Giovanni Triggiani/Dreamstime.com

By Eli J. Ridder

#RAINTRACKER💧

May rain brings some relief to Alberta but water storage remains low

May 28, 2024 | 5:22 PM

An official with the St. Mary River Irrigation District said Tuesday the rain that pelted southern Alberta over the course of May improved soil moisture but was unable to replenish storage deficits from the start of the year.

While water levels several weeks ago indicated Medicine Hat and area could be on track for the worst drought in 20 years, irrigation general manager David Westwood that outlook has improved some with the precipitation.

“Earlier in the spring, it was looking like we were going to be comparable to the drought of 2001; we are ahead of that storage right now, which is good,” Westwood told CHAT News.

“We will need more precipitation events in June to really relieve some of the pressure.”

The Alberta government, municipalities and the agricultural sector have been gearing up for what is still expected to be a dry summer that will bring drought conditions, including in Medicine Hat.

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The province coordinated historic water-sharing agreements earlier this year in one indicator of its ongoing preparations. The City of Medicine Hat has signed on to one of the voluntary agreements, promising to cut water usage by 10 per cent.

READ: Medicine Hat signs voluntary agreement with Alberta

The city is currently in Phase 1 of its Water Shortage Management Plan. Residents are asked to limit watering lawns and gardens to 60 minutes per day and not water more than three days per week as part of Phase 1’s voluntary measures.

Medicine Hat’s environmental utilities director Jamie Garland said Monday the May rain was not enough for the city to move back out of water conservation measures. The city’s current status and water conservation measures can be viewed at MedicineHat.ca.

Before over 110 millimetres of rain fell on the Medicine Hat area over the last few weeks, local reservoir levels were about 50 per cent full but are now at approximately 65 per cent storage, according to Westwood.

“On a good supply year, at this time of year, we would be hoping we would be around 90 per cent of full storage,” Westwood said.

“So we’ve got a long way to go,” he added.

However, the torrential downpours have helped out the agricultural sector struggling with dry conditions.

“The farms in southern Alberta, particularly within our district, were in a deficit position,” Westwood said.

“It’s some of the best soil moisture they’ve seen, probably in a few years.”