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Alberta drought conditions expected to improve heading into 2025

CBC


Agroclimate specialist says some areas still facing long-term moisture deficits.   Click here to read the story.   Click the following link for more information on Drought.

Similkameen people say once-pristine waterways tainted by mine waste as company doubles down: ‘It’s scary’

IndigiNews


Questioned at a private community meeting about contamination in Wolfe Creek, a Hudbay Minerals representative insists she ‘would drink the water’. The mine has been repeatedly fined by the province for polluting nearby waterways.   Click here to read the story.

Similkameen people say once-pristine waterways tainted by mine waste as company doubles down: ‘It’s scary’

IndigiNews


Questioned at a private community meeting about contamination in Wolfe Creek, a Hudbay Minerals representative insists she ‘would drink the water’. The mine has been repeatedly fined by the province for polluting nearby waterways.   Click here to read the story.

Alberta drought conditions expected to improve heading into 2025

CBC


“We really weren’t sure what we were going to be facing,” Davie said. “In the end, it turned out a lot better than we expected it to be in March.” Now, heading into 2025, the biggest wild card is as it always is Mother Nature. “Next year again, we’re hoping that we get ample snow in the mountains, and it continues to fill the reservoirs, and then we’re hoping for a full water allocation come next spring,” Davie said.   Click here to read the story.   Click the following link for more information on Drought.

Compare and contrast: I figured out how to use two-thirds less water and it only took a week to set up

The Guardian


While droughts are a natural feature of California’s climate, human-induced warming has made them even drier. After Eric Haas, 62, moved to Oakland in 2007, California was in a drought so severe a statewide emergency was declared. After experiencing drought conditions for several years, the California professor had a rainwater and greywater capture system installed at his highly efficient urban home to do his part to conserve water.   Click here to read the story.   Click the following link for more information on Drought.

With walls, berms and raised roads, Fort McMurray is working to keep its river from overflowing

CBC


Ever since the devastating spring floods of 2020 in Fort McMurray, the northeastern Alberta community has been shoring up its defences against rising rivers. Now, officials with the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB) say Fort McMurray is better prepared for future floods. It has spent $119 million on flood mitigation so far; the remaining work that is planned will bring the total expenditure to about $270 million, according to a statement on the RMWB’s website.   Click here to read the story.   Click the following link for more information on Flood.

Compare and contrast: Company official charged in 2022 oil-chemical discharge into Michigan’s Flint River

The Canadian Press


The president of a chemical company has been charged in connection with the unauthorized discharge of oil that left a miles-long dark, oily sheen on the Flint River in Michigan more than two years ago.   Click here to read the story.

City balancing road safety, water protection with how much salt it uses

BarrieToday


‘Snow and ice are removed from roads and sidewalks by plowing rather than melting with salt when possible to reduce the amount of salt required,’ says official.   Click here to read the story.

Compare and contrast: New Mexico Lawmakers to Decide Whether Oil and Gas Wastewater Could Be Reused on Wide Scale

Inside Climate News


Gov. Michelle Grisham introduced the Strategic Water Supply, a program that recommends tapping into some of the nearly two billion barrels of produced water that can’t be reused in the oilfield. The plan aims to unlock 100,000 acre-feet of new water for clean energy production, storage and manufacturing by 2028 and develop regulatory frameworks for reusing that water by 2026.   Click here to read the story.

Compare and contrast: California Reservoir Update: Millions to See 10 Percent Surge in Water

Newsweek


Water levels at some California reservoirs are on the rise, prompting California Department of Water Resources (DWR) officials to announce an increase in planned water deliveries for 27 million Californians in 2025. After years of drought, several reservoirs in California reached concerningly low water levels in the summer of 2022. However, an abnormally wet winter that followed alleviated much of the state’s drought and replenished the lakes.   Click here to read the story.   Click the following link for more information on Infrastructure.

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Photograph of WaterPortal Board Member Ross Douglas

Ross Douglas

Board Member

Ross has extensive executive experience in Operations, Governance, Information Technology and Strategy at the board and senior management level including Mancal Corporation, Mancal Energy, Highridge Exploration and Atlantis Resources. He has worked in Oil and Gas, Coal, Commercial Real Estate, Portfolio Management, Recreation, Retail and Water and Wastewater Treatment. His experience is also geographically diverse having overseen operations in Canada, the United States, United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. Additionally, he has been on the board of companies with operations in Argentina, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Kazakhstan, and Russia. He has served on numerous Public, Private and Not for Profit Boards across a number of industries.

Ross has been active on several industry Boards and committees including the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) and The Schulich School of Engineering Industry Advisory Council at the Schulich School of Engineering.

Photograph of WaterPortal Board Member Brian Mergelas

Brian Mergelas, PhD, ICD.D

Board Member

Brian is a seasoned Cleantech entrepreneur with a proven history of successfully bringing complex water technologies to the market.   With over 25 years of experience, he has led various organizations to achieve significant milestones in the industry. 

Having started as the founding CEO of the Pressure Pipe Inspection Company (PPIC) and later taking the helm at the Water Technology Acceleration Project (WaterTAP), Brian’s entrepreneurial spirit has been instrumental in driving innovation and growth within the sector. 

He is an active investor in the cleantech sector and has served on many boards including the Ontario Clean Water Agency. 

Actively engaged in industry associations like AWWA, WEF, IWA, and ASCE, Brian enjoys collaborating with fellow professionals to promote advancements in the field. 

Brian holds an undergraduate degree and a PhD in Physics from Queen’s University, which has provided him with a solid technical foundation.   As a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors, he brings valuable insights to corporate governance.