Freshwater levels drop 8.5% in Southern Canada

[CHIMO]

Southern Canada lost more than 1.4 million Olympic-sized swimming pools' worth of fresh water annually between 1971 and 2004, an overall loss of nearly nine per cent, a newly released study shows.

Overall, the freshwater supply fell by an average 3.5 cubic kilometres a year during those 34 years, a drop of 8.5 per cent, the Statistics Canada study found. The total annual renewable freshwater supply for Southern Canada, where about 98 per cent of the population lives, is about 1,326 cubic kilometres, compared to 3,470 for Canada as a whole.

Freshwater supply is represented by water yield, the results of precipitation and melted ice that flow over and under the ground and eventually reach rivers and lakes, Statistics Canada said.

Canada's industrial sector relies heavily on renewable freshwater resources. In 2005, more than 90 per cent of the fresh water being used went to the following sectors, in order: thermal-electric power generation, manufacturing and agricultural. The residential sector used just nine per cent.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/09/13/freshwater-level-statscan.html
Monday, September 13, 2010 | 3:47 PM ET

[provis99]

1. hydro power is to blame.

That method of power generation is very destructive to the environment.

[polly7]

2. Yes, but there are many more factors than hydro-power to blame.

ie., it takes 4 gallons of water to produce 1 gallon of oil from the tarsands, my biggest peeve when it comes to wasting water.

Candada's population has grown at unprecedented rates since the 70's, you can't walk down the street now without seeing person after person carrying bottled water at 2.50 a pop. Fortunately, hospitals and the like are now encouraging staff and visitors to bring their own bottles to refill. I haven't watered my lawn in years, either it survives, or it doesn't. More and more around me are doing the same with their gardens. We have enough trouble where I live (nowhere near a hydro-plant) keeping wells full enough to get drinkable water from.

"Gary Sprules, a biology professor at the University of Toronto who specializes in the ecology of lakes, said that decline represents a serious shortfall in our water supply.

"I think that's a significant loss," he said. "That's close to 10 per cent in a generation and a half and that's troublesome."

He said much of the loss is likely due to the global warming trend, which has changed spring runoff patterns across the continent. "Global climate change has led to changes in rainfall patterns in our part of the world and the amount and time of ice cover on our lakes and rivers."

Sprules said more research needs to be done to find out where the water is going and why it's disappearing from the system"

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20100913/water-resources-100913

[applegrove]

3. The water is much lower this year than last. We hardly had any winter snow at all.