Alberta dubs water-sharing agreements ‘major success’ as experts say challenges still loom

November 14, 2024 Canuck

The provincial government says its water-sharing agreements were a “major success” and an arrangement that could be replicated in the rest of the country, as experts say important conversations around Alberta’s water supply still loom in the years to come.

Earlier this year, Alberta was staring down the risk of significant drought. Winter snowpack was significantly reduced, rivers were extremely low, and multiple reservoirs were well below capacity.

With an eye toward responding to the situation, the province launched what it called “unprecedented” water-sharing negotiations with major water licence holders in late January.

The water-sharing agreements zeroed in on major water users in the Red Deer River sub-basin, the Bow River sub-basin, as well as the mainstem and upper tributaries of the Oldman River sub-basin, and were announced in April.

A map of the South Saskatchewan River Basin. — (CBC News)

They were voluntary memorandums of understanding (MOUs) — meaning municipalities, industry and irrigation districts all agreed to reduce their water usage, though participation was not legally binding. That led to debate around whether the voluntary nature of the agreements would hold up to the demands of drought over the long-term.

As the months went on, drought conditions did not materialize uniformly across southern Alberta.

By May, the agreements tied to the Oldman River were activated, but those concerning the Red Deer River and the Bow River sub-basins were never used.

The last of the regularly scheduled meetings of participants was held Oct. 10, at which point signatories voted to deactivate the agreements.

Municipalities saw reductions

Municipalities that fell under the activated agreements did take action.

A spokesperson with the City of Lethbridge said it met a goal of reducing its water consumption from May to September by a minimum of 10 per cent. A spokesperson with Lethbridge County said consumption across the county was reduced by 23.5 per cent this summer.

The City of Medicine Hat also responded to the agreements.

“From May 1 to September 30, 2024, Medicine Hat reduced its water usage by 17 per cent compared to the same period in 2023 — well above the goal of 10 per cent. This equals a reduction of nearly 1.8 billion litres of water over the same period in 2023,” said Eric Busse, a spokesperson with the city, in an email.

A sign that reads Medicine Hat is pictured. — A spokesperson with the City of Medicine Hat said the community reduced its water usage by 17 per cent from May 1 to September 30, compared to the same period in 2023. (Sarah Lawrynuik/CBC)

The City of Calgary, which fell under the Bow River sub-basin agreement, said in April that if agreements were enacted, the city would commit to reduce its water use by five to 10 per cent.

Though that agreement was never activated, a rupture in Calgary’s most important water feeder main in June still meant the city had to put in water restrictions.

Despite that, an activation of the agreements wouldn’t have meant more restrictions, according to Rehana Rajabali, leader of environmental planning and policy with the city.

That’s because the reduced water usage as a result of the feeder main restrictions already saw Calgary meeting its commitment, Rajabali said.

Industry and irrigator reaction

Some irrigation districts also reduced their water use this year. The St. Mary River Irrigation District and the United Irrigation District both saw water allocations cut in half to start the year, though improving conditions changed the picture.

“We were very fortunate to get precipitation. If we didn’t get the precipitation that we did this past spring and summer, it would have been quite a different story,” said David Westwood, general manager of the St. Mary River Irrigation District.

A man stands in front of the camera, wearing a suit and a blue shirt, with a long hallway behind him. — David Westwood, general manager of the St. Mary’s Irrigation District. The district, the largest irrigation district in Canada, set an eight-inch water allocation to start the season based on water availability at the time. (Monty Kruger/CBC)

Others, such as the Bow River Irrigation District and the Eastern Irrigation District, did not see agreements activated, but said they were prepared to share water should conditions have warranted.

“Had the agreement been activated, irrigation districts would have simply shared the water available to us after First Nations, municipalities, and industries received their needs, which is what we do every year anyway,” said Richard Phillips, general manager of the Bow River Irrigation District, in an email.

The agreements also saw various industrial operations sign on, including MEGlobal, a petrochemical producer. A spokesperson with the company said it was an “active participant” in the development of the Red Deer River agreement.

“Fortunately, this year’s weather conditions did not require us to make any adjustments to our water usage. However, we continue to recognize that water is a precious resource and it is everyone’s responsibility to conserve and protect it,” wrote Trish Thompson, a spokesperson with the company, in an email.

Experts weigh effectiveness of plan

Though many farmers found relief after contending with drought this year, experts say southern Alberta is likely to see more challenges around its water supply, especially given surging populations and the possibility of more frequent and severe droughts in the future.

A recent report from Alberta’s auditor general also stated that Alberta’s water conservation and management system needs major reform and could result in future water shortages.

CBC News spoke to two experts about how this year’s water-sharing agreements went, and about how they view the challenges of the years to come.

Tricia Stadnyk, a professor and Canada Research Chair in hydrologic modelling with the University of Calgary’s Schulich School of Engineering, said there have been some interesting debates since the agreements were struck earlier this year.

A woman is pictured in front of a river. — Tricia Stadnyk, a professor and Canada Research Chair in hydrologic modelling with the University of Calgary’s Schulich School of Engineering, says should Alberta face a long-term drought scenario, asking people to change their bottom line almost permanently would become a more challenging task. (Monty Kruger/CBC)

Much of that revolves around Alberta’s water priority system, dubbed “first in time, first in right,” or FITFIR, which has been in place since 1894. It’s based on seniority, which means those who applied first have first rights to water.

“Many think that the FITFIR is a viable system, as long as we continue to have these kinds of discussions openly and honestly, where the senior licence holders come to the table and voluntarily agree to cut back. And I don’t disagree with that sentiment,” Stadnyk said.

However, in Stadnyk’s view, the voluntary nature of the agreements are important.

“In a short-term situation, very similar to what we had this year, I think cutbacks are easier to justify,” Stadnyk said.

“But as soon as this becomes something on the order of what we saw in the 1930s, where it was a 10-year drought, that becomes a very different conversation.”

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David Percy, an expert in water law at the University of Alberta, said this spring, some of the debate revolved around whether it would be possible to have water rights distributed according to the relative importance of different uses of water.

“All of that sounds very attractive, but then it requires someone to make a decision that a municipal use of water is more important, for example, than an irrigation use of water,” Percy said.

“Those decisions become actually almost impossible to make.”

The priority system also creates a political and possible legal risk, in Percy’s view.

“If you did have a really serious drought where major municipalities were short of water, governments are quite likely to begin to impose solutions. So it’s better to work them out while you can,” he said.

Agreements in place until end of 2024

The provincial government isn’t ready to speculate about whether such a model could be adopted in future years, but did say it believes the approach helped mitigate impacts this year.

“The largest water-sharing agreements in Alberta’s history were a major success,” reads a statement attributed to Alberta Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz.

“Together, southern Alberta’s major water users came together and demonstrated the leadership, dedication and community spirit that makes Alberta great.”

Since the summer, water sharing meetings have continued. Shannon Frank, executive director of the Oldman Watershed Council, has been an observer in the water-sharing discussions.

“It went really quite smoothly, considering it had to come together very quickly,” Frank said.

The agreements will remain in effect until the final day of 2024, though the province says it’s very unlikely there will be an activation at this point.

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