While the Alberta economy is fuelled by petroleum, it runs on water.
The Alberta Water Research Institute, now known as the Water Resources Strategic Area for Alberta Innovates – Energy and Environment Solutions, brought together a team of Alberta and international water experts to synthesize a wide array of data and information to develop a complete water budget for Alberta. This water budget was made by taking into account surface water and ground water resources, current and future water use, and the integration of green and blue water resources.
The collective work identifies research and information gaps and develops an overall approach to the mapping of water risk and vulnerability. The initiative captures the ‘virtual water’ content of economic activities in Alberta – as an example, the water embodied in agricultural goods for export internationally and domestically.
This initiative engaged a number of international experts in this field, and allows for capacity building in the use of new models and approaches to integrated watershed management and improved decision-making.
Through a series of six reports, the research has attempted to adopt a holistic approach towards understanding Alberta’s blue, green, fossil and virtual water and to answering the following questions:
A number of key learnings and insights have resulted from this collective work, including:
We provide Canadian educational resources on water practices to promote conservation and sustainability. Our team crafts current and relevant content, while encouraging feedback and engagement.
The Canada WaterPortal is a registered charity, #807121876RR0001
We recognize and respect the sovereignty of the Indigenous Peoples and communities on whose land our work takes place.
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