Farmers cheer over July rain

By Lethbridge Herald on August 1, 2025.

Al Beeber
Lethbridge Herald

A year after July 2024 saw virtually no rain in the area, the skies opened up this year with Lethbridge alone getting about 81.1 millimetres.

By comparison only 1.6 mm fell in the city last July.

Rainfall totals can vary widely, with Farming Smarter executive director Ken Coles on Thursday saying he had 40 mm after the late-night storm on Monday, a figure also seen by others, which is almost double the 20.3 mm recorded in Lethbridge.

Coles, who farms near Coaldale, said that determining whether rain has benefits at this time of year can be tricky but “it’s hard to turn down a good rain.”

While Lethbridge saw a whopping 122.2 mm of rain in May of 2024, only 29.9 mm was recorded this year. That rainfall last year came an  optimal time for dryland farmers and irrigators alike. The Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District last year was actually able to increase its initial allocation from eight to 11 inches because of spring precipitation.

LNID is a large district that extends from west of Fort Macleod north to Barons and east to Turin, covering a total of about 200,000 acres. Water that fills Nicholas Sheran, Sunridge and Riverstone lakes comes from LNID as does the water used on the Paradise Canyon golf course.

“It’s unusual to have this much rain in July but can we always use it? For the most part,” said Coles.

“We’re not quite into harvest yet although there are some farmers that say they’ve cut their alfalfa or timothy and if they get rained on that can cause some issues. The only other issue is disease so it definitely creates a more humid and moist environment where disease can take off, especially in the bigger, heavier crops.”

Farmers have been spraying fungicides more, which is usually to protect a bigger yield, Coles added.

For the most part, farmers are incredibly happy, particularly those who don’t have irrigation, he said.

“There were some farmers…especially down out in southeastern Alberta, that really, really early seeded stuff. They basically got droughted out before those rains started, so the timing wasn’t ideal for them. And in those types of  situations where you have thin crops, and then you start to get lots  of rain later in the season, it ends up being weed central. So all the  weeds now have that opportunity to take off. So it does cause some  complications for sure, but overall, because we’re in a semi-arid area, it’s really tough to be down on rain.”

For irrigated farmers, the rain makes it more challenging for water management scheduling but when farmers are in water deficits, “this means it’s going to give the irrigation system a bit of a break and allow those reservoirs to get filled up as well and kind of sets  ourselves up for next year,” Coles noted. “We’re now at a point where we’re starting  to fill the profile for even next year which isn’t a bad thing, either.”

The amount of rain varies significantly across the area, he added.

According to weatherstats.ca, which uses information from Enviroment and Climate Change data sources, Lethbridge has received 268.2 mm of  precipitation since January.

In June, the city saw 92.7 mm compared to only 57.3 the same month in 2024. Rainfall amounting to 43.4 mm fell in August of 2024.

While an 80 per cent chance of five-10 mm is forecast for Saturday and Sunday, the first two weeks of August this year are expected to see only a small chance of minimal amounts.

On Thursday, the Alberta government announced it is removing the need to have a temporary diversion licence to water plants as part of riparian projects.

The province said this will cut unnecessary red tape, keep plants alive and ensure the time and money that communities and businesses put into watershed restoration projects are not wasted.”

A licence has traditionally been required in the province to water newly planted vegetation such as trees, shrubs and grasses along rivers, creeks and lakes. The requirement meant that healthy plants could die if a licence wasn’t issued in time because of water shortages, drought or bureaucratic delays, said the government.

“This change stops the waste, ends the delays and lets communities  focus on restoring Alberta’s rivers, creeks and lake banks – not  filling out forms,” said Environment and Protected Areas minister  Rebecca Schulz in an announcement.

“Our government is pleased to support the important work of restoring riparian areas and improving the health of our rivers. Allowing a small quantity of water to be used without a licence will help establish healthy, lush vegetation along previously degraded riverbanks and help make these projects successful over the long  term,” added Taber-Warner MLA and Associate Minister of Water Grant Hunter.

The exemption applies only to projects that consume no more than 100 cubic metres per day for water that will be used “to support the growth and establishment of plants along a watercourse or water body,”  says the province.