About
The Sustainable Irrigation program is a non-credit community-level program. Learners have the option to use their completed courses in this program towards two different micro-credentials - Sustainable Irrigation - Irrigation Agronomy and Sustainable Irrigation - Water Management.
Learners are introduced to the conditions required for sustainable irrigation, including topics related to protection of the environment, regulations, technical design, water management and farm management. The program focuses on developing the foundational knowledge required for sound decision making in irrigated agriculture.
Program Outline
Learners must complete a minimum of four courses to complete the program with the option of completing all six. Two courses, Overview of Irrigation and Irrigation Systems are required prerequisites for any of the remaining courses.
Learners can earn specializations in Water Management by completing two additional courses, Water Conveyance and Water Management and Drainage, or in Irrigation Agronomy by completing Irrigated Cropping Systems and Irrigation Management. A learner may complete all six courses and earn both specializations.
Upon completion of the program, learners receive verification of completion and become eligible for entering a micro-credential corresponding to the specialization(s) earned. The two micro-credentials listed below require an in-person three-day course where learners demonstrate competency in all learning objectives. For more information, contact irrigation@usask.ca.
Sustainable Irrigation - Water Management
This micro-credential focuses on skills required to calculate water conveyance requirements in irrigation water supply and agricultural drainage projects, system analysis to identify opportunities to improve water use efficiency and supply management, and wholistic water management for sustainable integrated irrigation and drainage.
Sustainable Irrigation – Irrigation Agronomy
This micro-credential focuses on skills required for farm level management to adjust agronomics to optimize benefits of irrigated cropping systems and data driven application of irrigation to ensure water is applied at the right time, in the right place and at the right amount for maximum sustainable yields.
Courses
The course materials are available online and may be completed asynchronously (this does not apply to the in-person competency assessment for the optional micro-credentials). Each course is divided into four sections, and each section is intended to take between 2 and 4 hours to complete. The intent is that one section is completed per week, but learners are free to adjust their pace within the course dates to fit individual schedules.
Overview of Irrigation introduces the Canadian prairie context for irrigation. Major physical, economic and regulatory requirements are discussed.
Learning Outcomes:
After completing the module learners will:
- Recognize the context of irrigation, including environmental risks at the local, regional and global levels
- Understand legislative bases and regulatory practices associated with water use for irrigation in the Canadian prairies
- Be able to describe prairie hydrology and how this relates to sources of water and irrigation practices
- Understand the process for regulatory approval of irrigation including irrigation certification and irrigation districts
- Describe major environmental considerations that affect irrigation both regionally and globally
- Understand the economic impact of irrigation in the prairie provinces
Register here for this course and see additional info including course dates.
Irrigation Systems covers the basics of design and operation of various irrigation systems in the Canadian prairies.
Learning Outcomes:
After completing the module learners will:
- Understand different irrigation systems and strategies to operate and maintain components effectively and efficiently
- Be able to describe how application rate and uniformity affects management strategies associated with the different irrigation systems.
- Be able to articulate the advantages vs. disadvantages of different management systems
- Be able to match the irrigation system to field conditions and water distribution requirements (topography, microclimate, soils, etc.)
- Be able to calculate hydraulics required for irrigation system design including discharge rates, pressures, velocities and friction losses
- Be able to calculate irrigation capacity and power requirements
- Be able to calculate irrigation uniformity and efficiency
Register here for this course and see additional info including course dates.
Water Conveyance introduces the infrastructure requirements and water management decisions that go into delivering water from source to farm.
Learning Outcomes:
After completing the module learners will:
- Be able to describe system concepts of water supply management and delivery
- Be able to describe the principles of designing irrigation-water delivery systems, including canals and pipelines
- Be able to describe water-control structures (gates, turnouts, diversion structures, etc.)
- Understand trade offs, risks and benefits for different types of water conveyance
- Understand appropriate flow-measurement techniques and instruments
- Describe the hydraulics of water conveyance systems, which includes flow rates, friction losses and energy requirements
- Be able to calculate operating efficiencies of water-delivery systems
Register here for this course and see additional info including course dates.
Irrigated Cropping Systems sets the foundation for managing crops under irrigation. Agronomics and economics of introducing irrigation are discussed.
Learning Outcomes:
After completing the module learners will:
- Understand agronomic options and challenges associated with irrigated crop production
- Be able to articulate differences between farm management in dry-land and irrigated production
- Be able to customize agronomic decisions based on various constraints (environment, soil type, water source, distribution method, etc.)
- Describe agronomic risks and strategies for limiting those risks in crop selection, for disease management, fertility, etc.
- Be able to evaluate key economic decisions
Register here for this course and see additional info including course dates.
Water management and Drainage links sustainable irrigation to drainage practices. Best management practices for drainage and drainage regulations are discussed.
Learning Outcomes:
After completing the module learners will:
- Understand when, where and why drainage may be appropriate (or not)
- Be able to describe subsurface and surface agricultural drainage systems
- Understand the regulatory process for drainage systems
- Be able to specify appropriate drainage systems given site-specific characteristics
- Be able to describe the principles of designing drainage systems
- Be able to calculate drainage capacity
Register here for this course and see additional info including course dates.
Irrigation Management describes how to maintain optimal soil moisture for crop water demand and site conditions.
Learning Outcomes:
After completing the module learners will:
- Be able to describe the different approaches to irrigation scheduling
- Be able to relate crop-water use at different physiological growth stages to evapotranspiration, soil moisture and water requirements
- Be able to describe methods to determine soil moisture levels
- Be able to define water-use efficiency and relate it to sustainable irrigation
Register here for this course and see additional info including course dates.
Registration
Registration for courses for the 2024/25 cycle will begin Fall 2024.
Contact
For more information contact irrigation@usask.ca.