Oil and gas industry group backs proposed merger of Alberta's largest river basins
CBC
A Canadian oil and gas industry group is backing a proposal to consolidate Alberta's two largest river basins, a move that would make it easier for industry to transfer water in that area without requiring legislative approval.
The proposal involves the Peace/Slave and Athabasca basins.
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), which represents the country's oil and gas companies, says the change would eliminate the need for redundant water infrastructure and reduce environmental impact.
"Current restrictions under the Water Act create unnecessary inefficiencies for oil and gas projects that span major basin boundaries," reads a statement attributed to Richard Wong, vice president of regulatory and operations with CAPP.
Conservation groups, meanwhile, are more skeptical.
"This idea of combining what are our two largest river basins in Alberta, essentially, to avoid having to go through the process to complete an interbasin transfer, to me, is associated with a lot of undue risk," said Kennedy Halvorson, a conservation specialist with the Alberta Wilderness Association (AWA).
Currently, Alberta's Water Act prevents water from being transferred between the province's seven major river basins unless a special act of the Legislature is authorized.
But under a proposal outlined in an ongoing consultation around water availability in Alberta, the Peace/Slave and Athabasca basins would be combined.
In a statement, CAPP said the idea didn't originate with them, but their members support it as a practical solution.
"Consolidating the Peace/Slave and Athabasca river basins, which naturally converge within Alberta, would eliminate the need for redundant water infrastructure, allow companies to access the most suitable water sources based on availability and reduce environmental impact," Wong said.
For energy companies with holdings on both sides of a basin boundary, there's long been concern about the duplication of water infrastructure, which they say increases a company's overall environmental footprint.
CAPP said that using public data, one of its subject matter experts had counted 122 oil, natural gas and oilsands operators with land holdings on both sides, across 100-kilometres, on each side of the Peace/Slave-Athabasca basin boundary.
In October 2024, the Alberta government launched an engagement it said was intended to increase water availability and improve the province's water management system. It held a series of open-ended town halls, open houses, online surveys and other forms of engagement.
Halvorson said in the first phase of the consultation, participants were asked for their thoughts on proposals involving "low-risk" interbasin transfers.
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