Upgrades for Cypress Hills, irrigation in southwest included in Sask. budget

Posted on April 20, 2023 by Ryan Dahlman

Southern Alberta Newspapers

The recent Saskatchewan budget states upgrades are coming to that province’s side of Cypress Hills Provincial Park, along with money for irrigation projects and road work in the southwest.

A pull-out section of the document tabled last week describes a parks capital improvement budget of $12.3 million, including water treatment upgrades at Cypress Hills among other provincial parks, including Saskatchewan Landing on Lake Diefenbaker.

No specifics were provided, but also outlined are “major road improvements” at the central block of the Cypress Hills.

A total of $84.6 million will be spent on “Saskatchewan Growth Plan” projects related to expanding irrigated acres through smaller projects.

Of that, $40 million is planned for maintenance of the water system, $32 million for irrigation and $10 million related specifically to build a spillway at the Grant Devine Dam, near Estevan.

Among spending by Crown corporations, natural gas provider SaskEnergy says it will spend a total of $321 million in its capital construction plan.

That includes “compression and transmission system expansions” near Golden Prairie, located in the RM of Big Stick, north of Maple Creek.

Major projects will also proceed at Melfort and Regina.

Work on the Trans-Canada bridge at Swift Current will continue in 2023, along with new rehabilitation work directly south and west of Shaunavon, south of Kindersley and at Gull Lake, along with a culvert replacement at Bracken, near Climax.