Navigating from History into the Future: The Water Management Plan for the South Saskatchewan River Basin in Alberta

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This paper describes the development of a water management plan that has been adopted for the historically heavily utilized South Saskatchewan River Basin (SSRB) in Alberta. The key direction provided by the plan is that the limit of the surface water resource has been reached or exceeded in three of the four sub-basins of the SSRB. As a result of the plan, severe restrictions have been placed on the purposes for which applications can be accepted for new water allocations in these three sub-basins. An interim allocation limit has been proposed for the fourth. Also as a result of the plan, new water conservation objectives (water to remain instream) have been established for the main rivers in the basin. These represent a publicly acceptable balance between water consumption and instream water for the aquatic environment. Depending on the river, they provide direction for either flow restoration or limits to additional allocation. The plan has authorized the use of water allocation transfers. These provide an avenue for economic growth by creating the opportunity for enterprises to obtain water allocation licences from licence holders even though new water allocations are generally not available. The plan also provides some broad direction on other aspects of water management, including improving protection of aquatic environments. The plan is intended to inspire innovation, lead to greater sophistication in water management, and be a further step towards more sustainable water management. This paper also discusses lessons learned from the planning process and provides some indications for what lies ahead in the near future for water management in the basin.