Water News
Please note, the daily news can now be found at our new website, waterportal.ca . We will no longer be updating this page, as this website will be removed in the coming weeks. All of our content can be found at our new website, with a modern look and better functionality on all your devices.
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: Why Have Record-Breaking Rains Drenched the Carolinas and Europe?
Both Central Europe and eastern North Carolina have seen torrential downpours and devastating flooding in recent days – with 18 inches in certain locations of each region. Click here to read the story.
Click the following link for more information on Flood.
Compare and contrast: South Africa’s Gauteng province launches water data hub – residents can now keep track of shortages and repair issues
The Conversation – Africa
Caroline Southey from The Conversation Africa put questions to Craig Sheridan, the director of the Centre in Water Research and Development at the University of the Witwatersrand, about the creation of a new platform, or dashboard, that features up-to-date information about the Integrated Vaal River System, which feeds the region. The aim is to keep residents informed and authorities accountable. Click here to read the story.
Clean water for First Nations needed before next elections, House committee hears
National Observer
MP Charlie Angus, who represents the Neskantaga First Nation, 436 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, told a federal committee the community’s pipes are rotting. Click here to read the story.
Click the following link for more information on Governance.
Metro Vancouver moves forward with North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant audit
Water Canada
Metro Vancouver has taken a key step toward an independent review of the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant Program by retaining John J.L. Hunter, K.C., a retired judge and founder of Hunter Litigation Chambers, to advise the Metro Vancouver Board. Click here to read the story.
Click the following link for more information on Infrastructure.
Dam dreams loom large over East Coast energy future
National Observer
In Labrador, a proposed hydro dam twice the size of British Columbia’s Site C megaproject, looms large over the East Coast’s energy future. The project is called Gull Island, and it is a beast. Gull Island would be built about 300 kilometres from the Quebec border on Labrador’s Churchill River. The hydro plant would generate 2,250 megawatts (MW) of electricity – roughly the equivalent of five million solar panels or enough power for more than 1.5 million homes. Click here to read the story.
Click the following link for more information on Infrastructure.
Turning seawater into fresh water through solar power
Science Daily
Researchers at the University of Waterloo have designed an energy-efficient device that produces drinking water from seawater using an evaporation process driven largely by the sun. Click here to read the story.
Repaired Calgary feeder main expected to be filled in 3 days, officials say
CTV News
Calgary officials say the filling of the repaired feeder main is expected to begin Tuesday after weather conditions delayed work this week. In an update on Monday afternoon, officials said rain through the weekend delayed work. Click here to read the story.
Click the following link for more information on Infrastructure.
‘Not that simple’: Trump drags Canadian river into California’s water problems
CTV News
Tricia Stadnyk, an environmental engineering professor at the University of Calgary who has researched continental water resource supply and is also a Canadian research chair in hydrologic modelling, says it’s “not that simple.” “To me, it’s an uninformed opinion. It’s somebody that doesn’t fully understand how water works and doesn’t understand the intricacies of allocating water not only between two countries but also for the environment,” Stadnyk said. Click here to read the story.
Click the following link for more information on Governance.
Will B.C.’s massive new Site C dam on the Peace River have downstream impacts on Alberta?
CBC
At a construction cost of $16 billion, the Site C hydroelectric dam and reservoir on the Peace River in northeastern British Columbia is the most expensive public infrastructure project in the province’s history. But as the dam gets closer to going into operation, worries persist – in Alberta and beyond – that it could lower water levels in the Peace and other rivers downstream. Click here to read the story.
Click the following link for more information on Infrastructure.
Compare and contrast: Is pollution in England’s rivers really getting worse? There’s more good news than you might think
The Guardian
Many rivers in England are polluted, but we need to recognise that this is not an emerging issue but a much longer-standing one that has been largely ignored by the media and politicians for decades. Click here to read the story.