This is blog #4 in our "Understanding Drought" series, where we dive deep into Alberta's current drought situation. Keep an eye on ABWater.ca for more blogs, videos, and the latest information.
Photo and blog by Maria Albuquerque. Edited by Jon Martin and Shannon Frank.
Amidst ongoing drought conditions in Alberta, water conservation has become increasingly crucial. Since 2003, one of the Alberta's government’s key tools for overseeing the province's water resources has been the Water for Life Strategy, and a corresponding Action Plan. This initiative identified the need for enhanced focus on improving water conservation, efficiency, and productivity through long term planning across all sectors.
Conservation, Efficiency, and Productivity (CEP) Plans track and report water consumption and usage across the province's major water users. The Alberta Water Council (AWC), established in 2005, assists each water-use sector in developing, implementing, and reporting on their (CEP) plans every 5 years, and compiles the results into a summary report.
The 2017 AWC report revealed a commendable achievement: together the seven sectors surpassed the 30% target for overall water conservation. As we await a new report, we're excited to share recent promising figures on water conservation from Alberta's seven key water users.
Who are the water-using sectors?
With Alberta's population on the rise, so too has the demand for water. Seven pivotal sectors are instrumental in supporting the province's economy, infrastructure, and the quality of life for most Albertans. These sectors, tasked with reporting their water usage, are encouraged to adopt more efficient water conservation and usage practices.
Irrigation, urban municipalities, chemical industry, upstream oil and gas, downstream petroleum, power generation, and forestry are the seven major water-using sectors in Alberta. Each depends on water for their operations and services. Designed by Maria Albuquerque.
Water for Life and the CEP objectives
In 2003, the Government of Alberta introduced the Water for Life strategy, underscoring the significance of water management. The strategy's three main goals are: to ensure safe, secure drinking water; maintain healthy aquatic ecosystems; and provide reliable water supplies for a sustainable economy.
Water conservation is a critical direction toward achieving these goals, with the Water for Life Action Plan promoting practices that optimize water use for the benefit of people and the environment. Since 2005, the strategy has set a specific target to enhance the overall efficiency and productivity of water use in Alberta by 30% from 2005 levels by 2015.
The AWC has been pivotal in realizing this target, helping the seven sectors formulate and execute plans for CEP.
Water Conservation, Efficiency and Productivity Terminology. Since 2007 AWC approved CEP outcomes and definitions to guide CEP work done by the seven sectors.
Since 2007, the AWC has defined CEP outcomes and terminologies to guide the sectors' efforts. Water license holders report their usage through Alberta’s Water Use Reporting System (WURS) and voluntarily commit to the CEP goals with AWC's support. Every five years, these sectors update the AWC on their CEP plans and progress, which the council then compiles into a public report.
This collective effort aims to meet the Water for Life goals, with the Government of Alberta emphasizing the need for each sector to contribute to water conservation as stewards of this vital resource. This collaboration becomes even more crucial as climate change and extreme events pose challenges to water availability.
Every Drop Matters!
The "Evaluating Water Conservation Efficiency and Productivity" publication by AWC showcases significant progress in water conservation by the seven sectors, highlighting their achievements in exceeding the 30% improvement target, reducing net water use by 25%, and meeting CEP outcomes. An updated report covering 2015-2020 is forthcoming in 2024. A sneak peek from last year's AWC event revealed encouraging CEP progress numbers from the seven sectors, underscoring the power of collaborative water management in Alberta.
At the end of last year, the seven sectors presented their CEP progress at an AWC event. Below, we summarize the key improvement numbers presented (with their permission of course). They represent good news for water management planning in Alberta. The numbers also highlight the importance of collaboration when working towards a common goal and remind us that to save water for a close future, we will have to work together.
*Note: Each sector's CEP plan and implementation context is unique, with specific definitions for productivity and efficiency measures, baselines, and reporting periods. Detailed information will be accessible on the AWC website later in 2024.
Conclusion:
The persistent drought in Alberta may cause concern about the future of water and its availability. Since 2003, the Water for Life Strategy has been guiding all water-use sectors toward better utilization of our shared water resources. The AWC plays a vital role in supporting these sectors to collaboratively reduce water consumption. These sectors have embraced the AWC's CEP process, developing, implementing, and reporting on their CEP plans. As we anticipate a comprehensive update, the improvements observed across most sectors remind us of the importance of every drop, especially during drought conditions.
