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.
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Compare and contrast: In water-stressed Singapore, a search for new solutions to keep the taps flowing
Associated Press
A crack of thunder booms as dozens of screens in a locked office flash between live video of cars splashing through wet roads, drains sapping the streets dry, and reservoirs collecting the precious rainwater across the tropical island of Singapore. A team of government employees intently monitors the water, which will be collected and purified for use by the country’s six million residents. Click here to continue reading
Compare and contrast: One of the world’s biggest cities may be just months away from running out of water
CNN
When they wash themselves, they capture the runoff to flush the toilet. It’s hard, he told CNN. “We need water, it’s essential for everything.” Water shortages are not uncommon in this neighborhood, but this time feels different, Gomez said. “Right now, we are getting this hot weather. It’s even worse, things are more complicated”. Click here to continue reading
Why drought on the prairies is making your steak more expensive
Calgary Herald
The business of beef is changing, in large part due to consecutive years of severe drought across North America’s main cattle-producing regions. From parched southern Alberta to water-scarce east Texas, ranchers have been downsizing their herds due to a lack of grass for grazing. Click here to continue reading
Compare and contrast: ‘It looked like we were at sea’: UK River and Rowing Museum faces up to climate threat
The Guardian
In January the museum, which Chipperfield designed on stilts due to its proximity to the Thames, came the closest it had come to flooding after water rose within 5cm (2in) of the building’s raised floor. Click here to continue reading
Compare and contrast: ‘Poisoned by chemicals’: citizen scientists prove River Avon is polluted
The Guardian
A citizen science programme has revealed the decline of one of the country’s most significant chalk streams after claims by Environment Agency officials that it had not deteriorated. The SmartRivers programme run by the charity WildFish, which surveys freshwater invertebrates, reported “strong declines in relation to chemical pressure” on the River Avon in Wiltshire. Click here to continue reading
Compare and contrast: US companies DuPont and Chemours generated extensive contamination with toxic “forever chemicals” in North Carolina: UN experts
UN Human Rights
American chemical companies DuPont and Chemours have discharged toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) into the local environment, completely disregarding the rights and wellbeing of residents along the lower Cape Fear River in North Carolina, UN experts said today. Click here to continue reading
Navigating Icy Roads and Road Salt for Drinking Water Health
Uppert Thames River Conservation Authority
Salt is commonly used to melt ice and reduce the risk created by icy conditions, but it also poses a significant threat to water quality. It’s important to ensure our use of salt doesn’t jeopardize the health of our groundwater and, with it, our drinking water. Click here to continue reading
Why this Ontario town created a bylaw for using bubblers in lakes
Cottage Life
While de-icers may protect structures, they can also endanger snowmobilers, wildlife, and other cottage-goers. In September 2023, the Township of Armour, enacted a bylaw regulating the use of de-icers. Click here to continue reading
Compare and contrast: White House is distributing $5.8 billion from the infrastructure law for water projects
Daily Commercial News
The Biden administration announced Tuesday that it is distributing another $5.8 billion for water infrastructure projects around the country. The new allocations will go to projects in all 50 states, bringing the total awarded to states for water infrastructure projects to $22 billion. Click here to continue reading
Compare and contrast: Administration announces $5.8 billion in funding to clean up nation’s drinking water, upgrade infrastructure
CNN
Projects underway in Pittsburgh – such as an effort to get rid of lead pipes – are among several across the country that are being funded through bipartisan 2021 legislation that designated $50 billion toward improving water infrastructure. Click here to continue reading