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.
Subscribe here for the free service Weekly Newsletter, or follow the WaterPortal on your preferred social media platform.
Compare and Contrast: Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria hit by fatal flash floods
The Guardian
At least 11 people have died in Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria as flash floods from torrential rainstorms turned rivers into torrents, swept away bridges and inundated streets, homes and public buildings. Click here to continue reading
Prince Rupert council approves borrowing for infrastructure replacement
Water Canada
Prince Rupert is edging closer to having the funds needed for an ambitious plan to replace the most critical 26 km of our water and sewer infrastructure. Now that the deadline has passed for the Alternative Approval Process with 47, and 48 respondents (respectively for the two bylaws) of the over 1000 required to register their opposition to borrowing, Council passed final readings of two borrowing bylaws last night. Click here to continue reading
Nova Scotia seeks input on Protected Areas Strategy
Water Canada
Nova Scotians are invited to help shape the approach for protecting 20 per cent of the province’s land and water by 2030. The input will be used to develop the Nova Scotia Collaborative Protected Areas Strategy, which will outline how the Province will achieve its 2030 land and water conservation goal and identify next steps. Click here to continue reading
P.E.I. salmon streams get boost from new watershed project
CBC News
A watershed group on P.E.I. hopes it will be smoother swimming for salmon returning to spawn this fall, thanks to a new pilot project run in partnership with the Canadian Wildlife and the Atlantic Salmon federations. The Souris and Area Branch of the P.E.I. Wildlife Federation is leading the project, which builds on work that’s already been done in Western Canada while adapting it to the unique conditions in the province. Click here to continue reading
Water-quality risks linked more to social factors than money
Science Daily
When we determine which communities are more likely to get their water from contaminated supplies, median household income is not the best measure. That’s according to a recent study that found social factors — such as low population density, high housing vacancy, disability and race — can have a stronger influence than median household income on whether a community’s municipal water supply is more likely to have health-based water-quality violations. Click here to continue reading
Ontario mayor calls for coordinated action on coastal resilience from province, feds
CBC News
Tecumseh and other municipalities such as Lakeshore and Chatham-Kent have completed studies detailing the expensive efforts needed to protect people who have property along an eroding shoreline that’s being pounded by destructive storms. Click here to continue reading
World Water Week Participants Promote Clear Business Case for Nature-Based Solutions
UN Environment Programme
Drought is an increasingly urgent and systemic problem. More than a quarter of the global population live in countries facing extremely high water stress, exacerbated by climate change, with expected shocks to food and energy security, water availability and ecosystems. Click here to continue reading
Compare and Contrast: Groundwater depletion rates in India could triple in coming decades as climate warms, study shows
Science Daily
A new study finds that farmers in India have adapted to warming temperatures by intensifying the withdrawal of groundwater used for irrigation. If the trend continues, the rate of groundwater loss could triple by 2080, further threatening India’s food and water security. Reduced water availability in India due to groundwater depletion and climate change could threaten the livelihoods of more than one-third of the country’s 1.4 billion residents and has global implications. Click here to continue reading
Antarctica’s ice shelves are thinner than we thought. Here’s what that means for sea levels
CTV News
New research has found that previous studies on the Antarctic ice shelves may have overestimated their thickness, an important factor for scientists to determine how fast sea levels could rise. Researchers from Ohio State University say in a study published in the Journal of Glaciology last month that previous estimates were off by almost six per cent on average, amounting to a difference of about 17 metres. Click here to continue reading
Compare and Contrast: State-backed disinformation fuelling anger in China over Fukushima water
The Guardian
Japan began its release of more than 1m tonnes of water on 24 August. The process, which is expected to take decades, has been approved by the UN atomic watchdog and mirrors similar wastewater releases by other countries including China. However, several countries have expressed concerns or objections, with China and Hong Kong announcing bans on importing Japanese seafood. Click here to continue reading