CBC News: Historically low water level on Bow River concerning, water scientist says
John Pomeroy (Canada Research Chair in Water Resources and Climate Change) and Paul Christensen (Alberta Environment and Parks) discuss the historically low water levels in the Bow River in this story from CBC News Calgary.
The article does a great job of speaking to the interconnectedness of groundwater and surface water systems, and highlighting the threats that climate change pose to our waterways.
“The water level should be about twice as high as it is right now”, he said, pointing to exposed sandbars that would normally be submerged. “The reason it’s so low has to do with reduced groundwater discharging into the river”, he said, “which in turn is because the summer of 2021 was so hot and dry and created drought conditions. If the drought stretches through next year, it could become challenging to supply southern Alberta’s irrigation districts and its communities.”
Pomeroy says the targets for limiting global warming set at the recent COP26 conference in Glasgow will not be sufficient to stop the Rocky Mountain glaciers from melting. And that will create huge water management problems for Alberta in the future, he said. “Our drought regulator, the glaciers, which melt faster in drought years and accumulate snow in cold years, will be gone. And then we’re going to have to prioritize who gets water to drink, who gets water for growing food,” he said.
”We have to get climate change under control or our water resources will become more and more fragile.”