In the fall of 2008, Environment Minister Rob Renner announced the Alberta government was going to review the 1894 “First in Time, First in Right” water allocation process in the province and update the 1999 Water Act. Since then the government has consulted with their experts and released the recommendations from three government-appointed committees to change the province’s water allocation system and update the Water Act. The Government of Alberta did not consult with the broader public to get input and direction to guide changes to its water policy.

In November 2009, three reports were released from the Alberta Water Research Institute (AWRI), the Water Allocation Transfer System Upgrade Project (WATSUP) team of the Alberta Water Council, and a Minister’s Advisory Group of hand-picked experts. The reports recommended a series of changes to the water allocation system and the Water Act. In a style of top-down democracy, the Government of Alberta, without public consultations, has already selected and pursued a certain policy direction and will not consult the public until after they have almost completely developed their plans for new legislation that will change Alberta’s water laws.

Alberta already has Canada’s first water market in the South Saskatchewan River Basin. While this market is highly regulated and controlled, the reports released by the government indicate that they are pushing to expand this system to the entire province while also deregulating it.

You can access the three reports by clicking here.

For an explanation of the issues with the review's process and the recommendations, please click here.