Southern Alberta reservoirs near capacity as Milk River hits historic low: report

Summer's around the corner and southern Alberta's water supply looks promising, but irrigators near the Milk River are in for a challenging season.

A new provincial water supply outlook shows major reservoirs are sitting at or near capacity — a stark contrast from last year.

The May Water Supply Outlook shows strong mountain snowpack and spring precipitation have improved conditions for much of southern Alberta, but the Milk River basin is facing one of the most severe water crises on record.

The Oldman Reservoir near Pincher Creek is currently at 97 per cent capacity, about 30 per cent higher than this time last year.

The St. Mary Reservoir is at an above normal 96 per cent capacity, while the Waterton Reservoir at 89 per cent.

Mark Svenson, who is the City of Lethbridge’s environment manager, says the conditions at the Oldman Reservoir are “really positive” due to the snowpack in the Rockies.

The report shows that 92 per cent of mountain snowpack sites surveyed in the beginning of May had conditions above normal or well above normal. Fifteen per cent of those sites had the highest snowpack conditions on record.

“It sets us up really good for the summer months,” Svenson said. “Right now, we should have plenty of water in the river to facilitate our needs.”

But that optimism does not extend to the far south of the province as the Milk River experiences what experts are calling the lowest flows on record.

“The Milk River itself, we’re looking at some of the lowest flows we’ve seen on record,” said Milk River Watershed Council executive director Tim Romanow.

“We’ve almost hit zero flow, basically, as of the first week of May this year.”

While high-elevation snowpack was strong in some areas, lower elevations near Glacier National Park in Montana recorded the lowest amount of snow in the last five years.

“The limited snowmelt runoff that followed occurred approximately one month earlier than the typical runoff period,” a statement from Grant Hunter, Alberta’s minister of environment and protected areas, said.

Those “unprecedented conditions” on both sides of the border led to water diversions for irrigation being shut off on the Alberta side of the Milk River on May 15, Hunter added.

Due to entitlements outlined in the Canada-U.S. Boundary Waters Treaty, irrigators that normally draw water from the Milk River will not be allowed to this year. The limited water flowing will be reserved for producers in Montana.

Hunter’s office said the ministry advocated for additional water use to support Canadian irrigators, depending on the flexibility of the Milk River this summer.

That request was denied, however, because the commission that oversees Canada and the United States’ water entitlements found there is no water entitlement available for Canada and the U.S. is experiencing similar drought conditions.

With summer approaching, Romanow says irrigators in the region will have to rely on rain.

“We’re in year four or five of a severe drought,” he said.

“About 80 per cent of our watershed are native grasslands … so producers are reliant on springs and dugouts and ponds for largely a lot of their water sources.”

With low ground water levels, Romanow says the summer will be one of the most difficult on record.

“Dugouts are low, producers are scrambling for emergency water hauling and pumping programs in order to just be able to still operate pasters. It’s an issue that’s not just impacting irrigators; it’s impacting other producers,” Romanow said.

“At this point, we’re just hoping for some timely rains. This multi-year drought has to break soon because things might look good in other areas, but we’re really starting to see a major challenge down our way.”