CPAWS Statement in Response to Auditor General’s audit of Alberta Environment and Protected areas Surface Water Management

Amiskwaciwâskahikan | Edmonton , AB 

July 24, 2024 – The Auditor General has released a report documenting their findings from an audit of Environment and Protected Areas Surface Water Management Systems. The report examined the functionality of existing systems to ensure the quality and quantity of water across Alberta.  

Alberta is a busy landscape with many demands for its water. Water is vital to ecosystems, people, businesses, recreation and industry. Balancing these needs is the responsibility of Alberta Environment and Protected Areas, however the Auditor General has revealed several key concerns in their investigation.  According to the report: 

 “Alberta Environment and Protected Areas:  

• has no water conservation objectives in most basins  

• does not know if existing water conservation objectives are working  

• lacks robust processes to monitor water pressures, assess risks, and decide when water conservation objectives are needed  

• has ineffective processes to approve licenses and monitor compliance, such as not enforcing licensee compliance with conditions” 

One of the most concerning findings is the lack of water conservation objectives, and the incompleteness of water management planning across the province. As with any public resource that has multiple demands on it, thoughtful planning for its use is required to manage cumulative impacts. Water, like all other common public goods, must not be subjected to a tragedy of the commons. 

Despite insufficient water management plans, and a lack of water conservation objectives for most watersheds across the province, the Government of Alberta is still issuing licenses under the Water Act. Issues with water management have been repeatedly cited by CPAWS as a primary concern related to industrial developments in sensitive areas. This program audit confirms that our concerns have been well founded. Given that Alberta Environment and Protected areas shares licensing under the Water Act with the Alberta Energy Regulator, coordination of all roles regarding the health and supply of water are vitally important to ensure the is sufficient water for human and ecosystem use. We are concerned that the report found poor coordination of roles and responsibilities regarding assessment of water supply and demand and poor systems for information sharing.  

For example, Alberta has seen a significant jump in hydraulic fracking in the past 10 years. Since 2013, water usage from non-saline sources has increased by 278%, while production increased by 608% over the same period. Many of these withdrawals occur from watersheds that contain at-risk native trout habitat. Coordination is vital between departments that are responsible for issuing licenses under the Water Act to ensure that permits do not result in our water being over-allocated and pollution that results in significant impacts on ecosystems.  It is especially concerning given most basins do not have water conservation objectives set to align licensing approvals under shared targets. 

Another example of water license concern for CPAWS Northern Alberta is Mine 14. This coal mine project, near Grande Cache is still awaiting a license under the Water Act from the Alberta Energy Regulator. The Smoky River and its watershed are home to native fish species including Alberta’s threatened Bull Trout. The Little Smoky River was assessed by the province to contain currently stable populations (rare in Alberta’s headwaters) that were facing moderate, imminent threats, but the river does not currently have a water management plan, nor water conservation objectives that must be considered in the granting of a water license. 

There are no water conservation objectives in the Athabasca River Basin, where the oil sands are operating. The water withdrawals without limits are one of the cumulative impacts that have resulted in the drying of the Peace Athabasca Delta, further exacerbated by climate change and new dams within the watershed. 

While there are water use restrictions in place for the oil sands, this report calls into question the Government’s ability to monitor water usage and evaluate whether set objectives are effective. The report also confirms that existing water management systems fail to account for changes in water supply due to climate change. As conditions change and Alberta faces increasing drought-like conditions, it is important that updates are made to account for forecasted changes in water supply.  

Furthermore, according to the report there are insufficient measures to monitor and enforce licensee requirements when they are granted, leaving ecosystems at risk when there is noncompliance. 

Overlooked in the report is the contribution of habitat and landscape protection to secure water quality and quantity. Intact, forested, or vegetated landscapes help regulate surface water flow, keep water on the landscape longer, mitigate sedimentation and pollution into surface water and can recharge groundwater sources.  

CPAWS Northern Alberta would like to see water conservation objectives and water management plans established for all water basins in the province. For the same reasons that an audit of Alberta Environment and Protected areas water management was called for, the Alberta Energy Regulator’s ability to manage water quantity and quality must also be investigated.