Alta. government to rethink water licensing policy

Alberta’s provincial environment department won’t accept any applications for amendments of water licenses while it re-examines that policy for the South Saskatchewan River basin.

The moratorium on amendment applications comes after a request in August from the Eastern Irrigation District, based at Brooks, for an amendment that would allow the district to deliver water “for purposes in addition to irrigation,” the province said Friday in a release.

There are no restrictions, either under the province’s Water Act or the South Saskatchewan River basin water management plan, on accepting applications for license amendments that would allow for redistribution of conserved water, the province noted.

However, “although this isn’t the first irrigation district to request an amendment to its license, the state of Alberta’s water resources has shifted significantly,” Environment Minister Rob Renner said in the release.

Most of the South Saskatchewan basin is closed to new license applications and “concerns have been raised” about the province maintaining its authority to oversee Alberta’s water resources, Renner said.

The department will still accept and process applications to transfer water, but said it will take no applications for license amendments.