Alberta Water Facts
20% of the world's drinking water is in Canada, but Alberta accounts for only 2.2% of Canada’s fresh water.
While 80% of Alberta's water supply lies in the Northern part of the province, 80% of our water demand comes from the Southern half of the province.
Alberta is estimated to have much more groundwater than surface water. However, only 0.01 per cent of this groundwater is believed to be recoverable.
There is a finite amount of potable (drinkable) water in the province (97.5% comes from surface water and 2.5% comes from groundwater).
This chart provides data up to the end of 2004 indicating the amounts of water allocated for the categories specified. Ninety-seven percent of all water that is allocated is from surface water sources (shown in blue) therefore, the groundwater portion (in coral color) appears very small.
The largest potential uses for groundwater are for oil and gas (processing and enhanced oil recovery), agricultural use (non-irrigation), and municipal water supply. The breakdown is shown here.
The values here represent the gross allocations for each category. These figures do not represent the actual water usage. The majority of these allocations do not consume their full allocation and have return flows or do not use their entire allocation. Therefore, these figures represent only an approximation of who the relative users of water in Alberta might be
Virtually all of Alberta’s seven (7) major water basins flow either north (into the Arctic Ocean) or east.
The map below is intended to show areas where water supply maybe a concern. Note that on August 31, 2006, Alberta Environment Minister Guy Boutilier announced the province will no longer accept new water licence applications for the Bow, Oldman, and South Saskatchewan sub-basins. Water allocations may still be obtained through water allocation transfers. The newly minted water management plan, the first of its kind in Alberta, will ban new demands from the three rivers, which are part of the South Saskatchewan River basin that feeds water to Calgary, Red Deer, Lethbridge, Brooks and Medicine Hat.
In Alberta, approximately two million people get their drinking water from large municipal systems. Approximately 400,000 Albertans get their water from smaller water treatment plants. The remaining 600,000 Albertans obtain their water from private systems such as wells, water co-ops or by hauling
In southern Alberta, more than 505,000 hectares of land (just 4% of the total land that can be cultivated in Alberta) are serviced by 13 irrigation districts. These irrigation networks are used by agriculture and they also supply nearly 50 communities with water for domestic use.
Today, irrigated agricultural production accounts for about 18 to 20 per cent of Alberta's total agricultural production.
Alberta has an agreement with Saskatchewan that guarantees that 50% of the water in each of the shared, major river basins, must be allowed to flow into Saskatchewan. This agreement is called an apportionment agreement.
Alberta shares borders with British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan and Montana. Currently, apportionment agreements only exist with Saskatchewan and Montana.
In Alberta, we use the principle of "first in time, first in right". This principle, which has been in existence since 1894, means that water rights are prioritized according to how senior the licence is, regardless of the use. The older the licence, the higher that user is on the priority list.
The theory of the principle is that it protects an existing user’s rights from those who come after them and is the best way to allow for orderly development.Therefore, during a drought, a farmer with a senior licence may have access to water for irrigation, while at the same time, a city with a more recently issued licence may be forced to ask residents to ration water.
Sources: Alberta Environment, Alberta Water for Life Strategy, and Environment Canada.