Water Scarcity in Alberta, Canada

Wake Up Canada on Water Scarcity

While the world has faced water issues for decades...the same issues are now presenting themselves
in Canada. Water and resource scarcity are hot topics Canada must face as drought and climate
change persists as formidable adversaries to our collective well-being. Will it be, he/she with the
most resources wins?
A new study confirms what many of us researchers suspected, that a severe drought beginning in
2007 coupled with climate change sparked civil war, migration and the exodus from Syria. The real
story behind the story being repressed. Do not believe it? See the Study Abstract here at:
American Meteorological Society, Water Drought, Climate Change and Conflict in Syria:
http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/WCAS-D-13-00059.1
Published in the Proceedings in the National Academy of Sciences, compiled statistics showing that
water shortages in the Fertile Crescent in Syria, Iraq, and Turkey killed livestock, drove up food
prices, sickened children, and forced 1.5 million rural residents to the outskirts of Syria's jampacked citiesjust as that country was exploding with immigrants from the Iraq war.
Can it Happen in our own Backyards?
In Alberta this year, wildfires burned due to dry conditions and several counties declared states of
agricultural emergency. In Saskatchewan, crop insurance rules are being loosened to help out while
strict water restrictions have been imposed in British Columbia. People are asking, what is going on?
What is going on...
According to the last national Canadian Census (2012), western Canada has experienced especially
dry winters and drought like conditions since 2012. 2012-13 was the 3rd driest winter on historical
record. The picture of western Canada presently is trends of increasingly higher than normal
regional temperatures, paired with significantly lower precipitation levels through-out the past three
years (See Graphs).
Temperature in Canada has been steadily increasing since 1948 and scientists fear what will occur if
we reach the 2'C temperature increase climate scientists are predicting. Snow packs and run off are
disappearing at record speeds, especially in the Rocky Mountains, therefore leaving low and dry
rivers behind in summer and autumn in B.C, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Prolonged dry conditions,
low melt and low precipitation are a recipe for drought. The western United States, which is
experiencing severe drought has also experienced high economic and natural losses but what about
the effects on human life? Is Canada on her way there, as well?
Producers in Trouble...
Producers are in trouble. In August 2015, the Alberta government declared that the hardship to
agriculture from drought constituted a disaster as put forth by Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier.
Many counties and municipalities across the province declared emergencies last year. Increasingly
severe storms also damaged not only homes and vehicles but valuable food crops. Beef and field

farmers are equally feeling the pressure with 40% less rain than last year resulting in less grass and
Hay for feed. Hay has since reportedly doubled in price. And in the meantime, it is eerie to drive
down streets and see people still luxuriously watering their lawns and washing cars. How many are
so oblivious?
The World Economic Forum now identifies Water Scarcity in the top global risks. Resulting resource
scarcity should be a given but the likelihood of Interstate Conflict* was listed at the top. Once
ground water and rivers are low and dry, the lakes will be mined next. Nestle Corporation once able
to drain water near Hope B.C for free, will now be charged $2.25 per litre of water. Other
corporations must follow suit with similar restrictions.
Where else did you think your clean bottled water came from besides the pristine rivers and streams
in your very own backyard? Corporations pay big money for market researchers to data mine trends
in the economy. Your once precious and free natural resources are but highly profitable stock
commodities they now sell back to you at marked up rates of well over 1000% for their own capital
gains.( I was a market researcher). In fact, everything you purchase from food to clothes to cars
actually cost less than 15% of the retail price to manufacture. The rest is wholesaler to retailer mark
up with shipping, duty and miscellaneous taxes included- sales tax on top. Water included.
From coast to coast, private companies are bottling millions of litres of "publicly owned" water, then
selling it back to us in chemical-leaching plastic. One may be wiser testing and bottling their own tap
or well water in safer containers than the usual PED types. Better yet, drill and test your own water
well. ;)
Bottled Water from Your Own Backyard?
The bottled water industry boom began in the early 1980s with significant growth since
Canadian bottled water production can be estimated to be approximately 2.29 billion litres

Most productions use the ozonation method which leaves no chemical residual aftertaste or odour to
treated water
Measured by (hectolitres), sales of bottled water accounted to 10.6% of non-alcoholic beverages
Canadian market for the Soft Drink & Ice Manufacturing Industry totalled $4,499.2 million in 2009,
an increase of 56.5% over 1999
The top three export markets for Canadian bottled water were the U.S. (61.3%), Japan (25.3%), and
Taiwan (8.4%)
Please Do Note*: Data from Statistics Canada on investment in the bottled water industry is not
available
Statistics Canada
Did you know?
Environmentalists are concerned about the extraction of water from lakes, streams and wells for
shipment elsewhere. They feel that over the long term, extraction from these sources may reduce
the water table in the vicinity.
Alberta 'Licensed' Water Allocations 2009 Year by Volume

48% Agriculture Irrigation

24% Commercial Cooling
11% Municipal Use
5.9% Industrial Commercial Use
5.7% Industrial Commercial Oil & Gas Use
3.6% Water Management Purposes
1.6% Industrial Injection Purposes
*Percentages derived from licensed activities only. No tracking for unlicensed activities
Facts About About Water in http://androidhackstool.com/moviestarplanet-hack-tool-2015 Alberta:
http://environment.gov.ab.ca/info/library/6364.pdf
What are People Facing?
If producers are in trouble, you can be sure that people are in 'hot water' as well. There is only now
a shedding of light on how the Syrian water crisis has spawned resource wars in the Middle East
resulting in mass migration and exodus. If western Canada does not heed these warnings, it should
be realized people will also experience conflict over resources and may indeed relocate. In the
future, it won't be about diamonds, silver and gold...it will be about whom has the most resources
wins.
There are many Conservation Plans to ration corporations, farmers and people of their water
addictions but to widely publicize them would mean admitting there is a pressing issue. According to
Environment Canada, the average Canadian uses 251 litres of water a day. Canadians are the fourthlargest consumers of freshwater from 28 countries studied in 2013. Municipalities and Counties
should be forthcoming about the data and these issues so everyone may prepare- not simply the
producers. Where will the producer profits be without healthy stable consumers?
The problem with the graph above... is water stress in western Canada is presently in the yellow or
medium stressed indicator area due to current and persistent drought. Realize the forecast in this
graph is for the year 2040. Now in 2016, there is an onset of an El Nino and another warm winter
with low precipitation and low glacier run off to ground water, streams and rivers. It clearly means
another year of drought. We are not able to tie any single weather event or short trend to the effects
of climate change, but one can be certain in following long-term trends, that climate change is a
definite factor and will cause future droughts.
Did You Know?
Albertans living adjacent to a water body or above a source of groundwater have the statutory right
to use up to 1250 m3 of water per year for human consumption, sanitation, and other smaller
household uses. Water testing is recommended.
What happens next?

The advanced five year California drought situation offers Canadians a somber snap shot of what
may come. Canada, however, is now in year three of drought conditions. What will it look like in year
five here in western Canada?
Thieves are on the rise and water thieves to boot in the thirsty state of California. Drought and
recession are driving the prices of food slightly higher but water imports are up. Water Task Forces
empowered by the state are on the streets protecting property owners' water with fines up to $500.
Ground water and water transfers are barely keeping the state afloat. Californians are also ripping
up their lawns and installing efficiency toilets and some relocating. U.S. Department of Agriculture
meteorologist Brad Rippey stated, At [the current] usage rate, California has less than two years of
water remaining. Similarly, water supplies are under threat in three other states, with reservoir
levels at two-thirds capacity in Arizona, just over half in New Mexico, and about one-third capacity in
Nevada.
As if western Canadians are not being hit by enough tough economic times...add a water crisis? In
Canada, due to ongoing recession, a failing dollar value, dropping oil prices and higher costs of
transportation due to distances, food prices are also increasing. For the fourth year in a row, the
increase in food prices are expected to outpace inflation next year.The rise will cost the average
Canadian household an additional $345 in 2016.
Persisting economic recession has seen higher crime rates reports police in Alberta. In the first 10
months of 2015, commercial break-ins almost doubled from a year earlier, bank robberies were up
65 percent and home invasions increased 52 percent, Calgary Police Service data show. Desperate
people take desperate measures. What happens when water scarcity is added to this equation?
Last year, British Columbia created their own Water Sustainability Act in light of drought conditions
and to prevent a California destiny. Alberta has a Water Act but no sustainability laws on water...
yet. The Alberta Provincial Government says they are "keeping an eye on things". What will they do
next?

More importantly... what will you do?