The Alberta Water Council (AWC) and Watershed Planning and Advisory Councils (WPACs) are major partners identified in Alberta’s Water for Life strategy, which is the overarching government-wide strategy for water in Alberta. Our quality of life, and life itself, depends on having a healthy and sustainable water supply, and partnerships are a strong foundation for protecting our waters now and in the future.
Drought is a natural phenomenon in Alberta, and multi-year droughts have been recurrent events throughout the province’s history. Climate models predict droughts of greater intensity and longer duration are likely to occur in the future. The impacts of multi-year droughts on the environment, economy, and society are cumulative and can be long-lasting, and they are multiplied every year by management decisions made during previous years.
In 2018, the AWC collaborated with WPACs to begin the Building Resiliency to Multi-Year Drought project. The project’s goal was to assist WPACs as they engage municipalities and communities within their watersheds to better plan for, mitigate, respond to, and recover from multi-year droughts. Representatives from governments, non-government organizations, and industry participated on the team. They created a guide that documented lessons learned from previous droughts in Alberta and that brought together information, tools, and resources as a reference for communities before, during, and after a multi-year drought. In addition to the guide, the project team developed workshop materials to assist WPACs in their delivery of the guide contents.
Several areas in Alberta experienced severe drought conditions in 2023-2024, and WPACs held workshops throughout the province using the AWC’s Building Resiliency to Multi-Year Drought in Alberta Guide to support drought management within their watersheds. Over 500 people participated in the six workshops held across the province, including municipal leaders, emergency planners, and water managers. Several communities developed water shortage or drought resiliency plans as a result.
The guide was a valuable resource for Albertans during a critical time when communities were facing water shortages and needed to take action to mitigate drought impacts. The AWC and WPACs plan to continually update the guide with new resources and lessons learned to ensure it remains an important resource for Albertans who are facing drought in the future.
Financial support for this project was generously provided by Alberta Environment and Protected Areas, the Alberta Irrigation Districts Association, and Alberta’s 11 WPACs: Athabasca Watershed Council, Battle River Watershed Alliance, Bow River Basin Council, Lessler Slave Watershed Council, LICA – Beaver River Watershed, Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance, Milk River Watershed Council Canada, North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance, Oldman Watershed Council, Red Deer Watershed Alliance, and South East Alberta Watershed Alliance.
