Maintaining Healthy Aquatic Ecosystems: Operational and Policy Recommendations for Instream Flow Needs

BackgroundAlberta has the fastest growing population and economy in Canada. 2 e large majority of Albertans (80%) live in the south, which contains only 20% of Alberta's water supply.3 Further, two of the largest economic engines in Alberta, farming and oil sands development, are highly dependent on long-term sustainable water supplies.e regional imbalances in population, economic growth, and water supply present a unique challenge for provincial resource managers and policy makers.Ultimately, climate change is already reducing water availability in Alberta 4 , requiring Albertans to use less water much more efficiently, and develop more effective, flexible, and adaptive management and policy approaches than used now.Alberta's policies, legislation, and history explain why Alberta may be seeing an increase in water conflict among water users, including pitting competing water interests against river health.e North West Irrigation Act of 1894 was critical to settle Western Canada 5 , but the adoption of the system of prior allocation left Alberta's senior water licencees holding a disproportionate amount the water rights.6 In an attempt to deal with these inequities, and after seven years of public consultation, the Alberta government amended the Water Act was in 1999 to enable transfers of water rights and the protection of water for the environment.7 Around the same time, some stakeholders raised the concept of water markets in Alberta.However, even those who initially supported the use of water markets agreed that water markets can fail to secure sufficient environmental protection in the absence of strong government involvement, and that the government must protect the water needs of the public, including for instream flow needs.8 Alberta's first water market became active on August 30, 2006, when the South Saskatchewan River Basin (SSRB) was closed to new licences.However, closure of the basin to new allocations was insufficient to rectify chronic water issues in the SSRB, such as failing ecosystem health, First Nations water rights, or equity among junior and senior water licence holders.In September 2008, the Minister of Environment announced a review of Alberta's water allocation system.9 is was followed by reports from the Alberta Water Council, the Ministerial Advisory 2 Statistics Canada, Canada's Population Estimate (Ottawa, ON, Statistics Canada, June 22 , 2011), http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/110622/ dq110622a-eng.htm(accessed December 2, 2011); "Canada's Population Growth Slows: Alberta Has Fastest First-Quarter Growth as National Net Migration Numbers Drop," CBC, June

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