Achi news desk-
Alberta irrigation district managers are proposing a $5 billion plan for water storage and conservation in the province’s south as the region faces increasingly tight supplies of the vital resource.
“Water is so variable,” said Margo Redelback of the Alberta Irrigation Districts Association, which commissioned the report containing the recommendations.
“Climate change is going to make that more diverse, so it’s important for us to be thinking about what we should consider.”
The report focuses on the South Saskatchewan River basin, which covers most of southern Alberta and includes other major rivers such as the Bow, the Red Deer and the Oldman. It is home to 1.8 million people, as well as almost all of the state’s irrigated farms and major water users such as beef processing plants.
The report, which brought together 40 different organizations to arrive at its recommendations, looked at the fate of those rivers as climate change continues to move Alberta into a hotter, drier era.
Barring extreme scenarios where glaciers no longer feed the basin, Redelback said southern Alberta will continue to have plenty of water. But it probably comes at different times of the year, or it drains away as runoff instead of being slowly released by melting ice or snow.
Under all warming scenarios, late summer water flows are predicted to be lower. That comes as the region’s population is expected to grow.
“It’s really about timing,” Redelback said. “We’re going to have more varied water fall.
“For that reason, there are large potential storage projects that could be considered.”
The report proposes eight projects that would either improve and expand existing reservoirs or build new ones, for a total of about $5 billion.
The two most expensive, at an estimated $1.5 billion each, would be new dams and reservoirs for the Bow River near Brooks in the southeast and the Red Deer River near Alberta’s central city of Red Deer. The province has already committed about $10 million to study those projects.
The report proposes a 20-year timetable for the realization of all its proposals.
The report also proposes the construction and conservation of wetlands, which as well as providing wildlife habitat and carbon storage, store water and slow it down before it runs off.
Redelback acknowledged that the projects will have to be carefully managed to keep enough water in rivers and streams for environmental needs.
“There are probably some challenges in some places with some inflow objectives. If you have careful action objectives, they can be overcome.”
The storage projects, if built, would likely mean less water flows downstream into Saskatchewan — although Redelback said Alberta’s legal requirements would still be met.
The report says the projects could generate up to $6 billion in economic activity.
It does not mention the transfer of water between basins, mentioned by Alberta Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz, or the access to the basin of new thirsty industries such as coal mining.
Paul McLauchlin of Rural Municipalities Alberta, whose group was not part of the report, said this document is the first he has seen that incorporates climate projections into water planning.
“(The report) doesn’t pull any punches but it does provide a path forward,” he said. “In an uncertain world, you want some certainty.”
He said other river basins in the state should receive the same treatment.
Redelback said the report was meant to stimulate discussion and provide guidance to the government.
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on April 5, 2024.
