The Town of Rocky Mountain House is developing a Water Shortage Response Plan it says will prepare the town should drought conditions persist later in the year.
During the April 16 town council meeting, Councillor Tina Hutchinson put forward a motion to begin developing the plan so the Town is in a position to be proactive instead of reactive.
“I’m quite aware of the drought situation happening across the province right now,” says Hutchinson. “I felt it was important we put something in place now. Hopefully we don’t need to use it.”
According to the Province, Alberta is currently in stage 4 (out of 5) in its water shortage management response plan. There are also 51 water shortage advisories in place for select water management areas across Alberta.
Hutchinson’s motion calls for a plan to be developed and brought back to the council’s June 11, 2024 governance and priority committee meeting.
Laura Button, communications coordinator with the Town of Rocky Mountain House says a Water Response Plan would set clear guidelines in a time of drought.
“There are things operationally that the Town does already,” says Button. “The Water Response Plan that council has to do will really formalize some of those procedures.”
Button lists the closure of spray parks or restrictions on outdoor watering as possible water-saving measures.
Button adds that even with the town’s geographic location, a community like Rocky Mountain House is not immune to water use considerations.
“It is beneficial to the town that we are the first municipality to draw from the North Saskatchewan River,” says Button. “But that doesn’t exempt us from the responsibility of being good stewards of that resource for us and all of our neighbors downstream.”
According to Town administration, the average daily draw of water in 2023 was 2,695 cubic meters per day, well below the nearly 8,000 cubic meters per day maximum the Town’s water license allows for.
According to the Alberta Government, municipalities are responsible for developing community-wide water shortage response plans which may include voluntary or mandatory water restrictions.
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