
The Prairies are heading into another drought. Here's why we're more vulnerable this time around
CBC
In northern Alberta, a worrisomely dry winter has raised some fears about an issue that hasn't historically been a problem — drought.
"Up towards Slave Lake, we'd expect about 50 millimetres [of water] this coming year," said John Pomeroy, University of Saskatchewan water scientist.
"We had five. So one–tenth of normal."
It's a similar situation southwest of Edmonton, where the snow pillow — a device used to measure snow pack — between the North Saskatchewan River and the Athabasca is far worse than last year.
That snow pillow is recording just over 139 millimeters of water equivalent in the snow pack, which is well below the average snow pack for this time of year, and is even below the lowest quartile.
Even more concerning, things would be looking a lot worse in northern Alberta if it wasn't for the impact of another climate catastrophe in the making, he said.
"Parts of northern Alberta were quite fortunate last year because glacier melt helped keep the North Saskatchewan River higher than other rivers in the province," he said.
The record melting, along with some big rainstorms in early June, impacted the headwaters of the Athabasca River as well as the North Saskatchewan, raising water levels in rivers, streams, and other sources of groundwater.
But that's not a sustainable solution, he said.
According to Pomeroy, some of Alberta's glaciers will be gone in a decade, which means some parts of the province won't have that drought security net.
"With those melt rates, those glaciers would not be around in the long term."
In late January, the Alberta government established a drought command team, which is working to finalize the province's emergency drought plan as a dry year looms.
The province also declared a start to the wildfire season 10 days earlier than usual due to concerns about a continuation of last year's severe forest fire season.
In recent years, the Prairies experienced a few extreme droughts, with the 1988–89 and 2001–02 droughts often described as some of the worst.