Subsequently McGregor (22%), Hitchock (77%) and Major St. Aubyn (1%) formed an unregistered syndicate, known as the Robins Irrigation Company. In July 1906 this company signed an agreement with the Government of Canada for the purchase of 154,000 hectares of land at the rate of $7.50 per hectare, payable $2.50 in cash and $5.00 in works, capable of irrigating at least 25 per cent of the land.
In September 1906, the Robins Irrigation Company sold the "benefit" of their agreement with the Canadian government to the Canadian Agency Company Limited of London, England for $486,000 plus $656,100 for the assets of the Grand Forks Cattle Company. In October 1906, an English company (with headquarters in London, England) known as the Southern Alberta Land Company (SALC.) bought the holdings of the Canadian Agency Company Limited for $1,458,000, less $48,600 promotion expenses.
It is interesting to note that the Canadian Agency Company Limited derived a profit of $267,300 in a very short period of time. This led to severe criticism of the government for granting such leases and for allowing trading in them. However, it must be remembered that the land involved was useless for dry-land settlement and that Canadian capital to develop such a large scheme was unavailable. The English company undoubtedly made this investment on the assumption that irrigation would so increase the productivity of the land, that both the cost of construction and operation would be easily repaid out of this increase.
In 1907, the SALC. began preliminary survey work on the irrigation scheme and found that a considerable portion of the original lands could not be irrigated within a reasonable cost. The company applied to the government for, and was granted, an exchange of lands more favorably situated for irrigation. The company also purchased interspersed Hudson's Bay and School Lands to consolidate the irrigation block. Consequently, it owned about 189,000 hectares, of which about 69,000 hectares could be irrigated from works planned, using water diverted from the Bow River at a point near the town of Carseland. From there the water would be transported about 64 kilometres by canal, to a reservoir known as Lake McGregor, having a storage capacity of 370,044 cubic decametres. From this reservoir the water would be carried eastward 64 kilometres by canal, to the western boundary of the tract to be irrigated.
In 1909, F. P. Aylwin purchased from the government 27,900 hectares of land lying northeast of the tract owned by the S.A.L.C., on the understanding that he would develop at least one-fourth of the area for irrigation. In 1911 Mr. Aylwin transferred his holdings to the Alberta Land Company (ALC.), which had reached an agreement with the S.A.L.C. that the water required would be diverted through the works constructed by it.
In 1911 the SALC. sold 48,690 hectares of its land holdings in the Suffield district to an English company, Canadian Wheatlands (CW). The completed SALC. canal system was to supply them with water for irrigation development. By 1914, 10,100 hectares had been broken and dry-land farming operations undertaken. These farming operations continued until 1917, when the SALC., ALC. and CW. were amalgamated to form the Canada Land & Irrigation Company.
In addition, the SALC. had expended some $2.5 million for the Robins' concession and land payments. As of 1912, close to $8 million had been spent and no land had yet been irrigated. In the same year, the intake structure and sluiceway on the Bow River failed. It was estimated that it would require another $2.5 million to effect repairs and complete the irrigation works. The state of the money market preceding World War I made it impossible to raise the funds. Hence, the company applied to the government for a loan.
In July 1914 the government agreed to loan the company $380,573 (a sum equal to $2.50 per hectare - the amount which they had paid for the land originally) - with title to the land pledged to the government as security, provided that the company raised $800,000 on its own. However, the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 made it impossible for the company to raise these funds. Consequently all work was closed down. A small staff was retained to protect the incompleted works and other assets of the company.
After the amalgamation in 1917, slow land sales, high taxes and keen competition from other irrigation companies kept actual development lagging far behind expectations. The CLIC. went into receivership in 1924 and the affairs of the company were administered by the Minister of the Interior until 1927, when further funds were raised in England and the company resumed operation of its own affairs. However, farm prices were not uniformly good and land sales were below expectations, with the result that year after year expenditures exceeded receipts.
In 1935, the company applied to the federal government (PFRA) for financial assistance and, in 1936, was given a grant of $80,000 - $20,000 for current expenses and $60,000 for new laterals and major items of rehabilitation. This was to allow the project to expand from 13,840 to 16,190 irrigated hectares, at which point it was deemed to be self-supporting. However, increased demands for water resulted in additional operational difficulties. Failed side-hill canal banks, inadequate canal capacities, and insufficient laterals put the company in continual financial difficulties, with no promise of ever paying dividends to its shareholders. It was also known by the federal and provincial governments that the lands controlled by the company were not being fully utilized. A real potential existed to considerably enlarge the irrigable area, in order to resettle farmers from drought areas and other submarginal lands. However, as long as the C.L.I.C. remained in control, it was unlikely that company shareholders would provide the necessary funds. Negotiations with the company were deferred, due to World War II.
At the same time, the Province of Alberta agreed to construct the works for a development on the west side of the CLIC. project, known as the west block of the Bow River Development. In 1952, the new west irrigation district was disbanded and made part of the Bow River Project. The district comprised about one-half of a township (Township 14, Range 17, West of the Fourth Meridian) and was irrigating about 1,820 hectares. In 1955 the Province formed a crown corporation to develop and operate the west block project.
The major rehabilitation work on the project undertaken by PFRA was:
Under the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation and Resettlement program, farmers located on submarginal land located in or near community pastures throughout the Prairies were given assistance to move to irrigated farm land on the Bow River Project. To provide irrigated land suitable for this resettlement program, 10,900 hectares in the vicinity of the newly developed town of Hays, within the Bow River Project, were established for this program. During the period 1952 to 1958, 189 farmers were moved on to the project under this program.
By 1960, the renovation and extension of the original irrigation works were practically completed and a breakdown of the irrigable area was as follows:
The Bow River Irrigation Project was managed by PFRA until April 1973, when under the terms of the Canada-Alberta Irrigation Rehabilitation Agreement, Canada's interest in the project was transferred to the Province of Alberta. Under the terms of the transfer agreement, Canada constructed a new dam and diversion structure on the Bow River near Carseland, Alberta, which was completed in 1974 at a cost of $4.2 million.
Following the transfer of the project to the Province, the farmers on the project were organized into an irrigation district responsible for the operation of the project downstream of the Little Bow Storage Reservoir. The Province assumed responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the headworks from the Carseland Weir to this reservoir.