Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
"What we've seen now from the past month of heat is that the high-elevation snow is rapidly depleting," said Jonathan Boyd, a hydrologist with B.C.'s River Forecast Centre. "We're on pace to be the earliest snow-free that the province has recorded. "We've had just a phenomenal melt so far, and where it's a little bit scary is … we're moving into this year in a really precarious position."
The Milk River looks great right now, according to farmer Elise Walker. It's high, it's flowing and it's fairly clean. For now, she and about 30 to 40 other families in southern Alberta can continue using the water to irrigate their farms, helping to get them through a very dry spring. In fact, Walker already started to irrigate her 607 hectares (1,500 acres) of land at the end of March — the earliest ever.
Hot summer weather and drier than average conditions have led to a lowering of Lake Superior water levels. The International Lake Superior Board of Control (ILSBC) said water levels had declined and reached the seasonal long-term average for the first time since April 2014. In its September update, the ILSBC said Lake Superior declined three centimetres in the month of August, a month that normally see the lake rising one centimetre.
When Craig Purchase visited his normal fishing spot upstream of Terra Nova Lake this past Labour Day weekend, it was clear why angling was off the table. "Where it would normally be waist deep, there was two to three inches of water," Purchase, who's also a professor of biology at Memorial University, said. Bare rocks and trickling brooks have been a common sight through a swath of central Newfoundland this summer, Purchase said.
Hot and dry weather this summer in Thunder Bay, Ont., meant the Bare Point Water Treatment Plant pumped a bit more of Lake Superior though the city than normal. Based on the past two summers, the plant produced, on average, 42.3 million litres of water per day. The summer of 2021 saw that figure increase by 13 percent, to 47.9 million litres per day, said Erin Marcella-Fui, the plant superintendent. "It's certainly an increase in demand, so our production goes up. We are prepared for that production level, so it didn't impact us that way, she said, noting the plant's maximum production is 113 million litres of water per day.
We all know that water’s important for us. Up to 60 per cent of adult bodies are water, and we’re always told to drink lots of it to make sure we stay hydrated. But why is it extra important for us to drink more water in the summer, and how does drinking water help us in the hotter months? Water is always critical for our health, but here are 3 reasons you need more of it in the summer heat: Hot weather, extra physical activity, and spending more time outdoors.
Last year's hot, dry summer, an increased interest in home gardening, and a rising awareness of the effects of climate change have people turning to rain barrels. Macx MacNichol, owner of ECO-Containers in Dorchester, converts food-grade plastic containers into rainwater-harvesting systems ranging in size from 205 litres to 1,000 litres and priced from $45 to $205. He buys the used containers from different industries in and around Moncton. MacNichol said they've been harder to come by since the pandemic started because some of his suppliers have closed, and others aren't as busy. Coupling that with an increase in demand for his product means, "every barrel that comes in today, is spoken for tonight," said MacNichol. He said last year's dry summer got people's attention.
The Manitoba government says it's prepared in case of a drought this summer, following a winter where some areas saw record-low snowfall. "While there are no current drought impacts, our government is closely monitoring conditions and increasing its drought readiness," Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler said Tuesday. Although the province is heading into a period of dry weather, a bit of precipitation will go a long way, he says.
As the climate continues to warm at an alarming rate, experts warn if dramatic steps to mitigate global warming are not taken, the effects in Canada’s Prairie region will be devastating to the country’s agriculture sector. According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, the country is warming, on average, about double the global rate. Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the U.S. recently found 2020 was earth’s second-hottest year on record, with the average land and ocean surface temperature across the globe at 0.98 of a degree C above the 20th-century average. However, the agency found the northern hemisphere saw its hottest year on record, at 1.28 degrees C above the average.
B.C. Hydro is preparing for lower water levels in some Vancouver Island reservoirs and watersheds in the coming months, after a particularly dry winter.
Both the Puntledge and Campbell rivers are running low and that impacts everything from salmon runs to boating tourists, as well as electric utility operations.
