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Location of Clear Hills County in Alberta — Clear Hills County within Alberta

Farming in Clear Hills County, Alberta: Water, Wells and Frost-Free Days

If you run a working farm in Clear Hills County, four things set your season: how much water you can count on, how long the frost-free window is, which fields are wet or regulated, and what it costs to fix them. County figures are a starting point for a farm plan. They are not a parcel survey.

Newer grain and forage farms on cleared land, with cattle and bison. Clearing, drainage, and distance define the economics.

Well depth and water table for farm operators

Nearby well records suggest completed wells around 45 m deep in Clear Hills County, with static water levels often in the 7–22 m range. The predominant aquifer on file is Dunvegan and Shaftesbury bedrock with surficial sands. The depth and static-level figures are regional estimates from typical Alberta well records in this belt, not a surveyed water table on your parcel.

Clear Hills is the northwest farming frontier around Hines Creek, Worsley, and Cleardale. Groundwater is uneven: sand and gravel aquifers serve some farms, while shale areas push operators to dugouts.

For livestock, plan for peak summer demand and for winter freeze-up. For irrigation, a well rarely replaces a licensed surface source, and diverting water for irrigation generally needs a Water Act licence. Only a pump test tells you yield, and a county average does not.

Livestock: a frost-free pasture waterer keeps cattle off dugout and creek edges all winter.
Irrigation: compare center pivot irrigation with general agricultural irrigation before you commit.
Deeper background: water table in Clear Hills County.

Frost-free days and hardiness zone

Clear Hills County is generally treated as hardiness zone 2a, with a frost-free window on the order of 95 days. The zone is read from the Natural Resources Canada plant hardiness map (4th edition, 1991–2020 normals) at a representative quarter; frost dates are a regional table keyed by zone, not a logger on your fence.

Zone 2b with a frost-free window around 92 days from long daylight. Early frost in late August is common.

Match variety maturity to the shorter, colder number, not the longer one. After an early harvest, a cover crop needs seed in the ground fast, and a 4R nitrogen plan helps you time inputs to the season you actually get. More on the zone: hardiness zone in Clear Hills County.

Wetlands, sloughs, and flood limits on the field

Wetland density in Clear Hills County is best described as high. Notable mapped or commonly discussed flood-hazard areas include Peace River valley, Notikewin River, Hines Creek and Worsley lowlands.

Muskeg and boreal wetlands are extensive and regulated; clearing new land requires provincial approvals.

Alberta regulates changes to wetlands and watercourses. Draining, filling, or ditching a wet area can require approval under the Water Act, even when it looks like a low spot in a field. Read the Alberta wetland policy guide before you order a ditcher, and price field drainage only after you know what is allowed.

Work packages farm operators ask about

Check grant fit before you spend

Alberta's producer programs run through Sustainable CAP, with streams for water, landscapes, efficiency, and value-added work. The federal On-Farm Climate Action Fund has supported nitrogen management, cover crops, and rotational grazing. Rates, caps, and intake change, so use the grant eligibility quiz to see what may apply, then confirm with the program administrator.

Sampled data for Clear Hills County

From a Land Intelligence report run on a representative quarter in Township 88, Range 6, W6. These are measured or record-based values for that location, shown to put the county figures above in context. They are not your parcel.

Median completed depth21.3 m27 records within 5 km of the sample

Middle half of wells10.7–32.8 mshallowest 3.4 m · deepest 97.5 m

Median static level4.0 mbelow ground, where recorded

Frost windowJun 1 – Sep 5regional table for zone 2a

Growing degree days1250base 5 °C

Precipitation445 mm/yr30-year normal at the sample point

Fixed south array yield1244 kWh/kWp/yrlatitude tilt, rough feasibility only

Annual insolation1595.1 kWh/m²global, horizontal

Soil at the sampleLoamDark Gray Chernozemics, Dark Gray - Gray Luvisols

Farmland value context$2,565/acretransfer average, FCC-trend adjusted; not an appraisal

Each dot is one provincial well record near the sampled quarter: distance across, completed depth down (deeper is lower). Hover a dot for its values. The dashed line is the median. Records are shown by distance only; no locations are published.

Horizontal irradiance by month from the report pipeline's insolation tables at the sample point. June and December are labelled; the ratio between them sizes an off-grid battery bank.

Neighbouring counties: MD of Fairview (64 km) · MD of Peace (81 km) · County of Northern Lights (86 km) · MD of Spirit River (89 km) · Compare Clear Hills County with another county

Sampled from the live report pipeline at a representative quarter in Township 88, Range 6, W6 on 2026-10-08: hardiness zone, solar irradiance (27 well records within 15 km). Kept as regional estimates: well depth (only 27 nearby records at the sample point). Text reviewed 2026-10-09. Methodology.

Common questions

How deep are farm wells in Clear Hills County?

Nearby records point to roughly 45 m as a planning figure. Your parcel can differ a lot, so a pump test matters more than the county average.

How long is the growing season in Clear Hills County?

Plan around about 95 frost-free days, then check your own field for frost pockets and shorter windows.

Do I need approval to drain a wet field in Clear Hills County?

Often, when a wetland or watercourse is involved. Confirm with Alberta Environment and Protected Areas before you dig.