City applauds provincial funding for irrigation project to support agriculture sector across Niagara

The City of St. Catharines is extending its thanks to the Province of Ontario for its recent announcement of $41 million in funding for irrigation pipelines to help deliver water to hundreds of farms and agricultural businesses across Niagara.

Earlier this week, Kinga Surma, Ontario’s Minister of Infrastructure, and Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness Trevor Jones announced a $135-million investment in water systems and irrigation in Niagara Region and Leamington. This included $41 million announced for irrigation pipelines to help deliver water to hundreds of farms and agricultural businesses in St. Catharines, Lincoln, and Niagara-on-the-Lake. This follows a June announcement of $1.8 million to support environmental assessments from both the provincial and federal governments.

Officials from the City of St. Catharines, along with the Town of Lincoln, Niagara-on-the-Lake and Niagara Region have been advocating for the critical funding for years to address the pressing need for a communal irrigation system to supply water to a range of agricultural operations. A need has been identified for a new piped system in the Lincoln / St. Catharines area below the escarpment and for upgrades to the existing open channel system in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

“There has been great collaboration between our agriculture community and municipal leaders to advocate for a project like this for more than a decade, from the work by the Niagara Irrigation Initiative Project Steering Committee, to advocacy by mayors at recent AMO conferences,” said Mayor Mat Siscoe. “We’d like to thank Minister Surma, Minister Jones, Premier Ford, as well as MPP Sam Oosterhoff for their support of this investment, which will not only help protect farmland, but allow our agriculture sector to make further investments, grow the economy and sustain it for future generations.”

Niagara’s croplands are among one of the more unique areas in Canada where the climate and soil are just right for growing high-value crops like grapes and tender fruit. But with climate change bringing more drought, and in the face of global economic uncertainty, there’s a growing need for better irrigation to ensure producers have the resources they need for consistent water supply, which would result in the potential of boosting crop yields of high-quality products, and heightened water conservation and management.

“Agriculture is a key part of our economy here in Niagara, from our world-class vineyards and orchards to greenhouses, and a vibrant agri-food sector that contributed more than $2 billion to the region’s GDP last year,” said Brian York, the City’s Director of Economic Development and Government Relations. “This investment will not only help our growers here in St. Catharines and across Niagara strengthen innovation and resiliency but also allow them to contribute even more to the local economy with their potential for growth, long-term stability and the creation of local jobs.”

For more information on the funding, see the Province’s announcement here.