Alberta Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz says water-sharing agreements now in place will allow the province to act should drought conditions grow worse over the coming months.
Alberta has concluded its negotiations with major water licence holders and is now outlining what it calls the largest water-sharing agreements in Alberta’s 118-year history. Alberta has concluded its negotiations with major water licence holders and is now outlining what it calls the largest water-sharing agreements in Alberta's 118-year history.
"This puts us in a position where we are ready to respond, if we are, in fact, in a significant drought later this year," Schulz said. For other industrial users, there are agreements in place to essentially go down to the water level that's necessary to keep operations running, according to Schulz. The use of water is governed in Alberta through the issuing of "water licences" by the provincial government.to those who had water licences first. For instance, an operation that received a licence 120 years ago would have access to water first, compared to an operation that received one 20 years ago.
Evan Davies, a professor with the University of Alberta's water resources engineering research group, says researchers will be interested in the coming months to look back and reassess modelling results used by the province as drought conditions play out At the same time, the negotiations have brought forward some lessons, according to Schulz. Moving water allocations online has painted a clearer picture.
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