MarketsFarm — Mixed precipitation throughout January helped drought conditions improve across much of the Canadian Prairies during the month, according to the latest Drought Monitor report from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), released Tuesday.
Conditions have deteriorated in some areas, however, and the majority of Western Canada was still in some kind of drought state.
A north-south divide of precipitation saw central and northern areas of the Prairies receive above-normal moisture while southern regions of the Prairie provinces saw lower than normal precipitation.
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Drought conditions generally improved in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, but the area of extreme drought grew slightly in southern Alberta, according to the report.
Extreme drought regions were still found in central Saskatchewan and parts of Manitoba, but the coverage area was significantly reduced.
While the precipitation that did fall will not fully help the ground recover from long-term moisture deficits, “it has allowed for slight improvement across the region,” AAFC said.
The Prairie region was classified as 61 per cent abnormally dry or in moderate to exceptional drought as of Jan. 31, 2022. That accounts for 95 per cent of the agricultural area in the region. That was down from 67 per cent and 98 per cent respectively the previous month.
Saskatchewan’s Water Security Agency on Tuesday separately released a preliminary spring runoff outlook for 2022. Given average precipitation between now and spring melt, the report calls for “below-normal snowmelt runoff potential” for most of southern Saskatchewan and “above-normal snowmelt response” in central areas.
The spring melt rate is expected to have “significant” impact on runoff yields across the province’s south, the agency said. A slow melt would likely see the bulk of the snowpack go to recharge the soil column, while a rapid melt would improve surface water supplies — but “the current snowpack is not sufficient to satisfy both.”
Without more snowfall in southwestern Saskatchewan between now and spring melt, “surface water supply issues are likely to occur” this spring in that region.
— Phil Franz-Warkentin reports for MarketsFarm from Winnipeg. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.
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