination of
MARCH 25
additional water storage and significant conservation
TH efforts.
APRIL 30
TO
TH
The real key is real people, including some global
, 2009
specialists, are on the ball and heading in the right
direction.
Albertans will rise to the challenge to meet any new
recommended solutions to the water supply-demand
issue.
Election ahead for
two SMRID divisions
BY RIC SWIHART
ALBERTA
Ratepayers in two divisions of the St. Mary River
Irrigation District will go to the polls March 24 to elect
two directors.
Ron Renwick of Lethbridge, SMRID general manager
and electoral officer, said incumbent director Gary
Bierback of Seven Persons is being challenged by Otto
Gross of Bow Island in Division 6.
There will be two polling stations, open 10 a.m. to
8 p.m. one in the SMRID Bow Island office and the other
in the Seven Persons Community Hall.
In Division 3, incumbent director Blaine Takeda of
Coaldale is being challenged by Les Enns of Coaldale.
The polling station will be in the SMRID main office in
Lethbridge.
In Division 7, Bob Nemeth of Dunmore did not seek re-
election. Gary Franz of Medicine Hat was elected director
by acclamation.
New tax deferrals
allowed for producers
PRAIRIES
The Government of Canada will now allow tax deferrals
to livestock producers who are forced to sell animals due
to flooding. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz made the
announcement March 5 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
“It takes hard work for producers to get back on their
Leading-edge Lubricants deliver that edge – in protection and productivity!
feet after a flood and this Government is standing with
IN TIMES LIKE THESE,
Esso XD-3 Extra 15W-40 far exceeds API CJ-4 standards for heavy-duty them as they get back on track,” said Minister Ritz. “We
engine oil with:
are giving Canadian producers the breathing room they
EVERY BUSINESS
Double the protection against camshaft roller follower wear
need on their tax bills to help rebuild their herds after
flooding.”
NEEDS AN EDGE!
Eleven times the protection against valve-train wear
“This Government supports producers when they have
Forty-five percent better soot control than required by rigorous industry
to make tough business decisions,” said Finance Minister
standard tests.*
Jim Flaherty. “When floods strike, producers often have
Esso XD-3 Extra – a great example of the Leading-edge Quality we provided until
to sell off some of their breeding stock. By deferring the
recently for UFA – is available from your Imperial Oil Distributor.
taxes on those sales, we are making sure producers have
the resources they need to buy breeding stock after the
flooding is over.”
ServAgro Ltd.
The Government of Canada is offering tax deferrals to
allow eligible producers in designated areas to defer a
portion of the income from the sale of breeding livestock
1538 - 32nd Street S.W., Medicine Hat, AB
for one year as they replenish breeding stock in the
MEDICINE HAT FOREMOST BOW ISLAND BROOKS MILK RIVER TABER
following year. This change gives producers across
(RTL) COALDALE (RTL) LETHBRIDGE PICTURE BUTTE (RTL)
526-3003 867-3776 545-2000 362-2575 647-3930 223-3002 345-3290 327-3535
732-4585
Canada access to tax deferrals for flooding that match
the tax deferrals they have previously had access to for
drought.
More information about these tax deferrals will soon be
available through the Canada Revenue Agency at
40267854•04/17/09
www.cra-arc.gc.ca.
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