What makes the Red Deer River Watershed Unique?

The Red Deer River Watershed is a watershed under pressure — but unique pressures from those in other watersheds in Alberta. Because the Red Deer is considered a healthy river, it is being propositioned by surrounding watersheds that are running low on water. Various proposals have and are seeking water from the Red Deer to quench the thirst of the economic boom — proposals from both the south and the north.

Demand from the South

In the South Saskatchewan River Basin (SSRB), the Red Deer River is the only watershed open to new water allocation licences. The South Saskatchewan River Basin Water Management Plan, upon its approval in August 2006, effectively "closed" the Bow, Oldman, and South Saskatchewan sub-basins because the state of allocation in these watersheds is high and environmental needs for water cannot always be met. Menawhile, the Red Deer sub-basin is not considered over-allocated and is considered relatively healthy.

We applaud the closure of the SSRB. Limits on water are necessary to protect the rivers' natural flow and healthy functioning, to minimize conflict among licence holders, and to send the message that our demands cannot expand indefinitely but must meet fit the capacity of the watershed.

The closure of the SSRB to all the sub-basins except the Red Deer, however, leaves the Red Deer watershed in a vulnerable position. The proposal to pipe water to the developing mega-entertainment complex near Balzac (just north of Calgary) illustrates this vulnerability. The Water Act does not prohibit piping water from the Red Deer to the Bow or even the Oldman because all of these sub-basins are within one major river basin - the South Saskatchewan River Basin — as defined by the Water Act. Only moving water from one major river basin to another - for example, the SSRB and the North Saskatchewan River Basin — is against the law.

Although this proposal to move water from the Red Deer to the Balzac development was rejected by other stakeholders (i.e., the Town of Drumheller), proposals like this are likely to arise again unless new policy and legislation changes the current licensing regime.

» Read more about the Balzac Development's quest for water, and the interesting water licencing and transfer questions it has brought to light

Demand from the Northeast

Despite the Water Act's prohibition of piping water between major river basins (e.g. between the North and South Saskatchewan River Basins), pipes are piping water from the Red Deer to communities outside of the Red Deer watershed's boundaries. These types of water movement are called interbasin transfers.

Three interbasin transfers exist that move water from the Red Deer River to the Battle River in the North Saskatchewan River Basin. All of these are for municipal purposes. The licensees are the North Red Deer Regional Water Service Commission, Stettler East, and the Town of Stettler. Each transfer was approved by special Acts of Legislature under the Water Act (Poon, pers.com. 2007).

The demand for these interbasin transfers from the Red Deer comes from a very dry watershed, the Battle River watershed. This watershed relies entirely on local surface runoff from rain and snowmelt and groundwater flows, without the benefit of mountain/foothill snow packs and glacial melt, making it unlike many other watersheds in Alberta. Apart from water quantity constraints, the watershed also suffers water quality problems from industrial, municipal, and agricultural pressures in the watershed (AENV 2005). And a relatively healthy watershed - the Red Deer - is immediately below the Battle watershed and with room to allocate to new licensees.

Two proposals are being floated to transfer more of Red Deer's water north to communities, and possibly irrigation, in the Battle River and Sounding Creek watersheds. The existing Shirley McClellan Regional Water Services Commission (SMRWSC) currently serves Stettler, Erskine, Nevis, and Alix with water from the Red Deer (McKinley 2007). A proposed expansion would service 15 more towns, counties, and hamlets through a pipeline from Stettler to Consort. This extra water to the region will improve the quality of water provided to residents and will encourage development in the area. Further expansions are planned for the future (SMRWSC 2007).

While Morris Flewwelling, Mayor of Red Deer, is supportive of the SMRWSC expansion, there is much less support for the proposed Special Areas Water Supply Project. Unlike the SMRWSC, which would provide water for residential and commercial uses, the Special Areas Project would be primarily for irrigation. Although Cabinet approved the project in principle in December 2006, this proposal would use up to 76.5 billion litres of untreated water annually, in a region with marginal agricultural lands. Large amounts of water would evaporate while moving to its end point. The project also requires an environmental impact assessment and regulatory approval and would be costly, about $463 million (Brooymans 2007).

If both of these proposals are approved, 84% of the Red Deer River's water that can be licensed will be allocated. Right now 62% of the allocation limit has been allocated (Brooymans 2007).

What impact will these demands have on the Red Deer? How much more can the Red Deer afford to give to uses outside the watershed and not see what returns - particularly if climate change means natural flow declines? The Red Deer isn't up against its limit, but it soon could be if it shares too much with neighbouring watersheds.

Sources

Alberta Environment (AENV). 2005. Battle River Basin Water Management Plan.

Brooymans, Hanneke. August 15, 2007. Demand grows for water from Red Deer River. Edmonton Journal.

McKinley, Karen. September 3, 2007. Public views water diversion plans. The Camrose Canadian.

Poon, Randy. 2007. Personal communication and spreadsheet of Interbasin Transfers.

Shirley McClellan Regional Water Services Commission (SMRWSC). 2007.