The government of Saskatchewan says it is “moving forward with constructing” a $1.15-billion irrigation project, despite having never completed or publicly released a feasibility study that was supposed to examine whether it is a good use of public money.

Earlier this year, Premier Scott Moe announced “we will begin construction of the early works” of the project in 2025.

That has critics worried that the government may be launching an ill-thought-out mega-project — spending more than a billion dollars to benefit just a handful of farmers.

Robert Halliday, a leading water resource engineer who has extensively studied the Saskatchewan river basin, says the lack of transparency has him worried.

“Faith in government is plummeting,” he said. “This kind of stuff just gives government a bad name.”