The most monumental of these river projects is the Gardiner Dam on the Saskatchewan River at Outlook, Saskatchewan, which created Lake Diefenbaker 3 . Even though the irrigation potential remains largely undeveloped, the benefit to cost ratio of this multi-use project generally exceeds one without the uncalculated benefit of the climate modification associated with such a large body of water 4 . Originally proposed by Henry Hind in 1859, the dam was completed in 1968. There are an additional 19 major dams on rivers in the prairie region. Irrigation has been shown to enable a form of sustainable agriculture to develop in an arid region, with a complementary output of products which can provide the basis for development of substantial value added industries.
Economic stability is achieved following the development of a successful irrigation area.
These benefits serve to offset public investments in the associated water management projects. Irrigation accounts for approximately 88 percent of the total water used for agriculture. Irrigation is practised on about one million hectares of land in the brown and dark brown soil zones, the crops produced being primarily cereal grains. Recent droughts have stimulated interest in additional water management projects. Unless the water is wisely used soil salinity problems may be experienced.