Piping Water Between River Basins: A Growing Controversy
The ControversyThe primary controversy is around an application made by Municipal District of Rockyview #44 to Alberta Environment (AENV) to withdraw water from the Red Deer River. Balzac, and the development, lay in the Bow River watershed, yet they are requesting water from the Red Deer River. The development plans comprise two concentric racetracks, associated horse barns and buildings, a casino, and a large shopping centre, with space for 5000 parking stalls and associated roads. One can easily anticipate the development's demand for water—for people and horses. The application requests 5000 m3 per day or 1 825 000 m3 per year of water to service new developments in the area surrounding the Hamlet of Balzac, including that of the United Horseman. The applicant (MD of Rockyview) anticipates final build out in the area to be three times this amount: 15 000 m3 per day. Thus, this application "represents an initial solution for development in this area" (licence application). Will the development have needed access to water? According to information provided by Alberta Environment, even if the license for the development were to be issued, the development would have access to only half of the water allocated approximately 20 percent of the time. In some years, the development would only have access to 30 percent of its full allocation. These results are based on water conditions from years 1928 to 1995, accounting of obligations to more senior licence holders, and the necessity to meet the Water Conservation Objectives. Thus Red Deer River would not provide a secure water source every year. Finally, climate change projections, not taken into account in the issuance of licenses by Alberta Environment, may decrease the amount of water available to this development. Potential ecological impacts to the Red Deer river are also understated. According to the Calgary Herald ("Liberals demand halt to development of Balzac", Jan. 25, 2007) there would be no negative environmental impact because the development would draw less than 0.1 % of the Red Deer River's average annual flow. But measuring impacts to a river based on yearly averages will be ineffective to evaluating water supply and ecological impacts to a river system. According to accepted science on protecting a river's natural flow regime, diversions from rivers should be measured on weekly averages. Therefore, it will be important for Alberta Environment to enforce its Water Conservation Objective to protect instream flows particularly during low flow periods. Public ConcernIn addition to questions over access to water, public concern over piping water from the Bow to the Red Deer basin has led to calls for an evaluation of current policy governing such transfers. Public concerns include:
Doesn't the law prohibit transfers between watersheds?The Alberta Water Act prohibits interbasin transfers but not intrabasin transfers. A transfer of water between the South Saskatchewan and North Saskatchewan river systems, for example, requires a special Act of legislature. A transfer is an interbasin transfer under the Water Act when water is transferred between two or more of seven major basins: Peace/ Slave River basin, Athabasca River basin, North Saskatchewan River basin, South Saskatchewan River basin, Milk River basin, Beaver River basin, and Hay River basin. Thus, the Bow, Red Deer, and Oldman River as sub-basins of the South Saskatchewan River watershed are not considered separate basins as a matter of law. Consequently, this water allocation licence would not be an interbasin transfer. This application is an intrabasin transfer because the development and the MD lay in the Bow River sub-basin not the Red Deer River sub-basin. Current legislation and policy does not prohibit intrabasin transfers. In fact a number of intrabasin transfers are in existence in Alberta (approximately 22). Current legislation and policy, however, does provide the Environment Minister with complete discretion to reject a permit based on "any other matters applicable to the approval that, in the opinion of the Director, are relevant" (South Saskatchewan River Basin Management Plan, October 2007). In response to the public controversy and concerns that the current policy regarding intrabasin transfers aren't strong enough, Environment Minister Renner requested the Alberta Water Council review Alberta's intrabasin transfer policy (or lack thereof). This review will not likely impact Alberta Environment's decision on the Balzac application because AENV anticipates a decision in the next few months. Piping the Water: More Environmental IssuesThis request is far more complicated than a simple water withdrawal. Water intake would occur at the Town of Drumheller, through whose treatment plant the water would move and be treated. Drumheller would essentially sell this water to the MD of Rockyview. The water would move through the Kneehill Regional Water Services Commission to either Acme or Beiseker, where a 62 km pipeline would then transport the water to the development. The pipeline's cost is estimated to be $40 million, of which the developers would pay $32 million and the MD would be eligible for an $8 million from Alberta Agriculture to supplement the remainder. Therefore, approval is not only required from AENV but from the Town of Drumheller and the Kneehill Regional Water Services Commission, who might be required to expand their infrastructure capacity to support the increased water flow. Red Deer River watershed folks also feel they should have a say in this decision, which many did through Statements of Concern submitted during the two public comment periods late last year. WastewaterWhile much of the public concern emerges from the movement of water from one sub-basin to another, there are still issues associated with the treatment of wastewater. The return flow of wastewater is not anticipated to flow to the Bow River but would ultimately go to the Red Deer River through an existing wastewater pipeline to the Langdon wastewater treatment plant. This facility uses tertiary treatment, removes nitrogen and phosphorous, and uses ultraviolet (UV) disinfection. Effluent from the plant flows to Weed Lake (a reconstructed wetland), and then through the Western Irrigation District's canal system, and ultimately ends up in the Red Deer River. Thus the return flow from the development would not be transferred to the Bow River, but stormwater may contribute to the Bow River and water would be consumed in the Bow River watershed not the Red Deer River watershed. Other Possible Water Sources?The proposal to access water from the Red Deer River rather than the Bow likely stemmed from a new prohibition for granting new licences for allocations in the Bow, Oldman, and South Saskatchewan River sub-basins. The prohibition on new licenses was adopted in part under the South Saskatchewater River Basin Water Management Plan. The MD of Rockyview approached City of Calgary to tap into some of their water. This would occur either as part of the City's licence, or as a permanent transfer of a portion of the City's licence. The City has rejected this suggestion until the results of a Calgary Regional Partnership study on regional water and wastewater systems are available. In the meantime, the City maintains that it will not service rural municipalities, only urban ones. Another possible source of water for the development may come about from the Rockyview Water Co-operative, which currently services 1300 people. The Co-operative has an application with Alberta Environment (AENV) that includes water for this development from the Bow River. The amount is much more than what the development would require. It is unclear whether the Balzac developers approached any other license holders within the Bow River basin to seek a transfer of current water rights. This transfer system was designed to allow for access of water for new water needs but within the context of the current licensing system. A more comprehensive analysis will be available from Bow Riverkeeper in the near future. Sources
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