Securing Water for People and the Environment

Summary

This project aimed to inform the public consultation phase of planning a water-use framework for Alberta. It pursued three discrete issues in order to increase meaningful discussion concerning a new water policy framework including: protected water areas; addressing water policy concerning drought and climate change; and a proposal for a tiered system of determining appropriate water market governance measures. Developing a good water policy in Alberta will be essential to managing the multiple water demands facing the province ranging from agriculture, industry, municipalities, petroleum production, commerce and the environment. Stakeholders from each of these groups recognize the need for a comprehensive framework to protect Alberta’s water supply.

Grant Outputs

Sharing Our Rivers: How Albertans Can Maintain Healthy Rivers, Communities and Economies – http://www.water-matters.org/docs/sharingourrivers.pdf

This report outlines the concerted efforts of Albertan stakeholders to protect healthy river ecosystems. It identifies a number of threats to Alberta’s rivers including: overexploitation, pollution, fragmentation, destruction or degradation of habitat, and invasion by non-native species. It suggests that in order to enable adequate monitoring, environmental impact assessment, modeling and apative management planning and implementation, critical gaps in the scientific capacity of the Alberta government must be filled.