Water water everywhere?

Cool Tips for a Hot Planet

Images of South Africans in Cape Town lining up for water rations during a massive drought. Stories of 90-second showers and capturing the excess water to flush toilets. And in 2018, it was the first time a major city had come within a hair of having to turn off the taps.

We heaved a sigh of relief here in Canada. We have an abundance of water, right? Just look at all of our lakes and rivers!

It turns out our water isn’t as abundant as it looks. While Canada has about 6.5 per cent of the world’s renewable fresh water, more than half of it flows north toward the Arctic. Only 40 per cent is available where 90 per cent of us live – along our southern border.

As Canadian water expert Rob de Loe has said, you can only draw a limited amount of water from lakes without causing problems. “The lakes aren’t like a keg at a college beer party where you empty one, then just roll out another one.”

Obviously, drought doesn’t just plague hot countries. Last summer, during the world’s hottest year on record, Kawartha Lakes staff asked residents in some communities to limit non-essential water use like car washing and lawn watering.

This spring, our area was blessed with plenty of rain. Not so in the west.

Canada’s deepest lake, Great Slave in the Northwest Territories, along with our longest river, the Mackenzie, were both at record low levels in May. So low in fact, that the barge season was cancelled for sections of the Mackenzie. That’s like shutting down the 401 to all transport trucks.

Ironically, low water levels in the northwest also could have a major impact on the production and cost of the very products causing the drought – oil and “natural” gas. That news came from a report by Deloitte Canada in April. Both drilling and fracking (which uses high pressure liquid to force oil and gas to the surface) require considerable water. And burning the stuff is cranking up global temperatures.

NASA tells us warmer air can absorb a lot more water. In fact, about seven per cent more for every one additional degree of warming. Last year global temperatures were up about 1.4 C from pre-industrial times. They’ll keep rising until we get serious about cutting emissions. So what can we do to help prevent that Cape Town drought scenario here?

Municipalities can pay close attention to the developments they approve. Single home sprawl developments use up to 10 times more water than higher density neighbourhoods.

In southern Canada, most are lucky. We’re able to turn on a tap for water. To keep it flowing, we need to use it wisely.

In the house we can:

– Take shorter showers. Ten minutes of scrubbing consumes 70-150 litres of water, depending on the shower head.
– Turn off the tap while brushing teeth or shaving.
– Only run the dishwasher/clothes washer when full.
– Install low flush toilets, and let the yellow mellow.

In the yard:

– Sweep rather than hose off driveways, sidewalks and decks.
– Plant native plants and trees. With deeper roots, they’re more drought tolerant.
– Limit lawn watering. Almost one third of summer water use is for lawns. Parched grass grows back.
– Use rain barrels to capture rainwater for your gardens.
– Water in the morning to reduce evaporation.