Alberta's government to study ability of province's water supply to support population, economic growth

Alberta's government to study ability of province's water supply to support population, economic growth

Study will review major water transfer projects around the world

Alberta's government says it's looking to do a study on the long-term security of the province's water supply as it stares down a challenge with a water-rich north and a demand-heavy south.

In a news release issued Thursday, Environment Minister Grant Hunter said Alberta's population, industry and farming sector are all growing and reliable access to water is needed to sustain the growth.

"Water is the foundation of Alberta's future," Hunter said.

"We're looking 100 years ahead and asking what Alberta needs to build, invest in and do differently today to secure our water supply for generations to come."

The request for proposals says much of the available water supply in Alberta is in the north, while a number of southern river basins, including the Bow, Oldman and South Saskatchewan, have been closed to new water diversion licences for almost two decades.

It also notes Alberta is subject to cross-jurisdictional limitations for basins that are shared with Saskatchewan or the United States.

"There is a need to assess, plan and act to ensure population and economic growth in southern Alberta is not constrained by limited water supply but rather matched with reliable water supplies, systematically implementing new water management approaches and infrastructure investments," the document says.

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It also says the company that's eventually awarded the contract to undertake the study will be asked to review major water transfer projects around the world — such as the California aqueduct and China's South-North Water Transfer system — and analyze whether Alberta could do something similar.

Both of those systems are designed to channel water over hundreds of kilometres from more water-rich areas to more arid or demand-heavy regions.

While much of Alberta is experiencing a particularly wet summer season, especially in Edmonton which saw its summer rain record shattered before the start of August, there have been severe droughts in recent years, notably in 2023 and 2021.

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The government says the study will inform a new long-term plan for water management and kickstart discussions between the province and local governments and Indigenous communities about planning for the future.

The study also comes as the province works to make Alberta an ideal destination for artificial intelligence data centres, many of which use substantial amounts of water as part of the cooling process.

Last month, Premier Danielle Smith and tech giant Meta announced the company's plans to build its first data centre in Canada just north of Edmonton.

Smith and Meta have said the facility will use a closed-loop water system so that it won't use nearly as much water as other data centres.

The government says it has budgeted $400,000 for the study, which is expected to be finished next spring.