Amendments to the #Forest and #Prairies #Protection Act provide the #province with the authority to assume #command and actively support #municipalities responding to a #wildfire. And amendments to the #Water Act provide #Cabinet authority to determine priority of water use under water #licenses, and allow ‘low risk’ transfers between major water basins for use during #emergencies like a prolonged #drought.
Concerns are best articulated by a ABLawg.ca report:
16/24
“We believe that the day-to-day rule of #law #governing #water and #environmental #management could be #comprehensive and #flexible enough to set out legislated courses of #action to deal with #true, unexpected #emergencies related to water. If there are to be #Executive #powers related to such emergencies, they should be clearly defined and limited and their exercise should be appealable. #Emergency #response is not the place to tuck huge, practically unlimited Executive power...
17/24
"... At the very least, the non-amended #emergency provisions regarding #water in the Water Act should be restored, and the water related amendments deleted, with certain exceptions such as the #provision stipulating that emergency #measures apply to deemed #licenses...."
18/24
"... We believe that #government and #Legislature, with #public and #expert input, and meeting #Constitutional obligations to #Indigenous #communities, should carefully examine the day-to-day #water #management #law with the goal that it incorporates #emergency #response, as much as possible and feasible..."
19/24
This will require amendments to effect better rational and #equitable #water #management, including regarding the #mitigation of #climateChange and efforts to #adapt to these changes, and to live within our #ecological #limits. Legislatively giving the #Executive broad and ill-defined #power and the almost unlimited discretion to avoid complying with the #laws and #policies that apply in “non-emergency” situations is a failure of #governance...."
20/24
"... This is especially evident in respect to responding to #water related #emergencies through inter-basin #transfers.”
- Powell, Kwasniak, Barber, Luo, 2024
21/24
In summary, #water #emergencies are best avoided by good #long-term #monitoring of water flows and #quality, preserving the #eastern slopes for the #natural #retention of water, and #planning for #sustainable #demand through water #modelling that accommodates #climateChange scenarios and maintains #healthy flow #regimes for aquatic #ecosystems. Relying on ad hoc inter-basin #transfers of water to meet #unsustainable demand is not an adequate response in the long term.
22/24
SAGE concerns:
– Combining #water basins without #public #consultation and #assessment of #environmental impacts risks aquatic and riparian #ecosystem #health.
– Expanding the latitude of water use under the current water #license #system increases the amount of water being removed from #river #systems, which already do not meet minimum flows for river health for portions of the year.
23/24
What can you do? Express your concerns to your MLA regarding the over-allocation of #water in the South Saskatchewan #River Basin. Minimum river flows are required for #aquatic #Health for sustaining #cottonwood #forests, for #recreation, for #tourism, and to dilute pollutants introduced into river #systems from stormwater and #wastewater treatment discharges.
https://www.sage-environment.org/alberta-environmental-policy-series-water/
24/24
Timothy Schwinghamer (he/him)