Drought Watch

Information and Key Contacts - National & Prairie Drought Conditions

The federal and provincial government departments listed below can provide information on national and Prairie drought conditions and have designated spokespeople to be your first point of contact on specific topics. To help you reach the right person to answer questions in a timely manner, a general description of some of the topics each department may be able to help you with has been provided.


Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) - Agri-Environment Services Branch (AESB)


Key Contacts for National and Prairie Region:

Trevor Hadwen
A/Agroclimate Specialist
AAFC-AESB
National Agroclimate Information Service
Tel.: (306) 780-8405
Fax: (306) 780-5018
E-mail: trevor.hadwen@agr.gc.ca

Irene Hanuta
A/Manager Climate Decision Support and Adaptation
AAFC-AESB
National Agroclimate Information Service
Tel.: (204) 984-3694
Fax: (204) 983-2178
E-mail: irene.hanuta@agr.gc.ca

(Alternate) Aston Chipanshi
Manager - Climate Monitoring and Forecasting
AAFC-AESB
National Agroclimate Information Service
Tel.: (306) 780-7680
Fax: (306) 780-5018
E-mail: aston.chipanshi@agr.gc.ca


Key Contact for British Columbia:

Doug Edwards
Regional Water Resources Engineer
Kamloops
Tel.: (250) 554-5204
Fax: (250) 554-5229
E-mail: doug.edwards@agr.gc.ca


Kirby Rietze
District Engineer
Kamloops
Tel.: (250) 554-5220
E-mail: kirby.rietze@agr.gc.ca


Key Contact for Alberta:

Dave Kiely
Manager, Strategic Water Investment Unit, Ag Water Directorate
Edmonton
Tel.: (780) 495-6365
E-mail: david.kiely@agr.gc.ca


Key Contact for Saskatchewan:

Shirley Sawatzky
Water Development Technician
Rosetown
Tel.: (306) 882-5679
E-mail: shirley.sawatzky@agr.gc.ca


Key Contact for Manitoba:

Jarrett Powers
A/ Ag Information Manager
Beausejour
Tel.: (204) 984-8881
E-mail: jarrett.powers@agr.gc.ca


Key Contact for Quebec:

René Audet
Agrometeorologist
Quebec City
Tel.: (418) 648-3649
E-mail: rene.audet@agr.gc.ca


Key Contact for the Atlantic Region:

Peter Murphy
GIS Data Analyst
Corner Brook
Tel.: (709) 637-4960
E-mail: peter.murphy@agr.gc.ca


AESB can provide timely information on the impacts of climatic variability on water supply and agriculture on the Prairies and promote ideas and activities for groups or individuals to reduce drought vulnerability. The AESB Drought Watch web page has several current maps that can be downloaded or printed in high-quality formats.

We can respond to queries such as:


Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada General Information:

Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization Program (CAIS)
Ellen Funk, (204) 984-5751

Advance Payments Program
Michel Masse, (613) 759-6289

Crop Insurance
George Pikor, (613) 759-7518


Commodity Specific Questions and Production Forecasts:

Glenn Lennox
Wheat Analyst
(204) 983-8465

Chris Beckman
Oilseeds Analyst
(204) 984-4929

Joe Wang
Coarse Grain Analyst
(204) 983-8461

Stan Skrypetz
Pulse and Special Crops Analyst
(204) 983-8972


Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada - Alberta Lethbridge Research Centre

Key Contact and Media Spokesperson:

Hugh McLean
Weather Technician
Tel.: (403) 317-3317
Fax: (403) 382-3156
E-mail: hugh.mclean@agr.gc.ca

Dr. Frank Larney
Research Scientist
Soil Conservation
Tel.: (403) 317-2216
Fax: (403) 382-3156
E-mail: frank.larney@agr.gc.ca

The Lethbridge Research Centre can best offer a local perspective on the meteorology, relative to climatology as they operate climatological stations (with Environment Canada) at several locations in Alberta. The Centre can provide climatological information such as; Year 2000 was the 8th driest on record at Lethbridge.

They can respond to queries such as:


Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada - Saskatchewan Research Centres

Key Contact and Media Spokesperson:

Semiarid Prairie Agriculture Research Centre
Dr. Herb Cutforth
Agricultural Meteorologist
Tel.: (306) 778-7259
E-mail: herb.cutforth@agr.gc.ca

Saskatoon Research Centre
Owen Olfert
Research Scientist
(general crop pest numbers)
Tel.: (306) 956-7288
E-mail: owen.olfert@agr.gc.ca

Scott Research Farm
Stewart Brandt
Research Agronomist
Tel.: (306) 247-2011
E-mail: steward.brandt@agr.gc.ca


Environment Canada

Key Contact and Media Spokesperson:

Alberta
Warning Preparedness Meteorologist
Edmonton
Tel.: (780) 951-8600

New Brunswick
Claude Côté
Warning Preparedness Meteorologist
Fredericton
Tel.: (506) 452-4166
E-mail: claude.cote@ec.gc.ca

Environment Canada can provide timely information regarding weather and climate across the prairie provinces. Visit their website at www.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/canada_e.html. The Environment Canada website also provides Seasonal Forecasts.

They can respond to queries such as:


Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development

Key Contact and Media Spokesperson:

Ralph Wright
Soil Moisture Specialist
Tel.: (780) 427-3556
Fax.: (780) 422-0474
E-mail: ralph.wright@gov.ab.ca

Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development can provide timely information regarding Alberta's weather and climate.

Queries such as:


Alberta Environment

Key Contact and Media Spokesperson:

Communications Division of Alberta Environment
Tel.: (780) 427-8636
Tel.: (780) 427-2700
Fax: (780) 422-4086

Alberta Environment can provide timely information associated with dry conditions and/or water use, forests, fish and wildlife and several other topics.

They can respond to queries such as:


University of Lethbridge

Key Contact and Media Spokesperson:

Dr. Dan Johnson
Insect Ecology
University of Lethbridge
Tel.: (403) 329-2040
E-mail: dan.johnson@uleth.ca

They can respond to queries such as:


Province of Saskatchewan

Key Contact and Media Spokesperson:

Grant McLean
Cropping Management Specialist
Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture
Tel: 1-866-457-2377
E-mail: grant.mclean@gov.sk.ca

Malcolm French
Communications Manager
Sask Water
Tel: (306) 694-3017
E-mail: MFRE@saskwater.com


Province of Manitoba

Key Contact and Media Spokesperson:

Andrew Nadler
Agriculture Meteorologist
Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives
Tel: (204) 745-5646
E-mail: andy.nadler@gov.mb.ca