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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Compare and Contrast: To the delight of eager U.K. ecologists, London welcomes its first baby beaver in centuries
CBC News
A baby beaver was spotted splashing about with its parents in the stark, black-and-white video recording captured by cameras set up around its habitat. The baby, known as a kit, is believed to be the first to be born in the area in hundreds of years. Click here to continue reading
Compare and Contrast: How the US supreme court and an Idaho couple upended wetlands protection
The Guardian
Often dismissed as dismal wet bogs and rampantly cleared since European arrival in the US, the underappreciated importance of wetlands has been placed into sharp relief by a supreme court ruling that has plunged many of these ecosystems into new peril. Click here to continue reading
Hillhurst, Edgemont, Silver Springs, downtown core hit by water main breaks
CTV News
Many Calgarians weren’t getting any water when they turned on the taps Saturday, due to numerous water main outages and breaks. That included troubles Saturday in a number of Beltine-area communities, as well as Edgemont, Hillhurst, Silver Springs and the downtown core. Trucks with water tanks were brought in to provide a temporary supply until water is restored. Click here to continue reading
Olds, Alta., issues boil water advisory after power failure at water treatment plant
CBC News
A boil water advisory is in place in the town of Olds, Alta. after a power failure was reported at the Mountain View Regional Water Services Commission water treatment plant, located on the banks of the Red Deer River. Click here to continue reading
Compare and Contrast: More than 4,000 English flood defences ‘almost useless’, analysis finds
The Guardian
More than 4,000 of England’s vital flood defences are so damaged they are almost useless, including hundreds in areas battered by Storm Babet. Nearly 800 critical assets – defined as those where there is a high risk to life and property – were in a “poor” or “very poor” condition in the 10 English counties worst affected by last week’s historic downpours. Click here to continue reading
Compare and Contrast: US Halloween pumpkin crop hit by extreme weather and lack of water
The Guardian
For some pumpkin growers in states such as Texas, New Mexico and Colorado, this year’s pumpkin crop was a reminder of the water challenges hitting agriculture across the south-west and west as human-caused climate change exacerbates drought and heat extremes. Click here to continue reading
Compare and contrast: The Rio Grande isn’t just a border – it’s a river in crisis
The Conversation US
The Rio Grande is one of the longest rivers in North America, running some 1,900 miles (3,060 kilometers) from the Colorado Rockies southeast to the Gulf of Mexico. It provides fresh water for seven U.S. and Mexican states, and forms the border between Texas and Mexico, where it is known as the Río Bravo del Norte. The river is in decline, suffering from overuse, drought and contentious water rights negotiations. Click here to continue reading
Compare and contrast: Collaborative water management can be a building block for peace between Israelis and Palestinians
The Conversation US
Water is a central element of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israel controls several water pipelines entering Gaza, much as it controls most of life there. But water can also be a source of hope for an alternative future. Click here to continue reading
Do or dye: Synthetic colors in wastewater pose a threat to food chains worldwide
Science Daily
Dyes widely used in the textile, food and pharmaceutical industries pose a pressing threat to plant, animal and human health, as well as natural environments around the world, a new study has found. Billions of tons of dye-containing wastewater enter water systems every year, and a group of researchers say that new sustainable technologies including new membrane-based nano-scale filtration are needed to solve the issue, adding that legislation is needed to compel industrial producers to eliminate colorants before they reach public sewage systems or waterways. Click here to continue reading
Alta. vows to tackle water shortages
The Western Producer
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says there will be public engagement on how to best manage provincial water supplies as the situation threatens to become worse if moisture levels in southern Alberta don’t improve. Click here to continue reading