Eyes on sky as spring starts dry

Asunny, dry spring and the biggest Saskatchewan fire ban in five years has inevitably led to some coffee row speculation about drought.

It’s too early to use the “D’ word, in our view, particularly given the still-fresh memory of the incredible deluge late last June that flooded communities and washed away crops across a wide southern area of the province.

Sure, many farmers would like to see some rain soon, but no one wants a repeat of the 200 millimetres some communities received in one weekend last summer.

That rain came after a very snowy winter and continued a series of wet years that also saw major provincial flooding in 2011.

So, while this spring has been drier than we’ve been used to in recent years, there’s still lots of time for some significant — and we hope gentle — rain.

That said, speculation about drought is understandable. Wet climate cycles have inevitably been followed by dry ones in this province and this spring’s tally of 183 wildfires qualifies as “above average”. It’s almost double the 97 fires that had been recorded in the province at this time last year.

Vancouver Sun columnist Stephen Hume warned last month that climate change had dramatically eroded British Columbia’s mountain snow cover and shrunk its glaciers in the past 50 years. He said a crisis loomed for western Canadian cities reliant on rivers fed through the summer by B.C.’s mountains.

“We had better start thinking now about what happens when the winter snows and glacial melt that supply Prairie cities with drinking water are diminished and at worst simply gone, like California’s.”

If we are honest, we do take our water for granted — it is readily available and relatively cheap. That might not always be the case, so we had better plan for scarcity and conserve and use our water wisely.

Not only quantity, but quality of water is an issue this year. High levels of algae in Buffalo Pound Lake, which supplies Regina with much of its water, have slowed the treatment process. To make up the shortfall the city is using more well water. It will not water parks and greenspaces — except for new sod — and is asking Reginans to limit lawn watering and washing of vehicles.

Meantime, in this season of heightened fire risk, campers need to take particular care — not only in the north, where the fire risk is particularly high, but across much of the rest of the province.

Farmers have also been urged to take extra precautions with controlled burns on their land that could get out of control and spread.

It’s dry in many places for sure. But the jury is still out on whether Saskatchewan’s recent wet cycle is really at an end.

CONCERN AS PROVINCE SEES MORE WILDFIRES, LITTLE RAIN.