Water News
Alberta Water News is a free, subscription-based service that provides the latest information on water news across Alberta and upcoming events.
The news is distributed weekly on Mondays via a collated email and Monday to Friday via WaterPortal social media (X was Twitter). Please note that news will not be distributed on Holiday Mondays and will be released the following Tuesday.
Subscribe here for the free service, or follow the WaterPortal on your preferred social media platform.
Compare and contrast: Climate Change Contributes to Shift in Lake Erie’s Harmful Algal Blooms
Inside Climate News
Algal blooms occur when cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, grow out of control due to a combination of excess nutrients, weather patterns and other ecological factors. The blooms can be a serious public health problem because some types of cyanobacteria produce toxins. Click here to read the story.
Click the following link for more information on Climate and Severe Weather.
Compare and contrast: Northern Scotland’s Flow Country becomes world heritage site
The Guardian
Planet’s largest blanket bog is first peatland to be designated by Unesco after a 40-year campaign by environmentalists. Click here to read the story.
Star Blanket Cree Nation lifts long-term drinking water advisory
Water Canada
A new state-of-the-art water treatment plant is providing clean drinking water to all homes and supporting Star Blanket Cree Nation in living without a drinking water advisory for the first time in over 17 years. The community’s dedication and commitment to providing clean, safe drinking water has helped them to lift the boil water advisory that had been in effect since 2007 for the 300 residents living on reserve. Click here to read the story.
Click the following link for more information on Infrastructure.
Compare and contrast: Great Salt Lake a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions
Science Daily
Newly announced research examining greenhouse gas emissions from the drying lake bed of Great Salt Lake, Utah, calculates that 4.1 million tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases were released in 2020. This research suggests that drying lake beds are an overlooked but potentially significant source of greenhouse gases, which may further increase due to climate change. Click here to read the story.
Click the following link for more information on Climate and Severe Weather.
Toronto seeks to make commercial and industrial sectors pay for stormwater runoff
National Observer
After last week’s severe storm and flooding, Toronto’s controversial stormwater charge, dubbed “the rain tax” by critics, has resurfaced at city council with a motion by mayor Olivia Chow. Click here to read the story.
To address the growing issue of microplastics in the Great Lakes, we need to curb our consumption
The Conversation – Canada
In the Great Lakes, plastic pollution along the shorelines poses a major challenge: 86 per cent of litter collected on Great Lakes beaches is either partially or completely composed of plastic. This is worrisome, given the lakes supply 40 million people with drinking water and represent a combined GDP of US$6 trillion. Click here to read the story.
‘Containment breached’: how an oil spill in northwest Toronto made its way to Lake Ontario
The Narwhal
Last summer, contaminated sludge from a fire at a chemical plant reached Lake Ontario. The spill report raises questions about what the province told the public. Click here to read the story.
Canada’s premiers forced to confront escalating climate change-related disasters
The Canadian Press
As Canada’s premiers reckoned with housing, health care and their contentious relationship with Ottawa during meetings last week in Halifax, many of them remained consumed by climate change-related natural disasters that have only escalated since they returned home. Click here to read the story.
Click the following link for more information on Climate and Severe Weather.
Ducks Unlimited Canada releases field guide to Yukon’s valuable wetlands
Water Canada
As a companion resource supporting the Yukon government’s Policy for Stewardship of Yukon’s Wetlands, this comprehensive guide provides detailed information to help users identify and classify the various wetland types found across the Yukon. Click here to read the story.
Compare and contrast: Waters along Bar Harbor, Acadia home to billions of microplastics
Science Daily
Researchers reveal there are an estimated 400 billion microplastic fibers on the surface of Frenchman Bay, which borders Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park in Maine, and several connected rivers and estuaries where freshwater from rivers meet salty seawater. Click here to read the story.