PUBLISHED: 04 January 2024

2021/2022 Model Update

There have been significant changes in the South Saskatchewan River basin (SSRB) since the publication of the Roadmap in 2016, these changes include irrigation district expansions, water infrastructure-related projects, and changes to the operation of the basin. Given these changes, in 2021 the SSROM underwent an update process to update the model to reflect current conditions of the basin. The purpose of the model update was to ensure that the current operations were reflected in the SSROM to allow the SSROM to continue to inform water management decisions and planning within the SSRB.

Through a series of collaborative working group meetings, working group members provided information to bring the model up to date. Working group members included irrigation districts and key Government of Alberta representatives (e.g., Alberta Environment and Protected Areas (AEPA) and Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation (AAI)). Information provided by working group members included:

  • Operating conditions across key on-stream and off-stream reservoirs in all river basins.
  • Irrigation demands (from the Irrigation Demand Model) and irrigated acres (from the irrigation districts).
  • Surface water demands (from AEPA).
  • Naturalized flows from 1929 to 2015 (from AEPA).
  • Municipal demand for the City of Calgary and the City of Lethbridge.

The model update not only achieved the primary objective of updating the model to reflect current basin operations, but it also enabled:

  • An update of the OASIS modelling platform to OASIS Enterprise, allowing for more efficient modelling of complex scenarios and user-friendly interface.
  • Public hosting of the SSROM is available to any interested parties and stakeholders through the WaterPortal website. Request access here.
Figure 5. The SSROM schematic highlighting reservoirs and demands throughout the South Saskatchewan River Basin. Click to enlarge image.

There were also additional water management strategies identified; the working group indicated that it would be beneficial to assess these strategies further leveraging a collaborative approach. Example water management strategies identified include assisting in the development of a drought management plan for the City of Calgary, optimization of water management in the upper SSRB, assessing water management options for rural and economic development, and evaluating ecosystem health within the context of new projects that are underway. These were to be evaluated in a later work.

Information detailing the SSROM model and its construction from 2021/22 can be found here on the Open Alberta site.