Water Quality Deterioration During Interbasin Transfer in Saskatchewan

Abstract

The landforms, water resources, river channels and soil constituents on the Prairies are dictated by the glaciations to which the area was subjected.Increasing population and industrialization and changing and ever increasing use of agricultural water are placing more and new demands on the limited quantity of fresh water available on the Prairies. The Saskatchewan River system is the main source of good quality water in the southern, more populated, agricultural area of the Prairies. It is expected that more and larger diversion schemes will be initiated to transport Saskatchewan River water to the water-scarce areas of Western Canada.Two existing diversion schemes have been studied over a period of 15 years. These two schemes and one proposed diversion scheme are reviewed with a direct interest in identifying potential and actual causes of water quality deterioration which exist now or may exist in the future. Specifically the diversion schemes are: (1) the Qu’Appelle diversion with water being discharg...