On November 15, 2010, David Swann spoke to AAMD&C delegates about an issue that grows in importance with each passing day: the quantity and quality of Alberta’s water supply, especially its impact on rural Alberta.
Good morning.
Alberta’s lifeblood flows straight through our heartland – rural Alberta.
I’m not talking about oil, important as it is. I’m talking about water.
When the First Nations discovered Alberta, they gathered around sources of water. The later European pioneers did the same. To congregate around fresh water is one of the most natural of human acts. Water is life. It’s fuelled civilization for thousands of years.
Alberta is so flush with fresh water that many Albertans don’t even give a second thought to where their water is coming from.
Most rural Albertans, however, understand through years of hard-won experience that water must never be taken for granted. Rural Albertans have experienced drought. Rural Albertans have experienced flooding, most recently in Irvine and Medicine Hat. Rural Albertans have experienced the effects of pollution and poor water management firsthand.
I believe that water is going to be the next big issue for Alberta. And rural Albertans are going to be on the front lines.
Several years ago, Alberta Liberals led the fight against a large shopping complex and horse racing track at Balzac. We fought that battle because neither the developers nor the government had a good answer for where they were going to get the water to support the new development. At one point, they talked about diverting water from the Red Deer River – a notion that greatly upset people in the communities that depend upon that river for fresh water.
Now we see the same pattern being repeated in the so-called “potatogate†affair, in which the government considered selling thousands of acres pristine public grassland – of which Alberta has little left – to a private potato grower. Everyone here knows that potatoes require a lot of water to grow, and again, we haven’t heard where that water would have come from, had the developer not withdrawn the application. We desperately need some kind of transparent, public consultation process to ensure that sensitive crown land is properly handled.
A laissez-faire attitude toward water management is fine when there’s plenty to go around for everyone. But Alberta has three million people now, and our top industries – oil and gas development and agriculture – are among the most water-intensive sectors in the world. We’re rapidly approaching a day when there really isn’t enough water to go around; in fact, you can’t even get a water license for the Bow River anymore. It’s reached its capacity; there’s nothing more to give.
I believe in the power of free enterprise. In fact, enterprise is one of the four pillars of Alberta Liberal philosophy – the others being health, integrity, and perhaps most importantly, foresight. Foresight, the quality most lacking in our current government. The one quality that, if applied to water management, could ensure that Alberta’s enterprises can continue to prosper for the long term.
I know how important water is to the industries that support rural Alberta, and how important it is to everyday quality of life. I worked in the oil and gas sector when I was a kid; my dad was an engineer in the petroleum sector. And though I grew up in Calgary, whenever I have a chance to get away from the city I take it to go canoeing.
But if Albertans continue to elect governments that minimize the importance of water, one day we’re going to find that our petroleum sector, our agricultural sector, and everyday life are radically altered by water shortages. There are people still alive today who remember the Dirty Thirties, and the social and economic havoc that water shortages bring. A society that is unprepared for drought, or one whose policies lead to drought, is setting itself up for great misery.
I believe in planning ahead, so that our children and grandchildren won’t have to face that day. There’s a better way.
That’s why last week, the Official Opposition unveiled our new environment policy. Sound water management is the first cornerstone of the policy.
Some of you may not be aware that the Alberta government doesn’t even know how much water is available. It’s pretty tough to allocate water supplies when you don’t know how much you have to start with. So an Alberta Liberal administration would fast-track a provincial groundwater inventory and a water quality monitoring program, with proper funding in place to ensure that we have the people and equipment needed to do the job. Once we know how much water is available and we have the means to monitor its cleanliness, we’ll be in much better shape to tackle the other challenges.
We’d also protect wetlands with a no-net-loss policy, an idea that the Stelmach administration just recently rejected despite the recommendations of its own panel. Wetlands are crucial for maintaining an abundant and clean water supply, and their gradual depletion by economic development presents a serious long-term hazard to our way of life, particularly in rural Alberta. Our no-net-loss policy is simply this: if economic development requires the destruction of wetlands, than an equal or greater amount of wetlands will be protected from development.
We’ll also protect watersheds by protecting headwaters – the source of our rivers – and requiring full public consultation and approval of the Alberta Water Council before allowing any inter-basin water transfers. Generally speaking, we believe that such inter-basin transfers are wasteful and inefficient, and they’re not viable for the long term.
We’ll also eliminate the use of fresh water for deep well flooding, currently used by the oil and gas sector to harvest petroleum. It doesn’t make sense to pour fresh water down an oil well; far better to use so-called “grey,†or recycled, water. In fact, we’ll require greater efficiency for all fresh water use in the province.
Finally, we object to the Stelmach administration’s plan to turn Alberta’s water into a commodity to be sold to the highest bidder. What happens to family farms and small business in that scenario? What happens to small rural communities? We believe water is a human right, and that basic human needs should be given top priority. We don’t support a water market.
I know that the AAMD&C is considering many, many issues at this convention. But I’ve focused on water this morning because I don’t think enough people are talking about it; in fact, among the major parties only the Alberta Liberals seem to be giving the matter much thought at all. And yet water management is one of those foundational issues that will have tremendous impacts on every aspect of our society for decades to come. I hope you’ll give these thoughts some consideration while you’re gathered together for the convention. In fact, I challenge you to do so, because as rural Alberta’s community leaders, you have a special responsibility to pay extra attention to these issues. Much of Alberta’s future is in your hands.
Thank you again for inviting me to speak. I appreciate the opportunity.