Alberta to shut down its water council, prompting concern over loss of environmental oversight

Downtown Calgary and the Bow River are seen from the air on Wednesday, May 31, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

The Alberta government is shutting down a long-standing advisory body on water policy in a move that critics say will weaken environmental oversight at a time of growing drought and climate pressures.

The Alberta Water Council, known as a multi-stakeholder group, has advised governments on water management for more than two decades, but is set to wind down operations after losing provincial funding as part of recent budget cuts.

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Environment and Protected Areas Minister Grant Hunter said Tuesday that the decision comes amid broader fiscal restraint.

“Unfortunately, with a $9.4-billion deficit, every department was asked to come up with five per cent reductions, and so it was a tough budget for us,” Hunter said.

“We did not come to that decision lightly, but we realized that there were 11 different water councils in Alberta that we can rely on as well for very similar information.”

‘Loss of a trusted collaborative forum’

Members of the council say the decision marks the end of a unique forum that brought together industry, environmental groups, governments and communities to work through complex water issues.

Jay White, vice-president of the Alberta Water Council and the only remaining founding member, said his reaction evolved quickly after hearing the news.

“I think at first I was disappointed, but now I’m kind of angry by the dissolution of the Alberta Water Council,” White said.

“I mean, this isn’t just the end of an organization, this is the loss of a trusted collaborative forum for water dialogue in Alberta that I’ve invested most of my career in being a part of.”

The decision to cut funding was also made with only a short notice to find alternative support with White adding the organization was given just 90 days to wind down operations.

“This was a blind side, for sure,” he said.

“We could have probably found some project dollars, but it’s a much more difficult to find operational dollars, so trying to go to a Western foundation or any of these large organizations to get into their granting cycle in three months certainly isn’t going to happen. I wonder if the province knew that.”

The council was formed in the early 2000s to help implement Alberta’s Water for Life strategy, bringing together stakeholders from across sectors to build consensus on water policy.

White said that collaborative structure was key to tackling difficult challenges.

“It’s getting all of the people that make the decisions sitting around the room,” he said.

“We had every industry, every government sector, and all of the different reps sitting around the table, and everybody came together to wrestle with the meaty decisions that needed to be addressed.”

White specifically pointed to one major success, where the council brought multiple sectors together to voluntarily reduce water use by 30 per cent within just two years.

“It was absolutely a master class in how to collaboratively get things done.”

Government cites cost savings, other engagement channels

In a statement, the province said it ended funding to both the Alberta Water Council and the Clean Air Strategic Alliance — a similar advisory body focused on air quality — following a review.

The government says the two organizations cost about $1 million annually and primarily served to convene stakeholders.

“Ending funding for these councils does not change Alberta’s commitment to maintaining the highest environmental and regulatory standards,” the statement said.

It added the province will continue consulting with stakeholders through other means, including direct engagement with industry, municipalities and Indigenous communities.

Hunter also emphasized the role of regional groups.

“We also have lots of information that we’re receiving from directly from Albertans and from water users as well,” he said.

However, White said that characterization overlooks how the council actually operated.

“While the boards only met three times a year, the project teams that were doing the heavy lifting and pushing big projects forward were meeting monthly,” he said.

He added much of the work was done by volunteers contributing significant time and expertise.

“We had a small staff that dealt with that. Everybody else was volunteers. So, I don’t know how you can save costs by firing volunteers. That upsets me,” White added.

Jason Unger, executive director of the Environmental Law Centre and a longtime board member, echoed those concerns.

He noted that the council provided a provincewide forum for policy discussion and fulfilled a role that cannot be replaced by regional watershed groups or internal government consultations.

“I think the council was a unique venue and a unique forum for discussing those issues across various sectors and various Albertans,” Unger said.

“The Council provided a provincial venue for the higher level decision making and discourse around policy and law and around tools that we can use province wide.”

Environmental concerns mount amid policy changes

The shutdown comes as Alberta faces mounting environmental pressures, including drought risk, population growth and increased industrial demand for water.

Independent environmental consultant Bill Donahue said the council’s closure fits into a broader pattern tied to recent government decisions.

“My initial reaction was no real surprise based on what decisions the government’s been making in the last 18 months or couple years,” said Donahue, a former chief of environmental monitoring for the province.

He said the move could limit public visibility into how environmental decisions are being made.

“This is the next step in preventing the public from really getting any insight or understanding into what’s going on with regards to their decisions on environmental management, on water use, on water policy, on laws and regulations affecting it.”

Donahue also pointed to recent legislative changes, including amendments affecting how water is managed and allocated across the province.

“They combined the Athabasca and peace watersheds and are now calling it one watershed, even though, scientifically, it is absolutely not one watershed,” he said.

“The purpose behind this is because in the Water Act, they’re not allowed to do inter basin transfers, so redefine it as one watershed, and you can now transfer water from the Athabasca to the Peace or vice versa.”

He said those changes could enable more water use for industrial development such as gas tracking, oilsands mines, and hyper-scaled date centres in areas already facing supply challenges.

“The priority for this government is to really promote and maximize and, in some cases, force through increased development from fairly water intensive industries,” Donahue said.

“All of these things point in one direction: to do all they can to ensure the public knows less and less about what they’re doing, because that’s where accountability comes from.”

Donahue added that broader environmental pressures are compounding the issue.

“We’ve known for two decades or more now that one of the regions of Canada that is most susceptible to increases in temperature and decreases in water supply because of climate change is Alberta,” he said.

Opposition NDP calls cuts ‘alarming’

Alberta NDP environment critic Sarah Elmeligi said the council’s closure is part of a broader trend of environmental program cuts.

“My initial reaction is that this government continually finds ways to undermine the good work that many Albertans are doing to steward our land and water,” Elmeligi said.

She said the loss of the council reflects a wider pattern of reducing environmental supports.

“The Alberta Water Council is one of many small programs that were cut in the environment and protected areas budget this year, and I think it’s a big alarm, to be honest,” she said.

“I really want Albertans to understand that this is a series of small cuts leading to a big bleed.”

She argued the programs being eliminated often deliver significant value relative to their cost.

“We are not talking about big budget line items here. We’re talking about a handful of dollars, and they have way more impact than they cost,” she said.

Elmeligi also raised concerns about the broader direction of environmental policy.

“We have a government in power right now that doesn’t care about the environment, they are weakening environmental protections in these little piecemeal ways.”

She added that environmental regulations should also be viewed as essential safeguards.

“These programs are a way to give Albertans assurances that when we do welcome big business and big development, we are still thinking about our future generations,” she said.

Questions remain about what comes next

With the council set to shut down, questions remain about how Alberta will approach water policy moving forward.

Unger said the province still needs a forum to address competing demands on water resources.

“The water system requires all of us to be talking about the trade offs that are going to be taking place,” he said.

“And I think the water council or similar type of process is really one of the things that will be missing.”

White agreed with those concerns, warning of a gap in long-term planning.

“Alberta needs durable, credible institutions that can support long term water security, not just short term decision making,” he said.

“The Alberta Water Council showed that collaborative, evidence based water governance works in this province.”

For now, members say the loss goes beyond a single organization.

“I don’t know who is going to replace the water council, or even how the province can deal with these challenges,” said White.

“Alberta wants to reset the time, and well, we just set the time back to the 1950s in terms of water management.”