Tension over water possible between Calgary and its neighbours as populations grow, says report
Authors say pacts between city and surrounding communities will set growth patterns
Access to highly coveted water in southern Alberta will determine growth patterns in the Calgary Metropolitan Region as more migrants arrive, says a report released Thursday by the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy.
Water is strictly controlled in Alberta's south, the report notes. If someone wants to use water in significant quantities, they need a water licence. But new water allocations in the south have been closed since 2006, including in the Bow River sub-basin.
Approximately 90 per cent of water in that sub-basin is allocated to irrigation, and about half of the remaining 10 per cent is allocated to municipalities.
In the Calgary Metropolitan Region — which includes Calgary, Airdrie, Chestermere, Cochrane and several other communities — the lion's share of the water is held by the City of Calgary.
That means Calgary has some extra wiggle room around how it grows and the effects of that on water use, said David Barrett, one of the authors of the report.
"That naturally comes with being the largest municipality in the Calgary Municipal Region. But then it also becomes a little bit more of an ongoing discussion around how, if there are water allocation issues, how can the city work with other communities in the region to grow smart?" he said.
"There's been a lot of discussion both on water but also on urban growth — how our cities and the region as a whole are going to grow as population continues to boom."
The report notes access to water has already impacted Calgary's bedroom communities. The Town of Cochrane, for instance, recently made a major water licence purchase given concerns that its growth would outpace its water allocation.
"Cochrane has been water-conscious now for well over a decade," said Mike Derricott, chief administrative officer for Cochrane. "We began to realize that our water licence, the allocation we had, was going to be stressed by the amount of folks that we had joining our community."
The report notes that other communities, including Airdrie, source their water from Calgary.
"It is possible that future regional growth will come with increased tensions between Calgary and its neighbours as geographic inequality in regional water access continues to drive development patterns," the report reads.
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Solutions at the regional and local level
The report goes on to note the state of infrastructure to transport treated water and wastewater. Estimated water losses range from 10 to 52 per cent, much of that due to aging infrastructure, the report reads.
"Calgary and its neighbours face a trade-off between further population growth and efficient water transport and use," the authors wrote.
Solutions to these problems can be found at the regional and local level, according to the report. Calgary and other communities could encourage more efficient multi-unit buildings, water smart appliances and better distribution services.
Provincially, the government could dedicate subsidies or efficiency bonuses to municipalities for improving or remediating water-related infrastructure, the report says.
"It may also lead to discussions on improving regional water management, including water licensing and allocation, in order to reduce the transaction costs of transferring licences to municipalities," the report reads.
Water is going to become an increasingly sensitive issue moving forward, and water security is going to be at the forefront as populations in the region continue to grow, Barrett said.
"What we're suggesting in this report is that we need to work together. We need to try to address some of the challenges that are placed on us, collectively, through the water licensing system that exists here," he said.
"We really need to try to band together to figure out if there's a way that we can approach this regionally, with a focus on water conservation, smart urban growth, to try to minimize that loss."
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