Water Availability

There are three main reasons for this variation in stream flow:

• The size of drainage basin (e.g., the Peace River Basin encompasses nearly 44% of total area of Alberta)
• The location of headwater systems (the mountains / foothills receive more precipitation than the plains)
• The variation in climate (temperature is higher and evaporation greater in southeastern Alberta than in northern and western regions)

There are ten major river basins in Alberta, including:

• Hay River Basin
• Peace/Slave River Basin
• Athabasca River Basin
• Beaver River Basin
• North Saskatchewan River Basin
• Milk River Basin
• South Saskatchewan River Basin including:
  • Red Deer River sub-basin
  • Bow River sub-basin
  • Oldman River sub-basin
  • South Saskatchewan River sub-basin