Strathmore Water Restrictions: Why the Nursery Keeps Growing
On: January 8, 2026
By: Eagle Lake Nurseries
The Town of Strathmore moved to Stage 4 water restrictions this week after a water main break in Calgary. Strathmore’s treated water is supplied through a pipeline from Calgary, so when Calgary’s system is under strain, Strathmore follows.
We have had a few questions about what this means for the nursery, so here is the short answer: it does not affect production.
Eagle Lake Nurseries irrigates its fields and container yards through the Western Irrigation District, the canal system that has carried water to farms around Strathmore for more than a century. Our entire production area is irrigated from that supply, not from municipal treated water. Town restrictions on treated water do not change how we grow.
In January the irrigation season is months away in any case. Our fields are dormant, the canals are off for the winter, and the team is in the shop and the office: planning, training, maintaining equipment and getting inventory ready for spring.
Irrigation is one of the reasons the nursery exists where it does. Founder Tony Heuver chose this land because the irrigation district made it possible to grow trees on the prairie at scale. That has not changed since 1970.
