With El Nino bringing a dry winter this year, the Province of Alberta is at risk of a critical drought. In April, the Town of Drumheller (TOD) signed a Water Conserving Agreement with the Province for drought mitigation.
The objective is to reduce consumption by five to ten percent based on the normal consumption the TOD uses from the Red Deer Basin per year.
The Mail reached out to the TOD’s Chief Administrative Officer, Darryl Drohomerski to see if the Town is on track to conserving the water required in the agreement.
“Right now the water in the Dickson Dam is in the normal range, however, the flow is at the low end as the Provincial outlook is calling for a warm and dry summer,” explains CAO Drohomerski. “We are looking at items like watering our parks less, and have introduced rain barrels for sale at reduced prices to encourage residents to use less water.”
The recent rainfall has helped, and in order for the TOD to adjust conservation efforts as needed, the water usage levels and the weather conditions are being closely monitored.
The Province is overseeing the implementation of the agreement also by closely monitoring the conditions. To ensure every drop is used in the event of a critical drought, the Province will optimize and mitigate water storage and operations in certain basins and reservoirs, and provide their updates to the water supply forecast every two weeks.
