Alberta

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Albertas Strategy for Sustainability presented
toPrairie Water Policy SymposiumBeverly Yee,
Assistant Deputy MinisterAlberta
EnvironmentSeptember 23, 2005
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Need for a New Approach

• We face changing and challenging times the way
  we manage the environment must respond to those
  changes and challenges.
• Significant drivers for change
• Economic and population growth
• Complexity of environmental issues
• Information and knowledge
• Public expectations
• Ability to control environmental outcomes
• Traditional systems

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Systems Approach

• Key elements of a systems approach are
• environmental outcomes that are agreed to across
  government and amongst stakeholders
• policies that are integrated across all media
  (land, air and water) and across government
  departments
• shared delivery of programs to better manage and
  protect the environment
• good information and knowledge to support
  decision-making
• monitoring, validation and reporting of results
  to the public on achievement of environmental
  outcomes

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Five Strategic Shifts

• Government-wide vision and shared implementation
  across ministries
• Shared responsibility with communities,
  organizations, technical experts and individuals
• A place-based approach, across all media, looking
  at cumulative impacts
• A comprehensive, flexible set of regulatory and
  non-regulatory tools and incentives
• Continuous improvement in environmental
  performance and accountability

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Water for Life

• Developed with Albertans, released in November
  2003
• Dialogue on issues was very important
• Results
• increased awareness and understanding of
  water-related issues
• sense of shared responsibility by Albertans
• comprehensive, long-term strategy focused on
  sustainability

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Water for LifeSignals a Change

• From process to outcomes
• From water management to watershed management
• From regulating to shared governance

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Water for Life - Outcomes

• Safe, secure drinking water supply
• Healthy aquatic ecosystems
• Reliable, quality water supplies for a
  sustainable economy

• agreed-to outcomes

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Water for Life Key Directions

• Knowledge and research
• Partnerships for watershed management and
  stewardship
• Water conservation

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Safe, Secure Drinking Water Supply

• Drinking water facility assessment completed
• Priority on regional water/wastewater systems
• Source protection
• Continuously improving standards
• Health surveillance system for waterborne
  diseases
• Report the quality of drinking water

• shared delivery of programs

• monitoring and reporting

• continuous improvement

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Healthy Aquatic Ecosystems

• Wetland policy and inventory
• Determine aquatic ecosystem requirements
• What threshold amount of water is needed for a
  healthy aquatic ecosystem?
• What are the incremental benefits of more water
  in rivers?
• What are the incremental benefits of withdrawing
  more water?
• Monitor and report on the state of aquatic
  ecosystems

• good information and knowledge

• monitoring and reporting

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Reliable, Quality Water Supplies

• Evaluation of water storage sites
• Transboundary agreements
• International Joint Commission
• Prairie Provinces Water Board
• Mackenzie River Basin Board
• Water allocation transfers

• flexible tools

• integrated policies

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Knowledge and Research

• Knowledge to make good decisions
• Scientific knowledge of groundwater and surface
  water resources
• Understanding needs of aquatic ecosystems
• Research on emerging issues
• Climate change
• Impact of pharmaceuticals
• Alberta Water Council developing a water research
  strategy

• good information and knowledge

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Partnerships for Watershed Management

• Three types of partnerships that have distinct
  roles and are complementary to one another.
• Alberta Water Council - provincial
• Watershed Planning and Advisory Councils -
  regional
• Watershed Stewardship Groups - local

• shared responsibility

• place-based approach

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Shared Governance for Effective Water Management

• Alberta Water Council
• Advise on provincial water management issues
• Steward implementation of Water Strategy
• Develop approach to water conservation
• Identify research priorities
• Wetland policy

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Shared Governance for Effective Water Management

• Watershed Planning and Advisory Councils (WPACs)
• Develop watershed management plans - must be
  integrated to include quantity, quality,
  ecosystem health, source protection and land use
  impacts.
• Promote best management practices.
• Report on state of the watershed.

WPACs in place WPACs in development WPACs in development
Oldman Lesser Slave Peace
Bow Battle Athabasca
North Saskatchewan Cold Lake-Beaver River Red Deer
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Shared Governance for Effective Water Management

• Watershed Stewardship Groups
• Educate Albertans and raise awareness on the
  watersheds they live in.
• Undertake stewardship activities to improve and
  protect watersheds.

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Water Conservation

• Ensure water efficiency and productivity improves
  by 30 improvement from 2005 levels by 2015
• Sector plans for water use improvements (Advisory
  Committee on Water Use Practice and Policy)
• Full cost accounting
• Determination of the value of water in Albertas
  economy
• Investigation of the merits of economic
  instruments

• shared responsibility

• flexible tools

• integrated policy

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Lessons Learned - Successes

• Outcomes come first!
• Breadth and depth of engagement of stakeholders
• Public support working with the media
• Educating the decision-makers
• Cross-Ministry buy-in
• Shared governance model
• Shift to watershed management

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Lessons Learned - Challenges

• Monitoring, validation and reporting of results
• Capacity-building internal and external
• Cross-Ministry coordination of implementation

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What has changed with Water for Life?
FROM TO
Government policies and direction not fully integrated Clear, government-wide policy, directions and outcomes
Traditional command and control regulatory system Much broader, innovative tools and approaches
Desire by Albertans to be involved in their community Albertans have a greater opportunity to be meaningfully involved (local, regional, provincial)
Pockets of alliances with stakeholders that achieve results Broad-based alliances with all parts of society to share responsibilities for outcomes
Meeting environmental standards Sustainability drives continuous improvement approaches
Goal A management system that results in improved environmental quality and sustainability. Goal A management system that results in improved environmental quality and sustainability.