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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Helpful hints to tend to your garden during a heat wave and drought
CBC News
Tending to your vegetable garden should be a relaxing endeavour but it might become stressful if your plants are parched and are suffering from the intense heat. Click here to continue reading
Farmers in B.C. brace for fish-protection water restrictions
The Western Producer
The crop situation in British Columbia is dire as drought and fire continue to plague much of the province and rivers that provide irrigation are drying up, according to the executive director of B.C. Agriculture Council. Click here to continue reading
Farmers play the thunderstorm lottery
The Western Producer
From May until early August, almost all rain that fell on southern Manitoba came from thunderstorms. There hadn’t been a widespread rain for months — until the weekend of Aug. 12. The rain’s arrival is too late for crops like wheat and oats, but the precipitation should provide a boost for corn and soybean yields in Manitoba. Click here to continue reading
Compare and Contrast: Drinking water of millions of Americans contaminated with ‘forever chemicals’
The Guardian
Drinking water consumed by millions of Americans from hundreds of communities spread across the United States is contaminated with dangerous levels of toxic chemicals, according to testing data released on Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Click here to continue reading
Cleaning water with ‘smart rust’ and magnets
Science Daily
Pouring flecks of rust into water usually makes it dirtier. But researchers have developed special iron oxide nanoparticles called ‘smart rust’ that actually makes it cleaner. The magnetic nanoparticles attract different pollutants by changing the particles’ coating and are removed from water with a magnet. Now, the team is reporting a smart rust that traps estrogen hormones, which are potentially harmful to aquatic life. Click here to continue reading
Collecting clean water from fog
Science Daily
Researchers have demonstrated the use of a specially coated metal mesh to harvest water from fog and simultaneously remove pollutants. People living in foggy areas with low rainfall should benefit from this technology. Click here to continue reading
City of Lethbridge asking residents to conserve water
Global News
Southern Alberta has been experiencing dry, hot weather and it’s taking a toll on water supplies in the region. The city is now asking for voluntary action from residents to help prevent the need for mandatory restrictions in the coming days and weeks. Click here to continue reading
Low water and high temperatures threaten fish and other wetland species
CTV News
The long, hot summer and exceptionally low water levels have combined to leave some Alberta rivers dry or so warm that trout and other aquatic species are struggling to survive. Lesley Peterson, a biologist with Trout Unlimited Canada, says field teams are finding stretches of tributary rivers and streams that have gone completely dry. Click here to continue reading
Bragg Creek beaver problem be damned! Groups turn flood risk into coexistence opportunity
CBC News
From the gravel on Mountain Road you can see the beaver’s work. There’s pools of water held back by stacks of twigs and branches. And headed into the thick of the woods, more of these animal-made dams. It’s a pretty sight cast against the West Bragg Creek scenery. The beavers really settled into the region after the 2013 flood. When these well-meaning engineers move in, they start working. Beavers are a bit compulsive: they hear flowing water, and have to block it up. Click here to continue reading
Compare and Contrast: ‘Coral are going to die’: Maui wildfires take toxic toll on marine ecology
The Guardian
Layers of charred soils and toxic contaminants were left among the wreckage, where thousands of buildings and blackened cars lie in smoldering ruins. The conflagration that claimed more lives than any other US wildfire in the last century burned to the shoreline, littering underwater habitats with scorched boats and debris. The ashen aftermath could end up wreaking more havoc if allowed to slip into the aquatic environment. Click here to continue reading