CBC News · Posted: Aug 10, 2020   
      
   Melting glaciers will bring instability to more than 1 million Albertans'   
   water supply   
      
      
   First of its kind study analyzed flow patterns in glacier-fed rivers, to find   
   impact on communities   
      
   A first of its kind study from the University of British Columbia has found   
   that melting glaciers will bring water shortages to one in four people living   
   in Alberta.   
      
   The study, which was published in the journal of Nature Climate Change on Aug.   
   3, found that global glacier retreat will have big impacts on the availability   
   of water for communities that rely on glacier runoff during the summer season.   
      
   Sam Anderson, the study's lead author and a PhD candidate in UBC's department   
   of earth, ocean, and atmospheric sciences, grew up in Alberta.   
      
   During his undergrad at the University of Alberta, he came across photos   
   comparing the size of glaciers in the Rocky Mountains 100 years ago and today.   
      
   "I was really shocked at how much smaller they were today, versus in the past.   
   And then I was thinking, you know, in Edmonton, when I turn on the tap, that   
   water is coming from the North Saskatchewan River, which at the very beginning   
   is starting at    
   these glaciers that are disappearing," he said.   
      
   "So that's when I became very concerned and interested in figuring out how   
   water supply in communities will change as we lose these glaciers."   
      
   Anderson and co-author Valentina Radic looked at water flow data for 194   
   rivers from the 1980s through 2010, to see how glacier-fed rivers in the   
   province behave differently from non-glacier fed rivers.   
      
   What they found was the loss of glacial water sources will cause shortages for   
   the communities of Rocky Mountain House, Lake Louise and Hinton, as well as   
   the Bighorn Dam, affecting more than one million people. Alberta's total   
   population is roughly 4.4    
   million.   
      
   "Once these glaciers are no longer contributing water to the rivers, the   
   rivers at those locations will have lower flows on average, and greater   
   variability from year to year," he said.   
      
   He said there will be less water available in those areas in August each year,   
   and the supply will be more inconsistent.   
      
   "Effectively what we found is not that there will be no water in those   
   locations in late summer, but that they'll be transitioning from historically   
   high water happening in August to, in the future, having low water."   
      
      
   Changing climate brings a net loss of glacial ice   
      
   Alberta was once covered in glaciers, which are formed when snow accumulates   
   in winter.  Some glacier loss — called runoff — is natural each summer,   
   but the warming climate has caused summer runoff to outpace the accumulation   
   or replenishing of the    
   glacial ice each winter.   
      
   The study did not look at when communities might feel the impact of glacier   
   loss. Anderson said the intention was to examine which areas would be affected   
   so that other studies could zero in on those areas to establish timelines.   
      
   Models show that the Rocky Mountains could lose 90 per cent of glacier ice   
   volume by 2100, due to climate change.   
      
   Anderson said he hopes this data will help Alberta get ahead of the curve to   
   plan for water supply issues in future summers by looking at water management   
   strategies that have been effective in other regions.   
      
   "Glaciers are very important to Alberta," Anderson said. "Glaciers really are   
   this iconic part of Alberta's heritage and part of the imagery when you think   
   about Alberta."   
      
   https://i.cbc.ca/1.5425510.1578951063!/fileImage/httpImage/image   
   jpg_gen/derivatives/original_1180/abraham-lake-3.jpg   
      
      
   Lake Abraham was created with the construction of the Bighorn Dam. It's fed by   
   glacial runoff from the Rocky Mountains. (Submitted by Wintography.)   
      
      
   While glaciers feed municipal water supplies, they also do a lot more, like   
   generating hydropower, providing irrigation for agriculture, and playing a   
   role in terms of tourism.   
      
   The study also led to a surprising discovery.  Some communities located near   
   glaciers, like Jasper and Banff, will likely be shielded from water loss from   
   retreating glaciers, as they source their water from deep underground aquifers.   
      
   Anderson said in future research he hopes to look at how other factors, like   
   the changing snowpack and weather patterns will also impact water supplies.   
      
   "Glaciers are not the only things that are going to be changing over the   
   coming century," he said.   
      
   https://i.cbc.ca/1.5541848.1588964983!/fileImage/httpImage/image   
   jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_780/the-robertson-glacier.jpg   
      
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