Alberta's Water Resource Allocation and Management System · Alberta's Water Resource Allocation and Management System: A Review of the Current Water Resource Allocation System in

Alberta's Water Resource Allocation and Management System:A Review of the Current Water Resource Allocation System in AlbertaW.L. (Vic) Adamowicz University of Alberta

David Percy University of Alberta

Marian Weber University of Alberta/ Alberta Innovates

June 2010

Alberta's Water Resource Allocation and Management System: A Review of the Current Water Resource Allocation System in Alberta

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Alberta's Water Resource Allocation and Management System: A Review of the Current Water Resource Allocation System in Alberta 1

INTRODUCTION


A REVIEW OF THE CURRENT WATER RESOURCE ALLOCATION SYSTEM IN ALBERTA

Introduction

Government Ownership

Allocation of Rights to Water

Exempted UsesA.


Household Usersi.

Traditional Agricultural Usersii.


The Requirement of a LicenceB.

The Prior Allocation PrincipleC.

4Alberta's Water Resource Allocation and Management System:


The Features of a Water LicenceLegal CharacterisationA.

Transferability (The Original Approach)B.



Reforming the Prohibition against Transfers (Compulsory Reallocation)C.



THE ALBERTA WATER ACT: A MARKET!BASED APPROACH



Environmental Safeguards

Allocation DecisionsA.


Instream Flows and Unlicensed Uses B.

Initial Allocationi.



Restoration of Instream Flow Levelsii.

Monitoring and EnforcementC.


IS THE CURRENT WATER RESOURCE ALLOCATION SYSTEM “SUSTAINABLE”?

CASE STUDY 1: The Lower Athabascan River Basin

1 To the best of our knowledge this basin does not yet have an approved water management plan and thus it does not have a speci!ed set of water conservation objectives (WCOs). The second phase of the WMF is expected to help generate information that will lead to a water management plan and WCOs for the region. http://www.energy.alberta.ca/OilSands/pdfs/FinalReport_2007_OS_MSC.pdf

2 Ohlson et al. 2010 provides a report on the process of the development of the Phase 2 objectives. This report on the Phase 2 Committee process outlines the main areas of disagreement between the stakeholders, most notably the issue of an environmental base "ow exemption.

16Alberta's Water Resource Allocation and Management System: A Review of the Current Water Resource Allocation System in Alberta


Evaluation of the Performance of the Current Water Allocation System in the Lower Athabasca River



Meeting the Conditions for an E#cient Market: The Case of the Lower Athabasca River


Summary

21

FIGURE 1: Approved Licences for Water Use Sourced From the Athabasca River for Oil Sands Mining

Project / Company Status Annual licensed

water-use, GL

Annual licensed

water-use, m3/s

Max. instantaneous

pumping rate, m3/s

Suncor Existing 62.825 1.99 3.790

Syncrude Existing 61.675 1.96 4.163

Athabasca Oil Sands Project (AOSP), Albian Sands Existing 55.100 1.75 2.220

Fort Hills Demonstration Plant, Petro-Canada Existing 0.271 0.01 0.030

Joslyn SAGD (Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage), Total E&P Canada Ltd.

Existing 0.177 0.01 0.020

Total existing 180.048 5.71 10.22

Jackpine Phase I, Shell Approved 63.500 2.01 1.950

Horizon, CNRL Approved 79.320 2.52 3.100

Fort Hills Project, Petro-Canada Approved 39.000 1.24 1.237

Kearl, Imperial Approved 80.000 2.54 4.600

Total approved 261.820 8.30 10.89

Total existing & approved 441.868 14.01 21.11

CASE STUDY 2: The South Saskatchewan River Basin

1 Alberta is allowed to consume 2,600,000 cubic decameters annually, even if this exceeds 50 percent of the natural "ow; but Alberta must maintain a minimum "ow of 42.5 m3/s or half of the instantaneous natural "ow, whichever is less.

Alberta's Water Resource Allocation and Management System: A Review of the Current Water Resource Allocation System in Alberta


Allocations in the South Saskatchewan River Basin


FIGURE 3: Licensed allocation of surface water in the South Saskatchewan River Basin by sub-basin and major sector

River Sub-Basin

Licensed Allocation – Surface Water

(Mm3)

Municipal LivestockCrop

WateringCommercial Petroleum Industrial

Other

SectorsTotal

Oldman River 58.4 21.2 1,972.8 13.5 4.3 - 161.2 2,231.4

Bow River 491.1 11.3 1,970.0 26.2 9.4 30.3 22.9 2,561.2

Lower South

Sask. River167.5 12.5 61.6 1.9 6.9 18.9 8.7 278.0

Red Deer River 59.2 17.0 70.3 8.7 46.2 22.2 111.6 335.2

Total 776.2 62.0 4,074.7 50.3 66.8 71.4 304.4 5,405.8

2 At the start of the season, the system administrator determines the forecast water availability in light of licensed use. If not all licences can be supplied, then the administrator declares a licence seniority cut-o$ date that determines who will receive their full licensed volume (licensees more senior to the cut-o$ date) and who will receive no seasonal allocation (those holding licences that are junior to the cut-o$ date).

3 Many municipal and industrial users were not licensed until the mid-1980s. Individual domestic users do not require a licence, and not all licensed users are required to submit actual consumption numbers.


4 Fifty-one percent of irrigated land is used to grow forage for winter feed such as timothy and alfalfa. Cereals (primarily wheat and barley) are grown on 30% of irrigated land, while specialty crops such as sugar beets and beans are grown on 14% of the land. Oil seed crops such as canola and "ax make up the remaining irrigated land.


5 Instream objectives were the only mechanism for achieving instream "ow needs prior to the use of water conservation objectives under Water for Life and the Phase 2 of the South Saskatchewan River Basin Management Plan. Instream objectives are attached as constraints on licences whereas water conservation objectives are the result of balancing social, environmental, and economic criteria and are not the same as instream "ow needs which are de!ned solely by ecological criteria.


Trading


FIGURE 4: Matter and Factors That Must be Taken into Account for a Water Transfer

Matters and Factors Guidelines

Existing, potential and cumulative effects on the aquatic environment No significant adverse effect on the aquatic environment »

Existing, potential and cumulative effects on any applicable instream objective and/or WCO Efficiency of use

No significant adverse effect on existing instream objectives and/or »Water Conservation Objectives

Industry standards and best practices »

Net Diversion (See Definition) Quality and timing of return flow should be benign or beneficial for »environment

Only net use portion of the allocation is transferable, unless new »user has a net consumption operation.

Existing, potential and cumulative hydraulic, hydrological and hydrogeological effects.

Existing, potential and cumulative effects on household users, traditional agriculture users and other higher and lower priority

licensees

From the » Water Act, Section 82(3)(b): the transfer of the allocation, in the opinion of the Director, does not impair the exercise of rights of any household user, traditional agriculture user or licensee other than the household user, traditional agriculture user or other licensee who has agreed in writing that the transfer of the allocation may take place

With respect to irrigation, the suitability of the land to which the

allocation of water is to be transferred for agriculture. The historic

volume, rate and timing of the diversion under the original and proposed licence.

The land must be suitable for irrigate agriculture: Class 4 or better »in accordance with the standards of Alberta Agriculture, Food and

Rural Development

Location of the existing diversion and the proposed new diversion.

Water quality (including public health and safety and assimilative capacity).

No significant adverse effect on public health and safety. »

No significant adverse effect on assimilative capacity »

Linkages between surface and ground water and the effects or

changes in overall water use.

No significant adverse effect on groundwater quantity or quality »

Existing, potential and cumulative effects on the operation of reservoirs or other water infrastructure.

No significant adverse effect on operations unless the reservoir or »infrastructure licensee agrees it is feasible to adjust operations to mitigate effects

Master Agreement on Apportionment (Alberta's commitments to Saskatchewan)

The terms of the » Apportionment Agreement will be respected

First Nation Rights and Traditional Uses Government of Alberta First Nation consultation policies and »guidelines on Land Management and Resource Development

Agreements with First Nations »

The Water Act (82)(5)(c)(iv) also provides that the Director may consider any other matters applicable to the transfer of the allocation that the Director considers relevant.

Evaluation of the Performance of the Water Allocation System in the South Saskatchewan River Basin


Meeting the Conditions for an E#cient Market: The Case of the South Saskatchewan River Basin



Summary



CONCLUSIONS


BIBLIOGRAPHY



Documents

Alberta's Water Resource Allocation and Management System · Alberta's Water Resource Allocation and Management System: A Review of the Current Water Resource Allocation System in