CBC News - Dwindling water supply leaves some southern Alberta farmers dry
“Record-breaking high temperatures across southern Alberta, a lack of rain and evaporation in reservoirs have led to more than 30 water shortage advisories across the province. Farmers, ranchers, rural municipalities, cities, towns and villages have been told to cut back on water use.”
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Extended drought in southern Alberta is resulting in unprecedented impacts to local farmers and communities. This is an exceptional article which highlights the interconnectedness of water resources - demonstrating the domino effect that can occur when over-extraction of water from one river or reservoir results in the need to draw from other sources, which can then run dry themselves (“The Raymond Irrigation District says now that the St. Mary reservoir is virtually empty, they're now drawing on the Milk River Ridge reservoir, which is also at risk of running dry.”).
The article also features a few interesting comments on how we evaluate the sustainability of water resources under a changing climate. A rancher near Stevley, AB (Dyce Bolduc) notes that “he's looking ahead to next year and is hoping that the snowmelt from the mountains and spring rains return to normal, but then he stops to ponder what is normal. "I guess we'd say normal, but who's to say what the normal is now."
The network of hydrologic processes that constitute Canada’s water resources are being driven by long-term climatic trends into extreme states that wouldn’t historically been considered “normal”, and this poses an existential threat to Canadian society. There is an urgent need to understand how Canada’s water resources will react to climate change, so that we can secure a sustainable water supply in the coming decades and centuries. The Canada1Water project is designed to provide water resources professionals with the data and decision support tools that they need to achieve these goals.
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“Almost all of south, southeast and central Alberta are experiencing drought conditions, ranging from severe, extreme to exceptional, which is described as a 1-in-50-year event. Hot temperatures, lack of precipitation and evaporation have all contributed to dwindling water supplies in most reservoirs across southern Alberta. ”
The Oldman reservoir outflow at the Oldman dam is shown in this photo dated August 18, 2023. (Government of Alberta)
The Pine Coulee reservoir in the M.D. of Willow Creek is only 30-per-cent full. A hot, dry summer has triggered water restrictions for people who rely on the water for drinking and farm irrigation. (Bryan Labby/CBC News)