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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Bragg Creek beaver problem be damned! Groups turn flood risk into coexistence opportunity

PUBLISHED: 21 August 2023      Last Edited: 21 August 2023

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

PUBLISHED: 18 August 2023      Last Edited: 18 August 2023

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

Compare and Contrast: Scientists lament Southern Ocean ‘data desert’, just as climate crisis brings frightening changes

PUBLISHED: 18 August 2023      Last Edited: 18 August 2023

The Guardian

A chronic shortage of observations of the vast ocean surrounding Antarctica is hindering more accurate forecasts of the consequences of the climate crisis, a meeting of 300 scientists has concluded. Click here to continue reading

Investing in Alberta’s wetlands and watersheds

PUBLISHED: 18 August 2023      Last Edited: 18 August 2023

Government of Alberta

This year, Alberta’s government is providing $3.5 million to fund 22 projects in rural and urban communities through the Watershed Resiliency and Restoration Program. The funding is helping restore riverbanks and wetlands, protect streambanks and improve natural drainage among other projects. Click here to continue reading

Compare and Contrast: 25 Countries, Housing One-quarter of the Population, Face Extremely High Water Stress

PUBLISHED: 18 August 2023      Last Edited: 18 August 2023

World Resources Institute

New data from WRI’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas show that 25 countries — housing one-quarter of the global population — face extremely high water stress each year, regularly using up almost their entire available water supply. And at least 50% of the world’s population — around 4 billion people — live under highly water-stressed conditions for at least one month of the year.  Click here to continue reading

Lacombe tackling water loss

PUBLISHED: 17 August 2023      Last Edited: 17 August 2023

Red Deer Advocate

Billions of litres of treated drinking water are being lost in Canadian communities every year. The City of Lacombe is among those municipalities trying to get a handle on the problem and find ways to stem the flow of losses. Click here to continue reading

Our oceans are the warmest in recorded history. This is why it’s so concerning

PUBLISHED: 17 August 2023      Last Edited: 17 August 2023

CBC News

Our oceans are running a fever. And just like when we run a fever, it’s indicative that something is very wrong. On Monday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that July ocean temperatures were the hottest they’ve ever been. Click here to continue reading

Blue-green algae advisory issued for Alix Lake

PUBLISHED: 17 August 2023      Last Edited: 17 August 2023

Red Deer Advocate

Blue-green algae has been found in Alix Lake and prompted an advisory from Alberta Health Services. AHS issued the advisory on Monday, telling visitors and residents to the lake that they should avoid all contact with blooms, avoid swimming or wading where blooms are visible and avoid giving fish from the lake to pets. Click here to continue reading

90% of Great Lakes water samples have unsafe microplastic levels – report

PUBLISHED: 17 August 2023      Last Edited: 17 August 2023

The Guardian

About 90% of water samples taken over the last 10 years from the Great Lakes contain microplastic levels that are unsafe for wildlife, a new peer-reviewed paper from the University of Toronto finds. Click here to continue reading

Water conservation plan initiated in Lethbridge and area

PUBLISHED: 17 August 2023      Last Edited: 17 August 2023

CTV News

The City of Lethbridge is asking residents and business owners to cut down on their water usage in the midst of drought-like conditions. Officials announced the measures on Thursday as “extended dry, hot weather conditions” are having an impact on southern Alberta’s water supplies. All of the rules are voluntary, the city said, and will work to prevent a mandatory conservation plan in the future. Click here to continue reading

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