PROJECT SUMMARY

This project is an assessment of existing information and data relating to the impact of climate change on water security (the balance between future supply and demand) in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region (EMR). This meta-analysis of existing knowledge will support decision making to enhance the resilience of municipalities in the EMR to the impacts of climate change. The Climate Resilience Exchange project, led by the All One Sky Foundation, is supporting eight partner municipalities in the EMR to define, select and implement coordinated actions to reduce regional vulnerability to climate-related impacts. Until fairly recently, climate was regarded as unchanging for practical purposes. Now planners, policy analysts and engineers are expected to consider the reality of climate change and add it to a long list of decision-making criteria. The meta-analysis of existing knowledge and information includes a review and synthesis of:

• The historical flow of the North Saskatchewan River (NSR) recorded at a series of gauges along the main stem of the river and its major tributaries;
• The paleoclimate record and paleohydrology of the North Saskatchewan River Basin (NSRB): the climate of past centuries and the reconstruction of NSR flows from tree-rings;
• The future climate of the NSRB and the potential impacts of projected climate changes on the NSR, including the volume and timing of flows, water temperature, and water quality as it pertains to water supplies for consumption and ecosystem maintenance;
• Historical water use (consumption and losses) in the EMR, by sector:municipal and residential, agriculture, commercial and industrial;
• Projected water use (consumption and losses) by sector, accounting for the impacts of future climate change, and future growth in the EMR