Is Alberta ready for a disastrous drought?

In today’s The Big Story podcast, the 1930s was a disastrous time for Alberta, as crops failed and topsoil blew away in the wind. And while the province is not currently at that level today, all signs are pointing towards a period of prolonged drought in the province.

This is a problem even a month of rain can’t fix. And every government in the province is having to dramatically rethink how they handle water when it becomes scarce. 

Tyler Dawson is an Alberta correspondent for the National Post. There has been rain in parts of Alberta in the past week, but that’s not enough. “I think it is important to note that yeah, it may have been wet, it may have been above average, it may have been above normal, but we’re talking about multiple years of dryness that can’t be undone by one or two or three or four, you know, really big, really big storms,” said Dawson. 

What does the future hold for Alberta’s crops? And what are we doing now to avoid the worst-case scenarios?