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.

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.