The city is monitoring water levels and preparing for what could be a dry summer this year. The Oldman Reservoir dropped from 58 per cent in August to 26 per cent in November and the Waterton and Saint Mary Reservoirs are significantly lower for this time of year.
The city says it has been working with regional partners and the province over the past few months to look at options for water conservation and short and long term solutions.
“While the recent snowfall has been positive in terms of much-needed moisture, we are hoping to see a lot more of it in the coming weeks and months, along with significant rainfall in the Spring,” says Doug Kaupp, general manager of water and wastewater for the city.
Action could be needed later in the year, according to director of infrastructure services Joel Sanchez. He says last year, voluntary restrictions helped to reduce water usage by about 20 per cent – but this year, they may not be optional.
“We might need to have restrictions in place and those restrictions, we are reviewing the plan that we have – the restrictions could be limiting the use of water on the residential side, imposing bans or dedicated days to do this, and those are extreme conditions. We have never done that, to that level of extent but we are going to put all those options [forward],” Sanchez says.
Sanchez points out irrigation consumes most of the area’s water, but restrictions in city use could still make an impact.
“The city contribution might be small but again, it’s part of the restrictions – the province will make sure that everybody does their part so we are working with them because most of the allocation is given to the irrigation districts and we know the impact they have on the economy as well but at the same time, we are all going to be following similar mandates,” Sanchez says.