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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Southern Alberta drought putting pressure on residential water supply
Global News
The drought in southern Alberta has triggered a water restriction for the Town of Claresholm, the Hamlet of Granum, and the entire M.D. of Willow Creek. The area is under a Stage 2 water shortage response plan. Click here to continue reading
Compare and Contrast: Drought leaves millions in Uruguay without tap water fit for drinking
The Guardian
More than half of Uruguay’s 3.5 million citizens are without access to tap water fit for drinking, and experts say the situation could continue for months. Click here to continue reading
Compare and Contrast: How a Saudi firm tapped a gusher of water in drought-stricken Arizona
The Washington Post
Lax rules let the foreign-owned company pump water from state land to grow alfalfa for the kingdom’s cattle. After almost a decade, the deal is in jeopardy. Click here to continue reading
Compare and Contrast: Asia floods: Death toll climbs in severe monsoon season
BBC News
More than 100 people have died across Asia this month as the vast region experiences an intense monsoon season. The past fortnight has seen extreme rain that has caused floods and landslides across several countries including India, China and Japan. Click here to continue reading
It just kind of crept up on us
The Western Producer
The use of irrigation in Alberta’s Eastern Irrigation District has had a transformational effect on the landscape since the Canadian Pacific Railway first began the project of bringing water to the parched landscape of southeastern Alberta in the early 20th century. Click here to continue reading
Compare and contrast: Climate change is increasing stress on thousands of aging dams across the US
The Conversation (US)
There are more than 91,000 dams across the U.S. The average dam age is 60 years and more than 8,000 dams are over 90 years old. The most recent American Society of Civil Engineers’ report card for the nation’s infrastructure gave U.S. dams an overall “D” grade and estimated that more than 2,300 high hazard potential dams (those whose failure could cause loss of life or serious property damage) lacked emergency action plans. Click here to continue reading
Drought conditions at highest level in parts of B.C. as province warns of tightening water restrictions
CBC News
Two-thirds of the province’s water basins are now at Level 4 or 5 drought. Leaders in British Columbia are sounding the alarm about looming water scarcity and future use restrictions as drought levels in parts of the province have been elevated to the most severe end of the scale. Click here to continue reading
Receding water levels a concern for Gull Lake, Alta.
Global News
Residents of Gull Lake, Alta., are concerned about drastically receding water levels and are trying to come up with creative solutions to refill the popular lake. Click here to continue reading
Compare and contrast: Meltwater is hydro-fracking Greenland’s ice sheet through millions of hairline cracks – destabilizing its internal structure
The Conversation (Global)
As glacial meltwater funnels into moulins, it bores a complex network of tunnels through the ice sheet that extend many hundreds of meters down to the ice sheet bed. When it reaches the subglacial drainage system it has major consequences for the thermodynamics and flow of the overlying ice sheet. A 2022 study found that even if atmospheric warming stopped now, at least 27 centimetres of sea level rise is inevitable because of Greenland’s imbalance with its past two decades of climate. Click here to continue reading
Compare and contrast: 920 million people could face conflict over the world’s rivers by 2050: what our study found in Africa
The Conversation (Africa)
Africa has 66 transboundary river basins. Hundreds of rivers are shared between two or more countries. Sharing waters can be a source of cooperation or conflict. This depends on economic, cultural and institutional conditions. Click here to continue reading