St. Mary River Irrigation District sets 14-inch water allocation for 2026 season

The snowpack and reservoir levels in Alberta's southern Rockies are in much better shape than usual.

The St. Mary River Irrigation District (SMRID) has set its water allocation to 14 inches for the 2026 season as water levels remains above average.

“We haven’t seen this kind of allocation since 2023,” said David Westwood, SMRID general manager. “Even though we ended that year with some challenges and had to reduce allocation, this is significantly greater than what we’ve seen over the last couple of years.”

In 2024, the SMRID set the allocation to nine inches. That was raised to 12 inches in 2025.

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Westwood says this year’s rate is a result of an increased snowpack in the Rocky Mountains, along with more water in southern Alberta’s reservoirs.

“This year we’re seeing a lot of above-average snowpack,” said Nathalie Brunet, river forecast engineer.

“Higher depths and more snow, especially in the Bow River Basin. We’re seeing a lot more snow – a little less so closer to normal in the Old Man – and then more in the plains.”

According to provincial data, as of April 1, the Oldman River reservoir was at 82 per cent total storage, above normal for this time of year.

The St. Mary reservoir has an above normal capacity of 91 per cent.

The Waterton reservoir is at 67 per cent.

“We haven’t had a lot of snow cover this year and soils are a little drier than we’d like to see, so knowing that that allocation is there is good peace of mind,” said Ken Coles, executive director of Farming Smarter.

Along with recent rain and snow throughout southern Alberta, Westwood says this winter has been “a bit unique” when it comes to water storage in the region’s reservoirs.

“We’ve gained about 130,000 acres of storage since the end of the last irrigation season, which is very unusual,” he explained.

“It usually stays pretty similar from closed to open of season when run-off starts, but there was a lot of early snow and then melt events prior to Christmas and through the milder temperatures into the new year in January and February.”

Brunet says things are shaping up nicely this year for her river forecasting.

“Reservoirs right now are in a really good place,” she said.

“Most of them are sitting within their normal ranges, so we’re doing better than we had been the last couple of years in terms of drought, so I think we’re setting ourselves up to be in a good place at the start of the season.”