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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Solar powered irrigation: A game-changer for small-scale farms in sub-Saharan Africa
Science Daily
A new study finds that standalone solar photovoltaic irrigation systems have the potential to meet more than a third of the water needs for crops in small-scale farms across sub-Saharan Africa. Click here to continue reading
Compare and Contrast: China bans Japanese seafood after Fukushima wastewater release
The Guardian
Japan has begun discharging more than 1m tonnes of tainted water into the Pacific Ocean from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in a move that has prompted China to announce an immediate blanket ban on all seafood imports from Japan and sparked anger in nearby fishing communities. Click here to continue reading
Alta. irrigators cautioned as water levels worsen
The Western Producer
Alberta is elevating its water shortage rating to Stage 4 of its five-level conservation and management system as municipalities and irrigation districts are stressing the need not to waste any of the resource because of the conditions along the South Saskatchewan basin. Click here to continue reading
Compare and Contrast: Southern California’s ‘water doctor’ pushes for transformation to adapt to climate change
Los Angeles Times
As general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Hagekhalil is responsible for ensuring water for 19 million people, leading the nation’s largest wholesale supplier of drinking water. He says that with climate change upending the water cycle, the three existing aqueducts will no longer be sufficient. Click here to continue reading
Microplastics now pervasive in Great Lakes, with 90% of water samples surpassing safe levels for aquatic wildlife: new studies
International Institute for Sustainable Development
However, if Canada and the United States act together soon, we can develop systems to monitor and reduce the risks that these pollutants pose to the health of these critical ecosystems. Click here to continue reading
Heavy rain aids in tempering B.C. wildfires in Shuswap, Okanagan regions
CTV News
Firefighters in British Columbia’s southern Interior continue to battle a number of major blazes, having been aided by ample rainfall that fell Wednesday over the Okanagan and Shuswap regions. Click here to continue reading
Canadian hydroelectric megaproject completes earthfill dam
Ground Engineering
Canadian electric utility BC Hydro announced the completion of the Site C earthfill dam at the end of last month. The 60m tall structure is 500m wide at its base and stretches more than 1km across Peace River in north east British Columbia. Site C will form a third dam and hydroelectric generating station on the river. Once completed in 2025, it will provide 1,100MW of capacity and produce about 5,100GWh of electricity each year. Construction on the project began in 2015. Click here to continue reading
Compare and Contrast: Murray-Darling Basin Plan to be extended under a new agreement, without Victoria – but an uphill battle lies ahead
The Conversation – Australia + New Zealand
It was clear too much water was being taken out of the system and everyone would suffer if Basin states could not find a better way to share. But it has been much harder to strike the right balance than first hoped. Click here to continue reading
Reusing some household water can help with drought. Here’s why that’s tricky in Canada
CBC News
For a while, every time Caetano Dorea’s kids took a bath, he used a bilge pump to save the water and pour it on his plants outside. As a University of Victoria engineering professor specializing in wastewater treatment, Dorea knows more than the average person about how much water the average household uses in Canada. Click here to continue reading
Compare and Contrast: ‘Coastal squeeze:’ Massive loss of U.S. coastline tidal flats over 31 years
Science Daily
The entire contiguous U.S. has experienced massive urban expansions and the Atlantic Coast shows outstandingly high rates. Urban expansion has substantially squeezed the space of tidal flats and affected surrounding environments. In new urban areas, tidal flats have undergone considerable degeneration with more significant patterns as they get closer to new urban locations. Tidal flats protect against the ocean’s destructive powers such as hurricanes. Without some inland spaces to move around, they will likely disappear, which will have dire consequences for beachfront communities. Click here to continue reading