Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

SMRID CLIPBOARD

Date Range From

1950

Date Range To

1990

Materials

WOOD, METAL, PAPER

No. Pieces

4

Height

2.9

Length

27.2

Width

35.9

Description

CLIPBOARD IS A LIGHT BROWN WITH TWO SILVER METAL HINGES. THERE IS A SQUARE PATTERN ON THE FRONT SURFACE. ON THE INSIDE OF THE TOP, THERE IS A CHART WITH NUMBERS IN SOME SORT OF A RELATIONAL PATTERN. ATTACHED TO CLIPS INSIDE THE BOARD, THERE IS AN "ENVIRONMENT CANADA - NATIONAL CALIBRATION SERVICE" CHART WITH THE DATE "MAY 21, 1992" BESIDE THE WORDS "CALIBRATION DATE". BEHIND THIS CHART THERE IS A PAD OF SCRAP PAPER. ON THE SECOND CLIP (TO THE RIGHT OF THE FIRST), THERE IS A FORM WITH BLUE AND BLACK LINES WITH BLACK WRITING. ACROSS THE TOP, "ST. MARY RIVER IRRIGATION DISTRICT" "FORM S.M.R.I.D.32 ROBINS".

Subjects

WRITTEN COMMUNICATION T&E

Historical Association

AGRICULTURE

History

USED BY THE ST. MARY RIVER IRRIGATION DISTRICT. IN 2008, UNIVERSITY STUDENT AND GALT PROGRAM STAFF MEMBER DYLAN JOHNSON PARTICIPATED IN A UOFL APPLIED STUDIES PROGRAM, CONDUCTING RESEARCH WORK ON ST. MARY’S IRRIGATION DISTRICT (SMRID) OBJECTS DONATED TO THE GALT IN 2001. THE OBJECTS WERE ACQUIRED AS PART OF A GALT IRRIGATION EXHIBIT (STREAMS IN THE DESERT) IN 2000 AND WERE SEVERELY UNDER DOCUMENTED. JOHNSON CONSULTED WITH FORMER AND PRESENT ST. MARY’S IRRIGATION DISTRICT STAFF MEMBERS AS PART OF HIS RESEARCH. THE INFORMATION BELOW IS EXTRACTED FROM INTERVIEW(S) CONDUCTED BY JOHNSON. TO DETERMINE WHICH INTERVIEWS ARE RELEVANT TO THIS ARTIFACT, PLEASE REFER TO THE ARTIFACTS’ PERMANENT FILE (20010036001-11) AND THE RESEARCH PAPER’S REFERENCES. ARTIFACT FEATURES A FLOWCHART ON A HOMEMADE CLIPBOARD. CHARTS SUCH AS THESE WERE USED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE IRRIGATION INDUSTRY IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA AS THE SOLE MEANS OF RECORDING WATER FLOWS AND LEVELS UNTIL A MORE SOPHISTICATED TECHNOLOGY WAS DEVELOPED. THIS CLIPBOARD WAS PERSONALLY USED BY DELOYD ELL OF LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA WHO USED IT THROUGHOUT HIS EMPLOYMENT (1963-1998) AS A TECHNICIAN. THE MANUAL METHOD OF RECORDING REMAINED UNTIL 2004 AS A BACKUP SHOULD ANY EQUIPMENT FAIL. WATER SUPERVISORS, TECHNOLOGISTS, AND ENGINEERS WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RECORD KEEPING AND THE USE OF THE FLOW CHARTS. THE FLOW CHARTS GAVE THE SMRID ADMINISTRATORS QUANTITIES AND NUMBERS TO WORK WITH WHICH, THEY REPORTED TO THE GOVERNMENT. THE STEVEN’S RECORDER, ON THE OTHER HAND, ONLY PROVIDED A GRAPH WHICH IS ANOTHER REASON THEY HAD TO BE COUPLED TOGETHER TO GIVE A HOLISTIC RECORD OF THE WATER FLOW AND LEVEL. THE CHARTS MEASURED THE DEPTH OF THE CANAL, CONDUCTED VIA THE WINCH, THE CABLE AND THE FISH WEIGHT - P20010036007), AND COMPARED IT TO A CONVERSION CHART (THE CHART LOCATED ON THE TOP FLAP OF THE CLIPBOARD) WHICH EXPLAINED THE VOLUME OF WATER IN THAT PART OF THE CANAL. THE DATA WAS COMPARED TO THE NATIONAL CALIBRATION CHART (THE LAMINATED CHART ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE CLIPBOARD) FROM THE RESULTS OF THE VOLUME CALIBRATION AND ENTERED INTO THE CALIBRATION CHART. THIS PROVIDED THE WATER VELOCITIES AT REQUIRED LOCATIONS. THE FLOW CHART, LABELED ST. MARY RIVER IRRIGATION DISTRICT ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE CLIPBOARD, WAS WHERE THAT THE RESULTS FROM THE FLOW RATE METER’S (P20010036012) MEASUREMENTS WOULD BE RECORDED BY THE TECHNOLOGIST OR TECHNICIAN. THIS TYPE OF RECORDING PROCESS WAS USED REGARDLESS THE QUANTITY OR PURPOSE (BE IT IRRIGATION OF POTABLE WATER CONSUMPTION OF A SMALL TOWN). BETTER TECHNOLOGY REPLACED THE NEED FOR THIS TYPE OF RECORD KEEPING AROUND 1998. COMPUTER DATA SYSTEMS HAVE REPLACED MOST HARD COPY RECORDS ON ACCOUNT THAT THE CALCULATIONS ARE DONE AUTOMATICALLY. ULTRASONIC SONAR METHODS HAVE SHORTENED THE TIME AND THE MANPOWER REQUIRED TO ACCURATELY RECORD WATER FLOW AND LEVEL FROM A 3-MAN CREW, TAKING 2-3 HOURS, TO A ONE MAN CREW, TAKING 5-10 MINUTES. THE CLIPBOARD WAS GIVEN TO DELOYD AT THE START OF HIS EMPLOYMENT AND WAS, THEREFORE, MADE DURING THE PERIOD OF PROVINCIAL OWNERSHIP OF THE IRRIGATION DISTRICT WHEN IT WAS CALLED THE ST. MARY AND MILK RIVERS DEVELOPMENT (SMRID).

Catalogue Number

P20010036006

Acquisition Date

2001-10

Collection

Museum

Less detail