As drought conditions continue in southern Alberta, Calgarians are being asked to reduce their water use.
But what are local businesses that rely on water use doing to prepare?
Some businesses need water to operate and the announcement from the City of Calgary of potential water restrictions in the coming weeks could change their practices and force them to implement different alternatives for water conservation.
“We’re already deploying practices that use very limited water,” says Jesse Beaudry, the owner of Shampooch Pet Grooming. “It’s only used during bathing and our water is on demand so when the girls are bathing the dogs the water will only be drawn when they actually push the nozzle in the bathtub.”
However, he says if they have to recycle water it could be problematic for the business because they would have to build a water recycling facility.
“To do so would be cost prohibitive and would be a problem for our business to continue operating,” Beaudry says.
READ MORE: Water restrictions mean no top-ups for Calgary’s manmade lakes starting June 1
Tougher restrictions are expected to reduce water consumption by five to ten per cent, something that would be bad news for Phung Nguyen, whose hair salon relies on water use.
“When a customer comes they expect to have a hair colour and I need to wash their hair properly,” says Nguyen. “If the colour stays in the skin they will leave bad reviews for my business.”
Instead of asking citizens to reduce their water usage, Nguyen says the City should have worked on water storage with the province as a pre-emptive measure to avoid severe drought conditions.
The province and the city are monitoring the mountain snowpack and the amount of spring rain to inform upcoming water restrictions later this season.
Calgary issued a water reduction advisory last week — the same day the province announced its plan to deal with water supply during what is expected to be a very dry summer.
If that agreement is activated, the city is committed to implement drought response measures that could collectively reduce overall water use to 10 per cent.
The city is currently asking Calgarians to reduce their water use and “make every drop count.”
For more information on drought in Calgary, including actions you can take, visit calgary.ca/drought.