Calgary monitoring river levels amid below-average mountain snowpack levels
The City of Calgary is keeping a close eye on water levels for several reasons this spring, including hot, dry weather and below-average mountain snowpack levels.
"We've seen a 30 per cent increase in demand above normal for this time of year," said Nicole Newton with the City of Calgary.
"We have started to increase the levels of the reservoir in anticipation to manage our water supply that will get us through the wintertime."
John Pomeroy is the Canada research chair in water resources and climate change at the University of Saskatchewan.
He says the snowpack also started melting earlier than he's ever seen.
"About six weeks early," he said.
Even along the continental divide, where winter snows historically lingered until July most years, there is very little, if any, snow left.
It means rivers such as the Bow and the Elbow will get the majority of their volume from groundwater and any rain that falls.
The Bow River generally hits peak runoff in mid-June, but this year it peaked about three weeks ago – something seen across most of the province.
"Their flow has dropped in half for the last 10 days, and it's now in some of the lowest flows ever measured this time of year," Pomeroy said.
Glaciers and lingering snow act as drought insurance for the Prairie provinces, ensuring a volume of cool water continues to flow, even if rain doesn't fall. However, glaciers have been retreating for roughly a century, and melting has accelerated rapidly over the past 30 years.
"In fact, very disturbingly, last month we published a paper showing predictions for the Bow and Elbow rivers for the end of the century under climate change if we don't do anything about climate change," Pomeroy said.
"It's kind of a worst case scenario, and what we've showed for the end of century years looks a lot like this year."
Even since it began to melt away, the Athabasca Glacier one of six outlet glaciers coming off the Columbia Icefield – often held snow on its surface until into July.Now its bottom three kilometres are all snow-free and a massive volume of ice has already melted away.
Already this year, 1.7 metres of ice has melted off the top of the Athabasca – the total volume lost is roughly the equivalent of 1,122 Olympic sized swimming pools.
"We may have crossed a tipping point for glaciers like the Athabasca," said Pomeroy. "We're almost certainly in for record glacier melt this year - even higher than previous years."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
Man sets self on fire outside New York court where Trump trial underway
A man set himself on fire on Friday outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump's historic hush-money trial was taking place as jury selection wrapped up, but officials said he did not appear to have been targeting Trump.
Sask. father found guilty of withholding daughter to prevent her from getting COVID-19 vaccine
Michael Gordon Jackson, a Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, has been found guilty for contravention of a custody order.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
Shivering for health: The myths and truths of ice baths explained
In a climate of social media-endorsed wellness rituals, plunging into cold water has promised to aid muscle recovery, enhance mental health and support immune system function. But the evidence of such benefits sits on thin ice, according to researchers.
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
Manitoba mom praises quick-thinking fire department for freeing daughter stuck in playground equipment
A Manitoba mother is praising firefighters for their quick work in helping her daughter who got stuck at a playground in Lorette, Man.
The Body Shop Canada explores sale as demand outpaces inventory: court filing
The Body Shop Canada is exploring a sale as it struggles to get its hands on enough inventory to keep up with "robust" sales after announcing it would file for creditor protection and close 33 stores.