Alberta needs to protect water for people and the environment before it puts it on the market, says a new coalition.
A coalition of 45 interest groups and individuals rallied Thursday at Edmonton's Rossdale water treatment plant to launch a campaign against the creation of a province-wide water market. The campaign, called Our Water is Not for Sale, argues that such a market would put control of water into the hands of a few licence holders instead of the public.
Alberta is now reviewing its water licensing system. Last summer, the province released three reports recommending the creation of a provincial water market, one that would let people buy and sell rights to take water from lakes and rivers.
But a market alone would not protect nature, treaty rights or people, said Sheila Muxlow, spokesperson for the Sierra Club Prairie Chapter. "We all need water to survive, and it should not be allocated based on who has the biggest bank account."
Water for sale?
Water is essentially free in Alberta under the province's current licensing system, according to experts. For a one-time fee of about $100, licence holders can take tens of millions of litres from a river each year at no cost.
Economists promote water markets as an effective conservation tool. The theory goes that if licence holders can sell their unused water to others, it should encourage them to save more water and give more people access to it.
But many people got those licences for free decades ago, said Bill Bocock, a Sturgeon County farmer and member of the National Farmers Union. A water market would give those people a huge economic windfall.
"When you're given water rights, it seems hardly equitable to turn around and sell them for non-agricultural uses."
The Alberta Water Council has advised the province to set aside water for ecological and domestic use, Muxlow said, and wants that water protected with a licence. But under the current first-in-time, first-in-right system, those licences would be trumped by any licences issued before them — Suncor's right to water would trump that of the environment.
"If water markets go forward as proposed, nature will be forced to act as just one more customer in the market."
The water system has to be changed so it puts the needs of people and the environment first, Bocock said. The government would be abdicating its responsibility to govern water use if it turned over management to the market.
Need for alternatives
The province needs to look at alternatives to water markets, Muxlow said. Common pool management, for example, would see regional water boards allocate water rights based on need.
A minority recommendation in The Alberta Water Council's report to the province on this issue recommended that licences for environmental and domestic protection trump those of all other water users.
Muxlow and 44 other members of the coalition have written an open letter to Premier Ed Stelmach and Environment Minister Rob Renner asking them to create a water system that puts ecosystem health, human need and aboriginal treaty rights first. It also asks them to make broad consultations with the public before introducing any changes to the Water Act.
"Before we even consider water pricing, we need to look at water governance," she said.
The province has not made any decisions on how to change the water system, said Cara Tobin of Alberta Environment, but has said that everything, including first-in-time, first-in-right, was on the table. "No decisions will be made until we get feedback from the public," she said. "The water belongs to Albertans."
The coalition's website is ourwaterisnotforsale.com.
