Call for Comments: Draft Surface Water Allocation Directive

Initiative: 
Draft Surface Water Allocation Directive
Deadline: 
9 Nov 2018

Deadline extended to November 9

From the Talk AEP website:

Alberta’s rivers and lakes support important environmental, recreational, cultural, aesthetic and economic values. The Water for Life strategy strives to provide:

  • Healthy aquatic ecosystems
  • Reliable quality water supplies for a sustainable economy
  • Safe, secure drinking water.

In order to address all three goals of the Water for Life strategy, a new directive for surface water allocations has been developed. Water allocation is the process of licensing water supplies for diversion and use from our rivers and lakes in the province. The Surface Water Allocation Directive (‘The Directive’) provides consistent decision guidance informed by science to attempt to balance both ecological needs and economic considerations where planning has not established specific water management objectives.

The Directive criteria maintains natural hydrologic variability while taking a cumulative water allocation management approach to minimize changes to aquatic habitats, protecting critical fish and wildlife habitat.

Alberta Environment and Parks would like to inform key stakeholders of the new desktop method for approving water allocation licences. Please review the policy and supporting documents, and provide comments through the survey. If you still have a question on the policy, view the FAQs or use the Question and Answer section (see the Q&A tab below) to connect with an expert. The Directive will be reviewed based on the feedback provided through this survey, prior to seeking approval for implementation. Should you have any concerns, please contact:

Lauren Makowecki, Provincial Environmental Flows Biologist
Fish and Wildlife Habitat Policy
Email[email protected](External link)

View the documents & provide your comments