On January 8, I attended the province’s Water Availability Town Hall. It was a full house, with a panel that included Minister Rebecca Schulz, Minister of Environment and Protected Areas, and Taber-Warner MLA, Grant Hunter. It was outlined that this was an opportunity for the Government of Alberta to collect an initial base of ideas of what Albertans want and don’t want focussed on when it comes to water availability.
It was explained that out of these province-wide engagement sessions the provincial government will develop a list of what’s doable and then will enter a second round of engagement.
Stated at the outset was that the province is not:
- Eliminating 1st in time and 1st in right
- Looking at claw backs of allocation
- Favouring 1 industry over another
- Overhauling the Water for Life strategy
They are looking for ideas on how to increase efficiency and productivity, how to maximize water availability, how different water sources can be used, and changes in how effluent can be used and safely implemented.
Common themes out of the Lethbridge event included:
- Concerns around selenium and the Grassy Mountain coal mining project
- Looking at ways to store or transfer more water, including opportunities for off-stream and in-creek storage
- There’s not much more efficiency to be found in some areas of Southern Alberta
- How can we use our natural assets to retain water
- Drought resistant landscaping
- Reuse of water in larger municipalities
- Return flow credit for municipalities
- Government efficiency and red tape reduction for projects
- Solar and wing energy development options
The Water Availability Engagement has been extended until January 24, so there’s still time to have your say: https://www.alberta.ca/water-availability-engagement
Minister Schulz’s mandate letter can be found here.