On April 15, 2025, the Government of Saskatchewan hosted two public information sessions in Conquest, SK with over 160 people in attendance.
The government team provided a project update to the public while gaining input on the 100,000-acre project. These sessions included local RMs, producers, landowners, residents from the project area, non-governmental organizations and private sector companies.
The public information sessions featured technical information sharing to gain feedback on certain topics. The format featured two sessions throughout the day that went through topics like the environmental assessment process, economic benefits, and distribution development costs.
Each table featured a note taker and facilitator to help capture the discussion and information from the public once each topic was presented. There were also several technical specialists available to answer any detailed engineering or design questions.
The public engagement and feedback from these sessions is valuable to ensure all perspectives are heard and considered in the project development process.
One participant remarked: “As a landowner who no longer lives in the area, I was glad to have the opportunity to learn more about the projects and to provide feedback. Great format, we had a very strong facilitator at our table.”
Click here to view the complete presentation that was presented at the public information sessions.
The Water Security Agency recently announced it would be proactively self-declaring the Westside Irrigation Rehabilitation Project (WIRP) for a provincial environmental assessment.
Baseline data collection and the planning and design work will go into a proposal, which is then submitted to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment.
Collecting feedback with rights holders and stakeholders through various engagements like the recent public information sessions will help incorporate the public’s input into the design of the project as part of the environmental assessment.
Announced in July 2024, the planning and engineering design work for WIRP is being worked on by Prairie Engineering Partners, a joint venture from Stantec and MPE engineering firms. Baseline work was commissioned as part of the environmental assessment field work for both aquatic and terrestrial components, including water quality and quantity.
WIRP has the potential to add 100,000 acres of irrigated land. A recent analysis of the 100,000-acre project was done by KPMG LLP. It shows an increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $5.9 billion while generating over 30,000 jobs (person years of employment) and 9,500 jobs during the construction phase.