Rainstorm ‘not enough’ to pull Alberta out of drought, expert says Achi-News

The rain that is hitting much of Alberta for several days is well-timed and well-placed, but not enough to pull Alberta out of drought, experts say.

“There’s no question that it’s very useful,” said Tricia Stadnyk, professor of engineering and Canada Research Chair in hydrological modeling. “We need this water so desperately and this is exactly what we were hoping for.

“It’s not going to take us out of drought. That has been a long time in the making. But this is certainly what we need at the moment, especially for agricultural producers to make sure the soil is nice and wet when it comes to planting season.”

Stadnyk said what is needed is a sustained, dry, extended period of many months of rain and snow.

“It really has been a system that has been emptying for about three years,” he explained. “It’s been three years of below normal snowpack. In fact, there has been almost a decade of below normal rainfall and snow.

“You’re not going to immediately fill a system when you’ve been emptying it for so long.”

According to the Alberta government, the province is currently in water scarcity management Stage 4 (out of 5), which means water scarcity is affecting multiple water management areas. Water conservation efforts are taking place.

Many areas in Alberta are dealing with drought conditions, especially in the south, according to the province.

As of Tuesday, 44 water shortage advisories were in place.

Between Monday and Wednesday, a large swath of Alberta was expected to receive a month’s worth of rain in about 48 hours.

Environment Canada issued heavy rain warnings, with the hardest hit areas in southeastern Alberta expecting as much as 70-80 millimeters of rain.

“What we need is this, these types of rainstorms, but more often. Ideally, not too heavy of rain and ideally, spreading. So, kind of those wet and miserable springs and summers. Sorry, but that’s really what’s best for the system right now.

“And that really needs to be sustained not just this spring and summer but ideally for two or two years.”

Soil moisture reserves are well below normal across most of the agricultural areas. Areas of one in 50 year lows are emerging across parts of the Peace Region and parts of the north east. The province says that if spring precipitation remains below average this spring, these areas are likely to expand rapidly.

“The timing of this precipitation is absolutely critical,” Stadnyk said. “This is the time when agricultural producers are looking to prepare the land for their crops and those initial seeds and seedlings really need water to grow roots and really take hold. If the soil is bone dry, they can’t do that.”

It’s not just the timing of this rainstorm that’s helpful, Stadnyk said — the location is good, too.

“Definitely southern and southeastern Alberta had the driest conditions in the province so it’s really good that we’re getting the moisture where it’s needed the most.”

He also said Albertans should expect continued water restrictions.

“I think it’s easy for people to think: ‘OK, we’ve now had a month where there’s been some extra snow – maybe a bit more than we normally see – and then now we’ve ‘to be followed by a little rain. So hey, this is all good and it’s going to get us out of drought and we’re not going to have water restrictions this summer.’ But that, unfortunately, is not what we should expect,” said Stadnyk.

“It is not enough to replenish the reservoirs, the lakes, the rivers and the ground water. In fact, for that, we need a continuous period of moisture. So, the message is really: No, we still need to keep, to make sure that we protect the ecosystem and that we don’t put ourselves in a situation where we have to go to more severe water restrictions . “

The dry conditions also increase the risk of wildfires.

According to Alberta’s wildfire status dashboard, there were 39 active wildfires burning on Tuesday, some of which are carryovers from last wildfire season.

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At the end of April, residents of Peace Municipal District No. 135 were forced to evacuate their homes for several days due to wildfires in northwestern Alberta. The fire was about 20 kilometers southwest of Peace River and about seven kilometers southeast of Grimshaw, according to Alberta Wildfire.

On Tuesday Reeve Robert Willing said the fire had spread particularly quickly because the ground was so dry.

“This year is probably one of the worst years I can remember. I have been here for 30 years. We didn’t get much snow last winter. At my house, less than six inches of snow where we usually get about three feet. We had no runoff in the spring. It was melting in place and disappearing. We haven’t had any rain to speak of,” Willing said.

“April and May are very difficult months for us because of humidity,” he explained. “Once the snow is gone, there’s a thick blanket of dead grass in the valley and it’s very difficult to find things, so it’s always a tense time for the fire crews.”

The late April fire appears to have been dealt with, the reeve said.

“Certainly there is no smoke and no one is working on the fire itself. So the fire has gone out and is starting to green up already, all the grass that was burnt.”

But, he said the rain that much of Alberta is getting this week has not come to the MD of Peace.

Willing is hoping for rain this month and next but understands it will take several large rain events each dropping an inch or more to have any real impact.

“I would think we need three or four inches of rain to build the moisture levels back up. We’ve had next to no rain since last summer and even then, it was pretty spotty.”

The municipality has issued a total fire ban. It does not allow off-highway vehicles on public land and recommends people avoid using OHVs on private land as well.

Lack of moisture is not only a concern on the wildfire front; it is also hard on farmers.

“It’s usually pretty dry when they’re trying to seed and I mean there’s some inherent moisture underneath so when they seed, they can get that moisture,” Willing said. “They really need the rain later in May and June.

“Obviously there is concern. It’s a multi-year drought and if it continues along this path, it’s going to be difficult for them.

“It’s pretty dire at the moment just because of the moisture levels in the ground,” he said. “I hope things get better.”

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