By Meghan Cobb

U of A research project to tackle algae in St. Mary River Irrigation District

Aug 25, 2022 | 1:34 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – A research team from the University of Alberta is hoping to reduce the amount of algae that grows in the water in the St. Mary River Irrigation District.

The irrigation system brings water from the Rocky Mountains to the sunny farmland of southern Alberta, but the sun in the area causes algae in the water to grow at an increased rate.

Increased algae growth essentially blocks the transfer of water and can clog the irrigation equipment of the end user. Dr. Stevan Dubljevic, an engineering professor at the U of A, hopes he can find a solution and ensure farmers aren’t the ones who pay the price if algae goes unchecked.

“It’s important to prevent the algae or weed from coming into the irrigation equipment because if it clogs the equipment it can be a 100 per cent loss,” said Dubljevic. “We are trying to develop a remote monitoring and algae suppression system.”

The research project will see Dubljevic and his team collect photos that show the algae and weed growth indicated by changes to the water colour. The team has a fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles that will take the digital photos and send them to a local monitoring station in Lethbridge, Taber, or Medicine Hat, before sending them on to the U of A.

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The project aims to develop a chemical solution that is safe for the environment and can be added to reservoirs and channels to prevent algae from growing, ensuring undisrupted flow from east to west.

It takes approximately six days for the water to flow from the mountains to farms in the Medicine Hat area.

“When demand is high and consumption is high, you need to be able to move water smoothly to Medicine Hat because they also need to pump water,” said Dubljevic.

He hopes that within three years the project will have found a solution for the rapid algae growth. He says solutions for the problem already exist for stationary water, but this would be for flowing water and he hopes it could then be used across the world.

The St. Mary Irrigation District and the Taber Irrigation District officially amalgamated on Aug. 1 making it the largest irrigation district in North America.