CBC News - Flooding rain across Prairies may not be enough to end prolonged drought conditions
Last summer the Prairie provinces saw the worst drought conditions that they had seen in over 70 years. This June has been marked by significant precipitation across the Prairies. Does this mean the drought is over? Unfortunately, not… Despite the incredible rainfall, drought conditions continue throughout Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Meteorologist Christy Climenhaga continues to illuminate the water issues impacting Western Canada in her latest article for CBC News.
Click here to read the article.
“Just because conditions have been improving doesn’t mean that all the drought impacts from last year are resolved[.] Those heavy rainfalls tend to runoff a lot more and get into the water supply and not benefit our groundwater, our reserves and soil moisture,” Hadwen says.
”Plant communities take longer to continue to develop and to replenish and to revert to what they should be at a mature state[.] So even in areas of Manitoba that have flooding, we’re still dealing with all those same [drought] issues[...] Certainly in the western Prairies right now where we don’t have that good subsurface moisture built up, we’re going to be back into a drought situation with two or three weeks of warm, dry conditions.”