Hot and dry summer could affect Calgary’s water levels

The beginning of June in Calgary has been hot and dry, and that could have an affect on the city’s water supply through summer

Environment Canada and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) says Calgary has come into the summer season with dryer than normal conditions — spring 2023 ended as the fifth driest spring on record.

“We’ve had a lower-than-normal snowpack this year as well as well as an earlier snowmelt so as we prepare for flood, we typically lower the reservoirs to do that and now that we’re monitoring those conditions in terms of the river levels our water supply and water demand and so we’re starting to keep the reservoirs at a higher than normal level just to make sure that we’re proactively managing our water supply,” said Nicole Newton, manager of natural environment and adaptation with the City of Calgary.

Calgary has seen rainfall this week with more expected to come.

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ECCC meteorologist Sara Hoffman says it’s still not normal for this time of year but it’s getting the city closer than in June.

“And that’s kind of how June goes, we get these large low-pressure systems developing and dumping a lot of rain at once and that’s usually how we get our accumulating rainfall so it’s not as if it’s steady, it’s usually one or two events that’s bring the majority of our rainfall,” she explained.

While the city uses a drought monitoring plan, Newton says we are also still in flood season.

“Certainly, it is something that we are starting to see increasing over the years, of those two seasons starting to overlap just with climate change so this year it is a little abnormal that we’ve had the earlier melt but being able to balance those delicately by monitoring the water levels,” she explained.

Newton adds there are no immediate signs that the city will move into water restrictions this year, but they are looking to Calgarians to use water wisely and minimize outdoor water use.