The provincial government says its water-sharing agreements have been a “major success” and an arrangement that could be replicated across the rest of the country, as experts say important conversations around water supply of Alberta are still looming in the years to come.

Earlier this year, Alberta feared a risk of significant drought. The winter snowpack was significantly reduced, rivers were extremely low, and several reservoirs were well below capacity.

In an effort to respond to the situation, the province launched what it called “unprecedented” water-sharing negotiations with the country’s major water licensees. end of January.

The water sharing agreements targeted major water users in the Red Deer River sub-basin, the Bow River sub-basin, and the main stem and upper tributaries of the river sub-basin. Oldman, and were announced in April.

These were voluntary memoranda of understanding – meaning that municipalities, industry and irrigation districts all agreed to reduce their water use, although participation was not legally binding. That gave rise to a debate whether the voluntary nature of the agreements would withstand the demands of drought in the long term.

As the months passed, drought conditions did not materialize uniformly across southern Alberta.

In May, the Oldman River agreements were activated, but those for the Red Deer and Bow River sub-basins were never used.

The last of the participants’ regular meetings was held on October 10, when the signatories voted to deactivate the agreements.

Municipalities saw reductions

Municipalities that fell under the activated agreements took measures.

A spokesperson for the City of Lethbridge said it met its goal of reducing its water consumption by at least 10 per cent from May to September. A Lethbridge County spokesperson said consumption across the county was reduced by 23.5 per cent this summer.

The City of Medicine Hat also responded to the agreements.

“From May 1 to September 30, 2024, Medicine Hat reduced its water consumption by 17 percent compared to the same period in 2023, well above the 10 percent goal. This equates to a reduction of almost 1.8 billion liters of water over the period. same period in 2023,” Eric Busse, a city spokesperson, said in an email.

The City of Calgary, which fell under the Bow River Sub-Basin Agreement, said in April that if agreements were reached, the city would commit to reducing its water consumption by five to 10 percent.

Although that agreement was never activated, a break in Calgary’s most important water main in June still forced the city to impose water restrictions.

Even so, activating the agreements would not have led to more restrictions, according to Rehana Rajabali, the city’s head of planning and environmental policy.

Indeed, reduced water consumption resulting from water main restrictions has already allowed Calgary to meet its commitment, Rajabali said.

Reaction from industry and irrigators

Some irrigation districts have also reduced their water use this year. The St. Mary River Irrigation District and United Irrigation District water allocations were cut in half to start the year, even if the improvement in conditions has changed the situation.

“We were very fortunate to have rainfall. If we hadn’t had the rainfall we had last spring and summer, it would have been a very different situation,” said David Westwood, general manager of the St. Mary River Irrigation District. .

Others, like the Bow River Irrigation District and the Eastern Irrigation District, have not seen agreements activated but have said they are willing to share water if conditions justified it.

“If the agreement had been activated, the irrigation districts would have simply shared the water we have available once First Nations, municipalities and industries receive their requirements, which we do every year anyway” , said Richard Phillips, general manager of Bow River. Irrigation District, in an email.

The agreements also saw the signing of various industrial operations, including MEGlobal, a petrochemical producer. A company spokesperson said it was an “active participant” in the development of the Red Deer River agreement.

“Fortunately, this year’s weather conditions have not forced us to make any adjustments to our water consumption. However, we continue to recognize that water is a precious resource and that it is everyone’s responsibility to conserve and protect it,” wrote spokesperson Trish Thompson. with the company, in an email.

Experts assess the effectiveness of the plan

Although many farmers have found relief after battling drought This year, experts say southern Alberta will likely see more water supply challenges, especially given population increase and the possibility of more frequent and more severe droughts in the future.

A recent report Alberta’s Auditor General also said Alberta’s water conservation and management system requires major reform and could lead to future water shortages.

CBC News spoke with two experts about how this year’s water-sharing deals are going and what they think of the challenges in the years ahead.

Tricia Stadnyk, professor and Canada Research Chair in hydrological modeling at the University of Calgary’s Schulich School of Engineering, said there have been some interesting debates since the agreements were reached earlier this year.

Much of this revolves around Alberta’s water priority system, nicknamed “first in, first in right” or FITFIR, which has been in place since 1894. It is based on seniority, which means those who applied first have first rights to the water.

“Many believe that FITFIR is a viable system, as long as we continue to have these kinds of discussions openly and honestly, where senior licensees come to the table and voluntarily agree to reduce spending. And I don’t disagree with that. feeling,” Stadnyk said.

However, according to Stadnyk, the voluntary nature of the agreements is important.

“In a short-term situation, very similar to what we experienced this year, I think cuts are easier to justify,” Stadnyk said.

“But as soon as it becomes anything on the order of what we saw in the 1930s, where there was a 10-year drought, it becomes a very different conversation.”

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David Percy, a water law expert at the University of Alberta, said this spring that part of the debate revolves around whether water rights should be allocated based on the relative importance of different uses of water.

“This all sounds very attractive, but then it requires someone to decide that a municipal use of water is more important, for example, than a use of water for irrigation,” Percy said.

“These decisions actually become almost impossible to make.”

The priority system also creates political and possibly legal risk, according to Percy.

“If there was a really bad drought where major municipalities were running out of water, governments would probably start imposing solutions. So it’s best to find them while you can,” he said.

Agreements in force until the end of 2024

The provincial government is not prepared to speculate on whether such a model could be adopted in future years, but said it believes the approach has helped mitigate impacts this year.

“The largest water sharing agreements in Alberta history have been a major success,” reads a statement attributed to Alberta Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz.

“Together, southern Alberta’s major water users came together and demonstrated the leadership, dedication and community spirit that makes Alberta great.”

Since the summer, water sharing meetings have continued. Shannon Frank, executive director of the Oldman Watershed Council, has been an observer in the water sharing discussions.

“Everything went very well, considering everything had to happen very quickly,” Frank said.

The agreements will remain in effect until the last day of 2024, although the province says it is very unlikely they will be activated at that point.