Quote:
Originally posted by Thunderball@May 1 2005, 08:25 PM
It should be stated that there is a large amount of freshwater in Northern Alberta, and that would fuel the future... as it would if Alberta was still part of Canada.
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And pump it uphill for 1000 km? Alberta had better become extremely diversified to be able to afford to that, because the energy costs would be huge. There's a reason why the already puny southern tribs are used to irrigate the areas right next to the S. Sask River, and that the larger S. Sask River isn't used instead.. The only cost effective way to move water is down hill. Right now, the development in most of Southern Alberta is hampered by the access to water. You won't be able to see growth in Alberta like in other arid places such as Arizona that have massive aquifers, and you aren't going to see a lot of industry wanting to move north where the water is either when they can just locate in other parts of Canada closer to large population centres that have access to larger markets.
Add to that the real possibility that Montana will divert water from the southern tribs in the future.