Don’t sell the water, Risks involved in creating an Alberta market by Suzy Thompson, October 11, 2012, Fast Forward Weekly
Water Matters, an Alberta-based non-governmental research and advocacy group, released its final report in a three-part series studying water issues in the province. Moving Waters examined options for Alberta to achieve the provincial government’s Water For Life goals, in which water will be available for the public, environment and industrial use on a long-term basis. Moving Waters authors Julia Ko and William F. Donahue studied the possibility of moving Alberta’s water management system away from the “First-In-Time, First-In-Right” process under which water licences are allocated now, to a water market. Water markets have been adopted in several American states, however, the report concludes the system brings risks. “Severe droughts elsewhere have forced governments to basically throw out old water management policies and spend billions of dollars on emergency measures to buy back water rights,” the authors write in reference to the $8.9 billion the Australian government was forced to pay for public water access rights during a drought in that country that ended in 2006. Water markets were also studied by Jeremy Schmidt for the Parkland Institute, a think-tank based in Edmonton, for its December 2011 report Alternative Water Futures in Alberta. Schmidt also determined that allocating water rights on an open market would be difficult to impose and run contrary to the government’s stated conservation and management goals. [Emphasis added]
-
Recent Posts
- Ridiculous. There’s no rule of law when it comes to the rich and powerful (like Encana/Ovintiv) and crime enablers (like AER), except to evade it. Steve Bannon will be excused by Trump’s appeal & supreme court judges, and if not, when Trump is President again he’ll pardon him. July 22, 2022
- Pennsylvania: Allegheny County Co votes 12-3 to ban frac’ing in county parks (Bravo!), overrides Executive Rich Fitzerald’s veto, first county-wide no-frac legislation in the state, protecting 12,000 acres across 12 watersheds July 21, 2022
- True: “Statistically your child is far safer with a Drag Queen rather than a Priest.” June 17, 2022
- Pennsylvania Senate Hearing: Large, growing, consistent, compelling body of evidence shows frac’ing negatively impacts public health; PA must act. Ten years later, Health Canada still won’t publicly release their frac hazard study. In Canada, frac panel members lie, ignore evidence; authorities refuse to study cumulative harms; “regulators” like AER refuse to enforce the law while engaging in fraud to serve law-violating polluters (most foreign owned) and further abuse the harmed. June 7, 2022
- Putin Salutin’ Satan in Victory Day Parade May 9, 2022
- Climate Courts: Let trials proceed without gov’ts if politicians care so little about rights of youth and fail to show up or are too ashamed about giving the rich and corporate polluters everything and nothing to our kids and their future. May 8, 2022
- Too Funny~!! Andrij Melnyk, Ukraine ambassador to Germany and international lawyer, responds to Chancellor Olaf Scholz: Not “very statesmanlike to behave like an offended liver sausage.” Beleidigte Leberwurst indeed! May 3, 2022
- Compendium 8 on Harms of Frac’ing & Associated Infrastructure: “The only method of mitigating its grave threats to public health and the climate is a complete and comprehensive ban on fracking.” No evidence was found showing “fracking can be practiced in a manner that does not threaten human health directly or without imperiling climate stability upon which human health depends.” May 1, 2022
- Poisoned by lead, capitalism and greed April 29, 2022
- Why is The Guardian Publishing Putin Propaganda? April 28, 2022
- Easter rips down statue of soviet marshal Georgy Zhukov, “the butcher,” after Russia’s Moskva sinks. Brute Putin next. Slava Ukraini! April 17, 2022
- Australia High Court “full bench of dinosaurs” unanimously rules Environment Minister owes no duty of care to protect youth from climate change when assessing fossil fuel projects (similar to Alberta courts ruling AER owes no duty of care to residents harmed by companies, not even when their drinking water supplies are illegally frac’d) April 11, 2022
- Canada’s Misogynistic Bench: How many rapes will Paul Batchelor get away with? How soon will he be free to rape again and again and again? April 10, 2022
- Global First! Inaugural class of UVic’s Indigenous law program—the world’s first law degree to combine Indigenous and non-Indigenous laws—will graduate spring 2022. April 9, 2022
- Fox Creek, Alberta: TC Energy P/L leak, ignition and fire. Was it caused by cumulative frac quake/frac hit harms? Is the gas sour from industry souring formations with thousands of massive fracs of untreated contaminated surface water? April 8, 2022