Project

About the Westside Irrigation Rehabilitation Project

The Government of Saskatchewan is moving forward with stakeholder engagement and next steps of the engineering design for the approximately 90,000-acre irrigation project on Lake Diefenbaker. The total cost is estimated at $1.15B, which will be shared between the provincial government and producers who participate in the project.  

This project expands and modernizes existing infrastructure constructed nearly 50 years ago, including the West Main Canal, Westside Pump Station and the partially completed Conquest Reservoir.

It will create a more sustainable regional future, strengthen water security in times of drought, and protect the provincial economy by improving crop yields and diversity.

Before construction begins, the province will ensure the project meets current environmental standards and can support expanded irrigation in the future.

The engineering, design and engagement with stakeholders and Indigenous rights holders will be completed over the next 12 to 18 months with major construction of the 90,000 acres targeted to begin by 2026.

Future Expansion

The Westside Irrigation Rehabilitation Project is one of three projects making up the much larger Lake Diefenbaker Irrigation Project. It also includes the Westside Expansion Project (north of Conquest) and the Qu’Appelle South Water Conveyance Project (to Buffalo Pound Lake). 

The current focus is on the Westside Irrigation Rehabilitation Project (WIRP).

Once WIRP construction begins, the province will investigate expansion opportunities for the other two projects.

If constructed, the Westside Expansion Project could convert up to an additional 260,000 acres in central Saskatchewan to irrigated agriculture, and 120,000 acres as part of the Qu’Appelle South Water Conveyance Project.