Calgary water restrictions on the rise as drought conditions persist

New water restrictions that the City of Calgary will announce Tuesday may mean your grass will no longer be greener. But Beryl Coombs of Spruce It Up Garden Centre says that doesn’t mean settling for a Charlie Brown summer.

“We have been preaching mulches, drought-tolerant plants for the last 10 to 15 years,” Coombs said.

“I think they are going to step it up with a bit more regulation on the amount of watering you can do. I think I am hearing two hours a week, which with more garden practices, should give you water for your garden but you have to watch where you put it.”

Coombs says drought conditions are nothing new. It comes down to choosing the right plants for your yard and using the right tools.

“It still needs the right amount of water, slow deep watering for your lawn and your trees so you are not wasting water. Tree watering bags, soaker hoses, using the right tools for the job.”

The city warned persistent drought conditions would mean harsher and longer restrictions than last year.

Nicole Newton, manager of natural environment and adaption, says we currently use the same amount of water we did in 2003, despite our population growing from just over a million then to an estimated 1.64 million now.

“In 2003 the city of Calgary used just over 500 litres per capita per day. Over the last 20 years we have been able to conserve that, and we are sitting around 350 litres per capita per day.”

But Dr. Kerry Black, assistant professor and research chair at the University of Calgary, says we should have been doing better sooner. The world model calls for only 200 litres per person per day.

“In many ways it’s a few years too late. We needed to be reducing our water usage earlier. Things like water storage and intervention like that is important but we have to take a look at our daily water use.”

Black says Canadians need to be more aware of ways to conserve water.

“We are by far in the world some of the biggest water users and I think it’s time we did reduce our water for many reasons. And I think we are going to see that in the Calgary context very shortly,” Black said.

“We use the rule of six for water use. Six litres per minute for your faucet. Six litres per minute for your shower. Six litres per flush for your toilet. Do the math and you get up really high really quickly.”

Black also says the 80 per cent of water returned to the Bow is too low. She says the water policy could easily be changed to reflect better conservation efforts.

“Do you need to be using clean drinking water to flush your toilet? The answer is no, you can find alternative sources and find reuse of the water we are wasting right back into the system. And the amount of dollars that we are spending to treat water to get to the quality of drinking water level when we are not actually using it for drinking water.”

Newton says the City of Calgary is looking at a new water efficiency plan. New targets will be presented to council next spring, she says. Decisions will be made for long-term plans and there are things the city can do to ensure our water supply, even as we hope for a snowy and rainy spring to come.

“We have a number of plans in place to help us manage the risk and uncertainty.”

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