Achi news desk-
The City of Calgary announced that it will develop a road map that will help the city make long-term decisions about water security and water reuse through 2100.
In a press release Wednesday afternoon, the City announced it will partner with WaterSMART Solutions to develop the Integrated Water Safety Roadmap and Water Reuse Assessment Project. The project is funded in part by a $400,000 Alberta Innovates Water Innovation grant.
“Climate change creates uncertainty in the quality and quantity of our water. And as our population continues to grow, we need to be able to balance our future water supply with efficient demand. The Water Security Roadmap will be valuable in informing our long-term water management and investment decisions,” said Pam Duncan, the city’s environmental strategy team leader.
The email you need for the day’s top news stories from Canada and around the world.
This comes as the province experiences a Stage 4 drought. Currently, there are 51 water shortage advisories for selected water management areas across the province. Ten of those advisories are located in the Bow River Basin.
Duncan says determining the city’s future water needs is complicated because there are many variables. The roadmap will be developed by looking at a wide range of “what if” scenarios, Wednesday’s statement said.
The City said the Water Reuse Assessment will be a key deliverable built into the roadmap, which will explore different approaches to support the long-term reliability and diversification of Calgary’s water supply. This includes using storm water for irrigation or using waste water for industrial processes.
Development of the roadmap is expected to be completed in 2026 and will be shared with other Alberta municipalities to use to guide their work toward better water management, the City said.
“We work with WaterSMART Solutions to assess climate change variables, conduct modeling to understand water supply scenarios, analyze risks and understand community values. What we learn will inform the direction of our map,” said Duncan.
& copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
