Foothills County south of Calgary declares agricultural disaster amid drought

With increased heat and an ongoing drought in Alberta, Foothills County declared a Municipal Agricultural Disaster for the entire County.

Council passed a resolution at a June 28 meeting due to the ongoing drought and crop conditions.

The County, just south of Calgary, says 50 per cent to 90 per cent of its annual crops and perennial forage have been affected.

Also, eastern parts of the area have received less than 35 per cent of average annual rainfall, with the County saying some areas are seeing less than two inches of rain to date.

Reeve Delilah Miller, a local official in Foothills County, says it made the declaration to allow farmers to access insurance companies, adding they are facing financial uncertainty and frustration at this time.

“There’s a lot of angst out there, of course, because anytime you have crops that are failing, that’s a financial disaster, as well as it’s a food disaster and a production disaster for all of our livestock producers as well,” she said.

“It certainly trickles down to the economy on how much food is produced on the farmland.”

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WATCH: Alberta farmers struggling with continued drought conditions

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They aren’t the only ones to declare agricultural disasters.

The County of Paintearth issued one on June 22, Stettler issued a disaster on June 14, and Vulcan also issued a drought disaster as well.

“It’s pretty dire out here,” Miller said.

Foothills County said in a statement that it recognizes the declaration doesn’t trigger any funding or response from the province, but Miller says she has been in contact with Alberta’s minister of agriculture, RJ Sigurdson.

“He recognizes what we’re going through here and I know he’s watching the situation closely,” she said.

“And I’m sure once they make a decision, a recommendation will be coming out of their office as well.”

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In the meantime, Miller is asking partners and municipalities to issue water restrictions due to the “dire situation.”

“Any excess water use by way of watering your lawns and washing vehicles and doing all that sort of thing puts additional pressure on our tributaries, our waterways,” she explained.

“We need our partners to step up to the plate and put water restrictions in place because this is becoming a dire situation.”

She recommends those in the city try to conserve water as much as they can and recognize that crops draw water for irrigation.

“We need that resource to stay in place,” Miller said.

Foothills County surrounds Okotoks, High River, Turner Valley, Black Diamond, the Village of Longview, and the Eden Valley Indian Reserve.