Why is this research important for Alberta ag?
Agriculture, forestry, and the agri-food industry in Alberta are highly dependent on water supply with its river and/or irrigation water being the main source of water. Therefore, successful operation of irrigation systems is of paramount importance to farming and agricultural development.
This research focuses on the St. Mary River Irrigation District System (SMRID), which is the largest irrigation network district in Canada. It involves deploying remote sensors and autonomous vehicles (AUV) to assess algae blooming conditions in the reservoirs and/or channels, provide algae sampling either by aerial visual means and/or direct sampling of water quality, develop software for monitoring the algae content across the irrigation manifold and integrate the alarm and/or remediation action by applying the chemical agents to suppress algae growth.
What benefits can producers expect from this research?
Algae monitoring, cleaning, and remediation with the automation and sensing infrastructure will prodice effective maintenance, operation practice improvements, and will address the needs to operate water district systems economically. The success of this project can easily be deployed to other water districts in Alberta and/or Canada.
How will these research findings reach producers on-farm?
Findings will be transferred through annual meetings of SMRID, and quarterly meetings to report progress and findings.
Funded in part by the Government of Canada under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative.