Dear Editor:
I now live in a retirement home with a bunch of old geezers that, like me, date back to the first generation following the original homesteaders. The stories are wonderful to share, but if one wants to start them flowing just mention the water situation on each original farmstead. They range from dug wells, to dry holes, to hard water, to dugouts and hauled water.
Many recall that the precious rainwater had first call to wash mother’s long hair (a rare priority). Others can remember the strange tastes of the dug-out water as the dry season progresses: and of course the job of scraping up clean snow (except for the odd rabbit dropping) to melt for the Saturday night baths.
It was the need for water that led to the creation of the PFRA, which designed and dug dug-outs where there was no possibility of wells or other water resources. There was some early development of irrigation from rudimentary dams. All in all, it was the availability or not of water that shaped the development of Saskatchewan Communities.
Now we find that tap water in every home is the norm, even on First Nations Reserves. We also have industries that depend on huge amounts of fresh water to exist. Cities are concentrated populations that must have regular supplies of portable water. There is a major opportunity for major irrigation provided that the water supplies can be provided. This situation is built on the run-off from the Rockies, rainfall, and ground water. We are not even close to assuring a supply of water in all seasons, so how come that is not of the highest priority for government, provincially, municipal and federal?
C.M. Williams
Saskatoon, SK
