Nova Scotia farmers worried about water use amid dry spring

A Nova Scotia farming group is concerned about the amountof water being used for agriculture this spring, but a provincial hydrologist says underground water levels are normal for this time of year.

The current conditions have prompted Agriculture Canada to classify much of Nova Scotia as "abnormally dry," and categorizeTruro and part of the Annapolis Valley as having a moderate drought.

"It's getting to a point now where things are really drying out," said Allan Melvin, a sixth-generation farmer from the Annapolis Valley and president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture.

"We're seeing, certainly on horticulture-type crops, a lot of irrigation running which is a little bit abnormal, quite abnormal I should say, for May."

In a report about current drought conditions, Agriculture Canada stated that as of April 30, conditions across the Atlantic region have been "significantly dry this month, continuing the pattern of dryness since February."

"Although an early month storm brought some moisture to the region, impacts from the significant dryness started to show up in the form of grass fires, significant snow melt and low streamflows," Agriculture Canada reported.

Alongwith parts of southeastern New Brunswick and much of Prince Edward Island, central parts of Nova Scotia only received between 40 and 60 per cent ofnormal precipitation in the last three months. In some areas of Nova Scotia, this past April was the driest on record, the department reported.

But John Dragg, a hydrologist from the Department of Natural Resources, says water levels beneath the ground are still at normal levels.

"The water table is still relatively high, pretty close to normal for what we would expect this time of year," he said.

Farmers spending more

Melvin said low rainfall iscreatinghigher costs for farmers.

"The financial burden also starts to add up so that all the fuel costs and time and labour costs to keep the water running is not insignificant," he said.

"If this continues it's going to certainly put a strain on farmers, I'll say physically, mentally and financially."

While Dragg said the water levels are normal, he cautioned that climate change has createdmore extreme weather events.

"We do seem to be seeing more frequent droughts and floods in the last 20 years," he said.

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