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Water Allocation in the Crowsnest Pass

Ms Blakeman:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday the Minister of Environment gave assurances that there is enough water for new development despite the fact that the South Saskatchewan River basin is closed to new water licences and Okotoks and Strathmore are projected to run out of water in the next couple of years.

To the Minister of Environment. The Crowsnest Pass was denied a water licence last year because of the closure to the water basin. So why does the minister continue to say that there is enough water for new development?

Mr. Renner:

Mr. Speaker, what this member forgets is that the per capita consumption of water in southern Alberta is tremendously higher than similar kinds of communities elsewhere in the world. So there’s an opportunity there, a huge opportunity, if we get our act together with respect to water conservation. But I’ve also said and I said yesterday that the reason that we’re engaging in the review of the water allocation system is to provide for a way of having the existing water users share available water with some of the new users.

The Speaker:The hon. member.

Ms Blakeman:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the same minister. Given that the Crowsnest Pass is appealing for their right to drinking water, with court costs at about $20,000 for their municipality, and that last year the province spent $85 million in a lawsuit over water rights, how much of the taxpayer money is the minister willing to spend before he moves on new water rights legislation?

Mr. Renner:

Mr. Speaker, the appeal that the member refers to is the subject of the Environmental Appeals Board. I’m not going to comment on that because at the end of the day the final decision rests with me, and it would be inappropriate for me to comment until I’ve received the advice from that board. But I must say that the rhetoric that’s coming out of this member is incredible. We have taken a proactive approach. We’ve talked about the need for us to review our legislation, to provide for a facility so that the water – and I remind the member that the amount of water is a finite amount of water, not infinite. We can’t go on assuming that we can just issue licences whenever and wherever they’re requested.

Ms Blakeman:

Back to the same minister. So, Mr. Speaker, Albertans do not have secure access to water, to drinking water. We don’t have a fair allocation system. The first in time, first in right is an archaic system, and it sucks, frankly. We don’t have enough water left over to protect our ecosystems. For more than a year now the minister has been saying that he might possibly, maybe, at some point, is thinking about, should get around to doing something. Mr. Minister, can you put a date on this review, on this legislation, on the Water Act that’s going to be before us? Put a date on it.

Mr. Renner:

Mr. Speaker, the member talks about the last year and, in her words, the inaction on the part of this minister. I’d remind this member that we’ve had a thorough review and recommendations from the Water Council through their WATSUP committee. Dr. David Percy from the University of Alberta has provided me with a detailed recommendation and review of the system. We’ve had the Alberta water institute doing an inter-jurisdictional review. All of those reports are now on my desk. They are being combined and put into a policy. I can advise the member that that policy will be ready to bring forward to the public either later on this fall or early next spring.