The provincial government has convened a few hundred water licence holders to strike voluntary water-sharing agreements in three parched river basins
The provincial government has convened hundreds of large water consumers in hopes of reaching voluntary agreements to share water in river basins at risk of severe shortages, a move made necessary by a little-understood water-allocation system that originated in the 1800s. The government has described those talks as the most extensive negotiations of their kind in the province’s history.government has decided not to try its luck. This winter, many rivers reached record low levels.
Even the government acknowledges that FITFIR is a poor way of doling out water during droughts, which have plagued Alberta for as long as people have lived there. And as the climate warms and populations grow, water shortages and disputes could intensify further. Some water law experts suggest it’s time to consider replacing FITFIR with something better suited to 21st-century realities.works differently in practice than a strictly legal interpretation would suggest.
“Once you get into the details of what restrictions might look like, I’m sure there will be some robust negotiations,” he said. By the time Ottawa drew up the Northwest Irrigation Act of 1894, the system of water rights was firmly established throughout the Western United States, and the federal government here embraced it as a model.East of Manitoba, enough precipitation falls to support numerous rivers, streams and lakes. There, the “doctrine of riparianism” prevailed: If a person or business owns land adjacent to a river or lake, they can use that water.
That’s the theory, anyway. But David Percy, a professor of law at the University of Alberta, said many of the darkest fears about“What’s tended to happen in the Western United States, as well as in Canada, is that the FITFIR rule really creates incentives for negotiated solutions,” he said. “There’s just a lot of politics at play here, which is why it’s difficult for senior licence holders to simply insist on their legal rights,” he said.A grain farmer in Cardston, Alta., checks what is left of his barley crop in 2000, after drought ruined the seeds' value and left it unfit for any use except straw.A serious drought in 2000 and 2001 prompted Alberta’s last round of negotiations.
Circumstances have forced Albertans to share water resources often enough, Prof. Percy said, that “they recognize that their neighbours have valid uses as well.” Some believe FITFIR has already outlived its usefulness. One common criticism is that those who fail to use their allotment of waterto have forfeited their licence. When Alberta developed its latest Water Act, it missed a golden opportunity to remove the date-based structure, according to Arlene Kwasniak, a professor emerita of law at the University of Calgary. While it’s not easy to lose a water allocation in Alberta, the act nonetheless fosters a “use it or lose it” mentality, she added.
Philippines Latest News, Philippines Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
B.C. Government Allocates Funds for Water Infrastructure ProjectsThe B.C. government has earmarked $14 million to replace the 50-year-old Cowichan Lake weir and $10 million to increase the water storage capacity by raising the Saint Mary Lake dam height for Salt Spring Island. The projects aim to improve water management and sustain the required water flow for the lakes.
Read more »
Geoform CEO talks challenges, solutions to ground, water issues during concrete projectsCanada's construction news
Read more »
White House is distributing $5.8 billion from the infrastructure law for water projectsCanada's construction news
Read more »
Ovivo supports water, wastewater tech program with purchase of E2metrixCanada's construction news
Read more »
Alberta outlines $125M drought and flood grant program as water-sharing talks continueIn 2021, farmers were thrown a big one in the form of the severe drought that withered crops across Western Canada. A family plants their wheat crop with a seeding rig, near Cremona, Alta., Friday, May 6, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Read more »
With dry summer looming, Lethbridge committee reports unsettling data about monthly water conservationWith anxiety over a possible summer drought building, the City of Lethbridge’s assets and infrastructure standing policy committee received its monthly water conservation update Thursday.
Read more »