Achi news desk-
The City of Calgary says it should have no problem supporting the province’s mandate that municipalities reduce consumption by five to 10 per cent if or when restrictions come.
Nicole Newton, natural environment and adaptation manager with the City of Calgary, said Calgarians are now facing a water reduction advisory and should start saving water inside and outside their homes immediately.
“Just water early in the morning and at night to help make every drop count,” Newton said. “And start watering up to four hours a week at most.”
Gardening experts like Colin Atter, owner of Plantation Garden Centre, said that shouldn’t be much of a hardship. Garden enthusiasts can easily buy drought tolerant plants and use mulch and peat moss to beat the heat.
“So far, what I’m hearing is that they will start with hand watering restrictions, it will be level one, I assume. You can water most of your water by hand anyway.”
As for your lawn, Atter said pray for rain.
“Wear some brown lawn. It’s absolutely fine, he’ll come back.”
Calgarians have heard about water conservation and potential restrictions for months. Most say they are ready.
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Sean Ceguzman, who went out for a bike ride with his little daughter, said water reduction was already happening at his home. It should be possible to reduce consumption by 10 percent.
“I think so, yes. As I said, in our personal home we try to be considerate and not drink too much, not just water but anything. But I think it’s doable.”
Gordon Cope said it’s not too much to ask.
“It’s very important to support agriculture in Alberta. And if we can do anything in our cities to reduce our consumption then that helps them.”
The city agrees, but Newton admits last year’s restrictions didn’t go far enough.
“Last year when we enacted stage one outdoor water restrictions we were able to reduce by around four per cent and we are confident that we can get that between five and 10 per cent when those agreements come into effect.”
But this year, Newton said man-made lakes will not be allowed to use any of the city’s water.
That could hurt, said Sally Lockhart, general manager of the Mahogany Homeowners Association.
Lockhart said Mahogany Lake, which is 64 acres, is the largest man-made lake in the city. It will be full by the end of May, likely before restrictions are implemented. But a hot, dry summer could be extremely costly.
“Hopefully we can actually survive through that containment time but if it gets to a point where the lake level gets too low and it starts to affect the liner, we don’t know what potential damage it can do or anything like that. So if we got to that situation we would have to have a conversation with the city.”
In June, the city said it will also introduce changes to the Water Utilities Bylaw, and update the drought response: introducing a permanent and phased outdoor watering schedule to help ensure Calgary will always do his part.
& copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
