The Hill Times - Canadian Drought Monitor reports extreme or severe drought conditions in large areas of British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan
“Periodic droughts are a normal occurrence in the semi-arid Prairies. Yet there is a new factor that may makes them both more frequent and more severe: climate change. This has big implications for Canada’s potential to feed itself, and to help meet a food-short world in the years ahead. This will require much greater attention to water security, soil health and to sustainable agricultural practices, including regenerative agriculture.”
Click here to read the article in The Hill Times (paywall)
A terrific article in the Hill Times this week highlights the mounting stress that climate change is exerting on Canada’s water resources, and the mounting need for a consistent national approach to addressing water vulnerability. The increasing frequency and intensity of drought in the Canadian Prairies is exerting serious stress on food security and national security.
There is an urgent need for a co-ordinated national effort to better understand and quantify the impact that climate change is having on drought frequency and intensity across Canada. The Canada1Water project (which is soon approaching the end of it’s initial research and development phase) represents one such national effort to analyze the impacts that climate change on our national water resources, providing decision makers, policy analysists and community planners with simple tools to help with the critical work of ensuring a sustainable water supply in the coming decades and centuries.
Click here to read the article in The Hill Times (paywall)
“Canada, as [the National Agri-Food Water Action Plan] said, has long neglected a serious approach to water security and management. While provincial and other agencies across the country have various research projects and assessments, this work is far from co-ordinated, and there are no common standards. Yet, as the [Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute] says, “water security underpins food security and national security, and should be considered a strategic asset. Without adequate availability and quality of water, food production and export are impossible.””
“The need for water security in the Prairies is a key part of the challenge if we also want food security. But, ultimately, this is an issue facing almost every part of the country. No time for complacency.”
Southwestern Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada, pictured. As the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute says, 'the challenges facing agriculture and food underscore the need for a new social contract,' writes David Crane. Photograph courtesy of by Reinhard Pienitz, Laval University, Quebec City, Canada