The South Saskatchewan River is pictured as seen from the Ranchlands neighbourhood in Medicine Hat.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
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New mapping aquifers in southern Alberta could be complete by 2027 – updating 40-year-old information – after new funding from the provincial government was announced Tuesday.
That also comes as water licensing is brought under increased focus following widespread concern over availability in 2024.
As well, municipalities have begun to align work and water resources as an industry attraction, as the water-dependent South Saskatchewan Regional Plan passes a planned 10-year update.
This week, the province announced it will provide $3.8 million to the Alberta Geologic Survey to complete a three-year study of the quality, quantity and location of groundwater in the Bow, Oldman, Milk and South Saskatchewan basins.
“It’s never too late, and especially in the south here where we are typically short,” said former area MLA and environment minister Lorne Taylor on Wednesday. “It’s very positive that it’s moving forward under this government.”
Taylor retired from politics in 2004 but continued working on Alberta water issues and advancing a “Water for life” strategy developed under him by Alberta Environment.
In the early 2010s, he was a vocal booster of adding drought mitigation and even studying engineered ways to recharge aquifers to the flood mitigation programs after regional flooding.
“Depending on how you look at it, it could be a map of sustainable sources of water for development in agriculture, industry and (domestic use),” said Taylor.
The new effort will provide three-dimensional mapping of underground water tables in the Milk and South Saskatchewan basins that convey absorbed water to lakes and rivers, known as surface water.
A government press release states that previous groundwater work from the 1960s through 1980s focused on finding new sources of water, not mapping or understanding the known sources.
New data will be used in regulatory decisions and be made publicly available.
Water availability was thrust into focus last winter after irrigation districts shut down delivery early following drought and limited allocations in 2024 as a voluntary response to forecasts of another dry year.
Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Justin Wright said the new effort is an extension of the emergency water planning committee formed last year to advise on an expected water supply shortage that did not materialize.
“It started out as a ‘drought committee’ but pretty quickly transitioned last year to discuss the future of water to 2080,”
Wright told the News on Wednesday.
“We have really good management and understanding of above ground reservoirs and off-stream reservoirs, it’s imperative to start mapping out what below ground looks like.”
About 4 per cent of water allocations across the province are related to groundwater wells, though the number drops to 1.7 per cent when considering only those in the South Saskatchewan River Basin. Two-thirds of those are for industrial or municipal use.
About 600,000 Albertans rely on well-water for domestic purposes,
“The results of this study will help ensure we are effectively managing our groundwater and improving the drought resilience of our communities and economy,” Environment and Protected Areas Minister Rebecca Schulz said in a statement.
The study, according to professor Bernhard Mayer, of the University Calgary’s earth, energy and environment department, “will greatly improve our understanding to what extent groundwater can serve as a potential source for drinking water, sustain agriculture, support industrial activities and maintain ecological balance.”
