With dry conditions continuing in the mountains and river levels falling to their lowest point of the year in the region, the City of Airdrie imposed water restrictions on local households.
It is important for residents to take heed of these restrictions and actively work to lower their watering footprint. The restrictions, for the time being, mostly refer to outside watering of lawns, gardens, trees and shrubs, with residents only now being allowed to water with automatic sprinkler systems once a week. Hand watering is still allowed, but those doing the watering are asked to avoid doing so in the hottest part of the day.
People are also being asked to turn off those decorative water features such as fountains as these are considered an unnecessary draw on already taxed local water resources.
All in all, we consider these all to be reasonable restrictions. There are communities in Alberta which are much drier than us this year, and have had to do more to conserve local water resources. It is time for us to do our part for the good of our local river systems, and to be good neighbours of communities farther downstream too.
Travelling one hour east on the TransCanada shows just how significant this year’s drought has been in southern Alberta. To use water carelessly like it is in neverending abundance represents a failure of imagination, and reveals a limited grasp of the larger consequences of our actions on others.
We have been fortunate this year to have had timely rainfalls in Airdrie this summer, and that our native grasslands and river valleys are still green even though it is mid-August. This verdant landscape can easily fool us into thinking water is in ready supply, but by taking one glance at local rivers in the last two weeks it is easy to see how far those water volumes have dropped from earlier this summer.
So turn off those outside taps, and if you must water that’s what that old watering can in the garden shed is for.
