Alberta proposes updates to Water Act 

The Government of Alberta is proposing the first major update to the province’s Water Act since 1999.

Introduced as Bill 7, the Water Amendment Act, the legislation is designed to “modernize” Alberta’s water management system to keep pace with a rapidly growing population and evolving economic demands.

“Every part of our province and economy relies on water,” said Rebecca Schulz, Minister of Environment and Protected Areas, speaking during an Oct. 30 announcement. “While we cannot make it rain or snow where or when we need it, we can make the system more effective and make every drop of water count.”

RJ Sigurdson, Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, says the changes will strengthen water reliability for Alberta’s agriculture sector.

Water is absolutely essential to all things agriculture. With droughts in recent years, we’ve made it a top priority to secure more water access and improve stability in drought-affected areas.

Minister RJ Sigurdson

Key changes

Key changes introduced by the bill include:

• Historic Use Registration (Public Land): Re-enables the process for ranchers on public land to register historic (pre-1999) water use.
• Mandatory Water Use Reporting: All license holders will be required to report actual water use. Currently, only about 20 per cent of licences include this requirement.
• Public Disclosure of Water Information: Water licence information, including sale prices of transferred licences, will be made publicly available online, like land title and sales data.
• Allow Low-Risk Inter-Basin Transfers: Transfers meeting low-risk criteria and passing environmental review may be approved by Ministerial Order. All other transfers will continue to require approval through a Special Act. (This typically happens for residential water because of the high associated costs.)
• Support for Treated Wastewater Reuse: Bill 7 enables licence amendments that allow for reuse of treated wastewater.
• Alternative Water Sources: Enables policy development to support non-traditional water sources, including rooftop rainwater collection, which was previously a grey area.
• Wetland Policy Amendments: Future ministerial regulations will further define management of ephemeral wetlands and align with updates to the Alberta Wetland Policy.

Next Steps

Alberta Beef Producers (ABP) is continuing to engage with the Government of Alberta on policy development, including making recommendations to minimize administrative and financial impacts to producers.

Bill 7 is in its third reading in the Legislature. This is the final debate. If carried, it will go to the Lieutenant-Governor for Royal Assent.