Southern Alberta is known as Canada’s Premier Food Corridor – a reputation built on hard work, rich soil and one critical advantage: irrigation. But as water supplies become less predictable and restrictions more common, ensuring every drop is used efficiently is no longer optional.
Dr. Michael Kehoe is a research scientist with the Mueller Irrigation Research Group (MIRG), within Lethbridge Polytechnic’s Centre for Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CARIE). Working within a small, interdisciplinary team, Kehoe develops software tools that help irrigators make better-informed decisions about when and how much to water their crops.
Originally from Australia, Kehoe has a bachelor of science in computational mathematics from the Australian National University and a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Queensland. Early in his career, Kehoe was recruited to study ocean hydrodynamics and the effects of climate change on the North Atlantic, a major driver of weather patterns in western Europe. Based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, he worked as part of a large international team examining how warming oceans are becoming more thermally stratified – a process where surface water prevents nutrients from circulating upward.
“Increased ocean stratification leads to major changes in phytoplankton populations, which disrupts ecosystems and food webs,” says Kehoe. “It showed me how changes in water systems can have significant consequences.”
Kehoe moved to Canada in 2014 to join the Global Institute for Water Security at the University of Saskatchewan, shifting his research from oceans to freshwater. There, he studied algae blooms, commonly known as blue-green algae, in lakes and streams near Moose Jaw, Sask.
“Here we found an oversupply of nutrients led to accelerated harmful algae growth,” says Kehoe. “This creates challenges for ecosystems, water treatment facilities and downstream users, including people and livestock.”
In 2020, Kehoe joined Lethbridge Polytechnic where he began applying his experience in climate, freshwater systems and mathematical modelling to agricultural water management. His current project focuses on optimizing irrigation timing and water amounts using field sensor data and forecasting models.
“Irrigators have access to an abundance of data, from soil moisture to weather forecasts,” says Kehoe. “Our goal is to use that data and develop software tools for producers that show not just what’s happening now, but confidently show what’s likely to happen over the next few days.”
Using sensor networks with mathematical models, MIRG is developing decision-support software that allows irrigators and agronomists to run “what if?” scenarios, such as evaluating the impacts of irrigating on a specific day based on available data.
Preliminary results from Kehoe’s work compare overhead pivots to subsurface drip irrigation systems, revealing similar crop water use but greater efficiency in the subsurface drip system. While further data is needed to account for climate variables, the findings point toward meaningful opportunities to conserve water without sacrificing yield.
For Kehoe, the significance of those findings goes beyond technical problem-solving.
“I enjoy the challenge of building models and writing programs,” he says. “But what really excites me is seeing those tools help people adapt to changing conditions and inevitable water constraints.”
Through applied research, Kehoe and the MIRG are helping producers better plan for the future, ensuring irrigation remains a cornerstone of southern Alberta’s agricultural success.
CARIE directly engages in applied research projects that tackle real-world challenges with immediate and practical impacts. In partnership with industry, community organizations, researchers and students, CARIE's mandate is to deliver results that solve today’s problems and drive tomorrow’s innovation.
To learn more about applied research activities and projects at Lethbridge Polytechnic, visit: lethpolytech.ca/CARIE.