Water: Albertas Next Great Economic and Social Challenge

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Water Albertas Next Great Economic and Social
Challenge

• IICA, Olds
• September 7, 2008

Chris Godwaldt, P.Eng., MBA
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Water is Personal

• Whiskey is for Drinking

• Water is for Fighting Over. Mark
  Twain

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Public perception of Canadian water quality,
security and safety has changed Walkerton,
Kashechewan, N. Battleford
Is Our Water Safe?
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Water Scarcity in SE Alberta
Water-Short Areas
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Agriculture and Irrigation have 46 of our water
allocations
Water Allocations in Alberta
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Commercial users, primarily cooling, use 31 of
water allocations
Water Allocations in Alberta
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Municipal use at your home is 11 of water
allocations
Water Allocations in Alberta
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Oil and Gas have 7 of water allocations
Water Allocations in Alberta
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Recreation, habitat and all other uses account
for the remaining 5
Water Allocations in Alberta
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Why Water is Important to Alberta
In the future, Water will be more important to
Albertans than oil and gas Peter Lougheed
In 54 communities the number one issue is WATER
With it, our prosperity is assured without
it, nothing is Doug Griffiths MLA Chair, Task
Force on Sustainable Communities
Population growth, droughts, agricultural and
industrial development are increasing demand
and pressure on Albertas water
supplies Alberta Water for Life Strategy
Water is not a renewable resource. It only
seems renewable because it keeps falling from
the sky Marq de Villiers
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Albertas Water for Life Strategy
Goals Safe, secure drinking water
supply Healthy aquatic ecosystems Reliable,
quality water supplies for a sustainable economy
Achieved Through Knowledge and
Research Partnerships Water Conservation
Water for Life Alberta Governments response to
develop a new water management approach and
outline strategies actions for
implementation www.waterforlife.gov.ab.ca
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Major Basins under Alberta Water Act
Key Management Principles Water is owned by the
Province All withdrawals of surface water and
most groundwater under 4000 mg/L TDS are
licensed FITFIR First in time, first in
right No INTER Basin transfers Live within
your means Saskatchewan gets its share 50 of
flow at headwaters must be delivered to
Saskatchewan border at prescribed quality levels
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Big Changes Key Provincial Policies Influencing
Industry Access to Water
Investing in our Future Responding to the Rapid
Growth of Oil Sands Development 2007 Alberta
Oil Sands Consultation Multi-stakeholder Final
Report 2007 Aboriginal Consultation Final
Report 2007
Outcomes Based Environmental Management for
Industrial Heartland 2007
Water Conservation and Allocation Policy
Guideline for Oilfield Injection 2006
South Saskatchewan River Basin Water Management
Plan 2006
More Rules are coming ERCB requirements for
Inspection and Compliance of Oil Sands Mining and
Processing Plant Operations Expects to double
the number of inspections at mineable oil sands
facilities over the next year
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Three key industries face major challenges
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Oil and Gas Industry most likely to adapt
Oil Gas Goal Fresh Water consumption neutral
by 2020
Challenges South Saskatchewan
Scarcity. This industry usually last priority
for water North Saskatchewan Maximizing
economic development with limited water
resource Athabasca Social license to
operate (environmental concerns)
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Oil and Gas Fresh Water Demand Forecast 2006 -2020
Extraction Only OS Proc. Other
Extraction Only OS- Tailings
Integrated OS - Tailings
Integrated OS - Cooling
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Produced Water Beneficial Reuse Opportunity
These areas could potentially provide an annual
volume of 70 million m3 of produced water for
reuse in southeastern Alberta - the most fresh
water challenged area of the province. Overall,
total produced water disposal injection volumes
are relatively constant at 265 million m3 per
year, representing approximately 720,000m3/day
Industrys motivation is high to see some
alternative to injection for produced water.
Depending on location, the cost of treating and
disposal can be greater than 10.00 per cubic
meter. Seawater (35,000 mg/l) desalination
technologies are widely implemented around the
world.
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Southern AlbertaSSRB Water Management Plan
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Bordeaux Developments Harmony Project

• Sustainable Community Concept
• Areas of Focus
• Water Conservation
• Water Re-use
• Why?
• Responsible
• Good Business
• Opportunity
• Building Code change

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Water Pricing, Transfers and Best Use
Water transfer priciest in history Balzac
megamall clears hurdle Renata D'Aliesio, Calgary
Herald Published Saturday, September 29,
2007 After several failed attempts and more than
a year of searching, the Municipal District of
Rocky View has secured water for a horse
racetrack and megamall in Balzac -- dubbed the
largest Alberta construction project outside of
the oilsands. Alberta Environment said Friday it
has approved a water deal between Rocky View and
the Western Irrigation District. In exchange for
guaranteed water rights, the M.D. will pay the
irrigation district 15 million to convert 50
kilometres of a leaky canal into a pipeline. The
licence transfer is the largest and priciest in
the young history of Alberta's market to buy and
sell water.
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Water wealth for farmers, but what is the future
of the family farm on the Prairies?
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Well Development Wastewater Recovery and Reuse
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Water Rights trading under scrutiny

• A Policy Discussion on Tradable Water Rights in
  Western Canada
• Wednesday May 21st 2008
• Water Matters, in partnership with the Faculty of
  Law at the University of Calgary, the Program on
  Water Governance at UBC, the POLIS Project on
  Ecological Governance at the University of
  Victoria, and Ecojustice, invites you to a one
  day meeting bringing together key members of the
  research and the non-governmental community to
  discuss tradable water rights and progressive
  policy solutions.
• The emerging questions are
• Should trading of water rights occur?
• What benefits accrue by allowing such a system to
  exist? What problems do they present?
• What basic public interest and environmental
  protections should exist under any tradable water
  rights system in Canada?
• What system of governance considering key issues
  of accountability for protection of the public
  interest and the environment would underlie a
  water rights trading/transfer system?

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Central Alberta / Heartland Region Maximize
Economic Development

• 6-9 Heavy Oil Upgraders planning to locate in the
  Industrial Heartland
• 20-30,000 cubic metres per day each
• (assuming evaporative cooling)
• Water Sources
• The North Saskatchewan River
• (new licences)
• Under-utilized existing licences
• Recycled Wastewater
• Alternatives
• Individual Water and Wastewater Treatment
  facilities, intakes and discharges with river
  source
• Single Treatment facility distribution system
• Recycled Domestic Wastewater
• Combination of above

Gold Bar WWTP
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Outcomes Based Environmental Management
October 2, 2007 Alberta rolls out new
environmental strategy to protect air, land,
water Industrial Heartland first project under
new approach Edmonton... The Alberta government
has unveiled a broad new approach to address
cumulative effects on the environment, with the
first application of the plan set for the
Industrial Heartland, a 317-square-kilometer area
just northeast of Edmonton. Under the new
approach, a series of comprehensive,
science-based targets, outcomes and actions have
been set for Albertas Industrial Heartland to
protect the air, land and water of the Capital
Region. As we face unprecendented growth in our
province, with development on a scale we have not
seen before, we must be assured we balance that
growth with protection of the environment, said
Premier Ed Stelmach. Albertans must know that
their government is looking at the big picture,
and preserving our environmental heritage for
future generations.
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Industry Determines how to achieve Outcomes
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Water Management Framework for the Industrial
Heartland and Capital Region Report

• The strategic objectives of the new Water
  Management Framework for the Industrial Heartland
  and Capital Region are
• Make Alberta a world leader in water and water
  reclamation technology.
• Minimize the impact or footprint on the North
  Saskatchewan River
• by improving the quality of the water and
  ensuring water conservation practices are in
  effect.
• The Framework will be implemented using distinct
  phasing.
• The Framework has a regional perspective and may
  be used as a model for other regional frameworks
  in the province.
• December, 2007

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Conceptual Diagram Sustainable Regional Water
Management Network to 2041
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Much of Northern Alberta is engaged in Oil Sands
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Traditional Mining and In Situ methods consume
2.5 barrels water/barrel bitumen
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Technology is coming THAI
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Challenge of Tailings Ponds remains
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This battle is happening outside Alberta

• An environmental quagmire
• Claudia Cattaneo, Calgary Bureau Chief, Financial
  Post 
• Published Saturday, May 17, 2008
• Environmentalists are turning their sights on
  Alberta's oilsands, causing many oil companies to
  tread more carefully.
• With the oilsands now symbolizing deforestation,
  climate change and corporate greed, the Alberta
  energy industry is up against a growing network
  of green activists
• Water expert Kim Sturgess, chief executive of
  Alberta WaterSMART, a non-profit group in Calgary
  working with upstream petroleum companies to
  reduce their use of water, said the industry
  needs to find sustainable solutions, not more
  critics.
• "My concern is that we have groups come in that
  don't share our vision for our province," she
  said.

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Pressure on Premier to Act

• Alberta promises study in wake of toxic oilsands
  leak
• Renata D'Aliesio ,  Canwest News Service
• Published Tuesday, May 27
• EDMONTON - The province has begun to piece
  together a scientific picture of environmental
  contamination in the oilsands region, Alberta
  Premier Ed Stelmach said Tuesday. The study,
  which will be overseen by Alberta Environment,
  will capture the current level of toxins in water
  and soil.
• "We're doing a whole bunch of little things bits
  and pieces a study here, a study there,"
  Stelmach said of the province's previous studies.
  "But we've got to collate it all together so we
  have something to stand (on) before not only
  Albertans, but investors, other countries, other
  jurisdictions, and say this is what we are doing
  in Alberta.
• News of the baseline study emerged as the Alberta
  Liberals raised concerns in the legislature
  Tuesday that toxins from the province's oldest
  oilsands tailings pond have leached into
  groundwater and the Athabasca River in northern
  Alberta.

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Implications for the Industry

• Water scarcity in the south threatens
  availability of traditional fresh water supplies
  for oilfield operations
• Pressure on the industry will increase to
  collaborate for greater overall economic and
  social benefit for Albertans
• Sector plan for 30 water conservation is
  expected and may be mandated under W4L
• ENGOs will significantly increase legal and lobby
  activities, especially for oil sands
• Government oversight will increase

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Summary of 2020 Study

• Vision of neutrality is possible if
• Attitudes toward water change to recognize water
  as a valuable resource
• Rules change to allow for more recovery, recycle
  and reuse
• Industry collaborates to achieve better water
  management practices
• Research into and deployment of new water
  technologies continues

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Alberta WaterPortal

• Mission
• To create a place where anyone can easily get the
  water data, information and knowledge needed to
  make better decisions and become more actively
  involved in managing our water resources.
• www.albertawater.com
• Implementation partners
• IBM
• Bow River Basin Council
• Tesera Systems
• Suncor Foundation

Sign Up WaterNews Alerts
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Water The Key to Our Sustainable Future
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Alberta Society for Sustainable Water Management
and Related Technologies

• For more information
• www.albertawatersmart.com
• info_at_albertawatersmart.com
• www.albertawater.com