‘Exceptionally large late season storm’ needed to bring mountain snow levels in Banff, Kananaskis to normal

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Cathy Ellis
Rocky Mountain Outlook
April 24, 2025

BANFF – The snowpack shortage in the mountains could pose dangerous conditions this summer.

Canmore’s John Pomeroy, one of the world’s leading snow and ice hydrology experts, said the snow water equivalent is hundreds of millimetres below normal for this time of year, generally at between 65 and 85 per cent of normal for high elevation snowpacks in the Bow River Basin and Kananaskis Country…

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Water experts on edge as another dry summer heats up in southern Alberta

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David Bell
CBC News
April 15, 2025

Prominent hydrologists are sounding the alarm as another dry summer in southern Alberta — with the possibility of water restrictions — is coming into focus.

Water levels are low. Really low.

“The snowpacks in the mountain headwaters of the Bow River, the Oldman River, Red Deer River and North Saskatchewan River are generally extremely low, some of the lowest I’ve ever seen,” John Pomeroy told CBC News in a Tuesday interview.

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Glaciers and mountains: melting water towers will aggravate global crises (report)

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The United Nations World Water Development Report 2025, published by UNESCO on behalf of UN-Water, reveals the extent to which climate disruption, biodiversity loss, and unsustainable activities are transforming mountain environments at an unprecedented rate, threatening the water resources upon which billions of people and countless ecosystems depend. There is now an urgent need for international cooperation and adaptation strategies and actions to face the unfolding crisis in our mountains and glaciers.

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Global Water Futures and the UNESCO Chair in Mountain Water Sustainability have contributed significantly to this report, specifically for Chapters 2 and 8. We would like to draw particular attention to the contribution of Zoë Johnson (HQP, Early Career Scientist) as first author for these chapters.

“The Great Thaw” book features GWFO sites across Western Canada

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The Great Thaw: A Homage in Art to Vanishing Glaciers brings science and art together to inspire knowledge sharing and promote practical strategies for glacier preservation and adaptation. Featuring over 140 artworks paired with scientifically grounded explanations, The Great Thaw takes readers on a powerful journey to explore the impacts of climate change on glaciers and the broader cryosphere — snow and ice that sustain life in mountain, forest, and downstream regions.

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World Day for Glaciers and World Water Day celebrations in Paris and online

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As part of the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation 2025, a joint celebration of the World Day for Glaciers and World Water Day will be organized to highlight the accelerating threat of glacier melt and its impact on water security, communities and ecosystems. With glaciers melting at record rates, this joint celebration will underscore the importance of glaciers as “water towers of the world” for billions of people who rely on them.

Director John Pomeroy will be speaking at numerous celebrations and side events on March 20th and 21st at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. Register to join the celebrations online by visiting each event’s webpage.

March 20, 2025
2:30 AM CST – Scientific Research: Cryosphere Observation and Modelling
9:30 AM CST – Chronicles of Cryospheric Loss: Weaving Science, Art, and Voices from the Ice

March 21, 2025
3:45 AM CST – The Impact of Melting Glaciers  (Keynote)
7:00 AM CST – Melting Glaciers, Lasting Impacts: Addressing Societal and Environmental Challenges, Solutions and Actions with a Changing Mountain Cryosphere 
7:00 AM CST – Mountain Voices: Science, Stories and Solutions  (Keynote)
9:00 AM CST – The world’s changing cryosphere: Advances and future challenges in data, information, and knowledge-building