An indigenous group dedicated to protecting northern waterways is worried that proposed changes to water laws in Alberta will further lower N.W.T. rivers and lakes and worsen communities’ ability to travel, hunt, fish and ship goods. 

Alberta is considering changes to its Water Act that it says would make it easier for Alberta communities, industries, farmers and ranchers to get the water they need. But environmental advocacy group Keepers of the Water says that by making more water available for Albertans’ needs, less will flow downstream to the N.W.T., where low water levels have already wreaked havoc on northern transportation systems. 

Gerry Cheezie, former chief of Tthebatthı Dënésułıné Nation on the border between Alberta and N.W.T., is a co-chair with Alberta-based Keepers of the Water. 

“It affects transportation; barges can’t get to our communities to supply them with fuel,” he said. 

“People can’t travel as readily as they were able to in the past because of that. This affects our hunting and fishing and trapping.”

A view of the Athabasca River in northern AlbertaThe Athabasca River in 2022. One of the proposed changes is to make it easier to transfer water between the Slave, Peace and Athabasca River basins. (Natalie Pressman/CBC)

His biggest concern is one proposal to transfer water between the Slave, Peace and Athabasca River basins, he said. Currently, moving any amount of water across major river basins in Alberta requires special approval from the legislature. 

The province is suggesting that making it easier to move water between those three basins — in what it’s calling “lower risk inter-basin transfers” — could help supply drinking water to communities.

It could also help oil and gas operations reduce their environmental footprints by allowing them to access alternatives to freshwater with a less cumbersome permitting process

The proposed changes come as the province manages severe drought conditions with water shortage advisories for 31 communities as of Aug. 19. 

Water budgeting

Jason Unger, executive director of the Environmental Law Centre in Edmonton, says that making more water available through the province’s proposed changes does create a risk for less to flow into the Northwest Territories. He calls this, water budgeting.

“Just because we want more water doesn’t mean we’re going to get more water,” he said. “There’s always a trade-off there, and that’s one of the main concerns we have.”

Alberta and the N.W.T. have a water management agreement that lays out how much water Alberta can use and how much is required to flow downstream. 

N.W.T. Environment Minister Jay Macdonald declined an interview but in an emailed statement said that Alberta is currently using “much less” than its limit. 

He said the territory is still working to understand what the proposed changes could mean for N.W.T. waterways. 

Consultation and transparency

Cheezie says he’s also worried changes are going to bypass scrutiny and that the public isn’t aware of what’s happening. He says Keepers of the Water are still working on a plan to fight the proposed legislation. 

Unger agrees that transparency is key and said the public should be involved in making decisions of this magnitude, or at least aware of their possible impact.

“No one really intuitively understands what you’re talking about,” he said. “What’s ‘a low-risk transfer?’ It sounds fine, but then really identifying the rationale for these things is important.”

It’s the province’s job to make that clear, he added.

In an emailed statement Ryan Fournier, press secretary to Alberta’s minister of environment and protected areas, said the potential changes won’t impact N.W.T. water at all.

He wrote that no decisions have been made and that if the proposed changes progress, Alberta’s government will update the N.W.T.