Piping Water Between Watersheds: An Analysis of Basin-to-basin and Sub-basin-to-sub-basin Diversions in Alberta
Organization: Water Matters
Type: Policy
Alberta's Water Act does prohibit water diversions between the province's seven large river basins, but Alberta has no formal policy to limit water diversions within these vast basins.
Applications for sub-basin-to-sub-basin diversions are treated like any other water licensing application, despite their scope and potential for negative impact. Meanwhile, despite the prohibition, special Acts of Legislature do grant basin-to-basin diversions.
In fact, Alberta's Legislative Assembly most recently approved two such proposals in December 2007. While Alberta Environment considers a number of factors in its licensing practice, no publicly accessible policy exists that elucidates whether basin-to-basin or sub-basin-to-sub-basin diversions sufficiently account for potential environmental, socio-economic, and cumulative impacts.
To mitigate the potentially negative effect of basin-to-basin as well as sub-basin-to-sub-basin diversions, the following questions are posed:
- What are their hydrological and ecological effects?
- What are the implications of the way Alberta defines its basins? How does Alberta
compare to other jurisdictions? What is the most appropriate scale within which to move water?
- What are the socio-economic implications of sub-basin transfers in the province? How do we prioritize water use in Alberta?
- What is the cumulative impact of these types of diversions now and into the future? This report makes a number of recommendations to the Alberta government.
Applications for sub-basin-to-sub-basin diversions are treated like any other water licensing application, despite their scope and potential for negative impact. Meanwhile, despite the prohibition, special Acts of Legislature do grant basin-to-basin diversions.
In fact, Alberta's Legislative Assembly most recently approved two such proposals in December 2007. While Alberta Environment considers a number of factors in its licensing practice, no publicly accessible policy exists that elucidates whether basin-to-basin or sub-basin-to-sub-basin diversions sufficiently account for potential environmental, socio-economic, and cumulative impacts.
To mitigate the potentially negative effect of basin-to-basin as well as sub-basin-to-sub-basin diversions, the following questions are posed:
- What are their hydrological and ecological effects?
- What are the implications of the way Alberta defines its basins? How does Alberta
compare to other jurisdictions? What is the most appropriate scale within which to move water?
- What are the socio-economic implications of sub-basin transfers in the province? How do we prioritize water use in Alberta?
- What is the cumulative impact of these types of diversions now and into the future? This report makes a number of recommendations to the Alberta government.
Submitted by: WConnect Admin (June 09, 2009)
Last Reviewed by: WConnect Admin (June 09, 2009)
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