River Plans Won't Work

[tieflyer]

Small wonder...

 

 

EDMONTON - Federal officials and independent experts say Alberta’s plan to protect provincial rivers won’t work, and could even accelerate environmental damage, new documents show.

Internal government emails reveal the federal government “disassociated” itself from Alberta’s water conservation plan and quietly sent letters of concern, because its experts believed the province’s plan was “insufficient” to keep rivers healthy.

A government-funded consultant’s report said the plan “fails to propose any meaningful measures” to protect aquatic environments, while government scientists predicted it would result in “significant” and “serious” degradation of fisheries.

“If you care deeply about our water ... you would be very shocked to see how this market-based plan has failed to address the fundamental crisis that’s happening,” said Bill Moore-Kilgannon of Public Interest Alberta.

“The government has ignored it for ideological and political reasons — some people stand to make massive amounts of money from this, from selling something they were given for free, something that belongs to Albertans, just like the air.”

Government normally keeps such documents secret but they became public when they surfaced in a lawsuit. Moore-Kilgannon obtained them and released them to The Journal.

Alberta Environment spokesman Chris Bourdeau said the government consulted a wide variety of experts and had to make tough decisions.

“At the end of the day, a decision needed to be made that represented all perspectives,” he said. “Ensuring that we could, to the best of our ability, protect the aquatic ecosystems but at the same time recognize that water is needed by communities that exist on the rivers.”

The internal records provide a window into government discussions in the years and months leading up to the August 2006 release of the Water Management Plan for the South Saskatchewan River Basin.

That plan is still in place.

It put a cap on new water licences for the strained Bow, Oldman and South Saskatchewan River basins, a move that earned praise from environmental groups and criticism from those worried constraints on water would undermine economic growth.

At the time, then-environment minister Guy Boutilier told the legislature the plan would “protect the basin’s aquatic environment.” But internal communications suggest otherwise.

For example, a draft government plan dated April 16, 2005, said that “even with an allocation cap, it is expected the deterioration of the aquatic environment will continue as the existing licences divert more water to the full extent of their allocations.”

In a draft presentation, provincial experts asked whether existing licences should be respected and whether the province should start identifying “preferred uses” for water.

A March 2006 report by independent environmental consulting firm Gartner Lee harshly criticized the government’s plan for the three rivers, saying they will remain “degraded and unhealthy” unless conservation objectives are applied to existing licences.

“The plan fails to propose any meaningful measures or strategies which would fulfil the government’s commitment to protect the aquatic environment,” the report said.

Regarding the relatively healthy Red Deer River, the Gartner Lee report said the province’s allocation limit is “too high” and in at least one case is actually “facilitating the degradation of the river aquatic environment,” adding: “This is not allowed under the Water Act.”

An internal government study predicts the Red Deer River will suffer “a serious decline in fish populations” and “a measurable decline in ... abundance of all species” under the provincial plan.

Finally, the records reveal the federal government withdrew from the steering committee, sent two letters to province expressing concern the plan would not work, and warned it may impose its own conditions or demand an environmental impact assessment.

“The Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) ... is now disassociating from the plan due to concerns that the water conservation objectives are insufficient to protect the aquatic environment,” a minister’s report said.

Chris Bourdeau said federal government’s input was valuable and they remained an “observer” on the steering committee.

“The DFO, obviously they are looking at it from a very specific side, protecting fish habitat,” he said. “They realized that the requirements for full protection of the aquatic ecosystem would be difficult to guarantee that we would be able to meet.”

Asked why the former environment minister told Albertans the plan would protect the aquatic environment when several reports said it wouldn’t, Bourdeau asked: “Is it as black and white as protecting or not protecting? We’ve done as much as we can to create water conservation objectives that allow as much water as possible to remain in the river.”

He said the province moved ahead with the cap despite the concerns because Alberta communities and municipalities need water, and the government had to make difficult decisions to balance competing needs.

“Water conservation objectives need to be set in a way that finds that balance between all the needs,” he said. “Protecting the aquatic ecosystem is one of those needs. Tough decisions need to be made that reflect that balance.”

In practical terms, the government’s decision to implement a cap on new water licences created a water market in Alberta.

Now, for the first time, Albertans who hold water licences can sell the water they don’t use to others who need it. As a result, water licences that were only half-used can now be fully used.

The government must approve such sales, and has the power to hold back some of the water and leave it in the river.

Water Matters, a charity group dedicated to protecting watersheds, reports that as of December 2010, the province has approved 54 transfers totalling 17.5 million cubic metres or roughly the amount of water in 7,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

It has held back a total of 1.1 million cubic metres, about six per cent, or 440 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

“The fact that they’re allowing these water transfers to happen drastically increases the use of the water, that’s the whole purpose of the water markets,” Moore-Kilgannon said. “It allows the market, in a completely uncontrolled way, to pull way more water out of the river than even exists.

“It is about the money, not the environment. That is clear.”

He said Albertans must recognize that the province’s market ideology will mean that in time, “those with the deepest pockets” will control Alberta’s water, just as they do in Chile and Australia.

“These documents put the lie to all their PR spin, that water markets are about conservation. It shows they are moving ahead based on ideology rather than clear science and common sense.”

Bourdeau disputed Moore-Kilgannon’s claim that the market increases the amount of water taken from rivers, saying consumption changes year by year and it is impossible to draw a direct correlation between the two.

kkleiss@edmontonjournal.com