Don’t sell the water, Risks involved in creating an Alberta market by Suzy Thompson, October 11, 2012, Fast Forward Weekly
Water Matters, an Alberta-based non-governmental research and advocacy group, released its final report in a three-part series studying water issues in the province. Moving Waters examined options for Alberta to achieve the provincial government’s Water For Life goals, in which water will be available for the public, environment and industrial use on a long-term basis. Moving Waters authors Julia Ko and William F. Donahue studied the possibility of moving Alberta’s water management system away from the “First-In-Time, First-In-Right” process under which water licences are allocated now, to a water market. Water markets have been adopted in several American states, however, the report concludes the system brings risks. “Severe droughts elsewhere have forced governments to basically throw out old water management policies and spend billions of dollars on emergency measures to buy back water rights,” the authors write in reference to the $8.9 billion the Australian government was forced to pay for public water access rights during a drought in that country that ended in 2006. Water markets were also studied by Jeremy Schmidt for the Parkland Institute, a think-tank based in Edmonton, for its December 2011 report Alternative Water Futures in Alberta. Schmidt also determined that allocating water rights on an open market would be difficult to impose and run contrary to the government’s stated conservation and management goals. [Emphasis added]
-
Recent Posts
- Critical Race Theory by Jonathan Raymond Harris. “We only know what we are taught.” January 29, 2023
- Pegagus Scandal: Have you been hacked and spied on by Israeli company NSO Group’s spyware sold to your gov’t and or agencies like AER? January 11, 2023
- Newfoundland: First the sea collapsed. Now comes the crisis everyone is talking about January 2, 2023
- SARS-CoV-2 in 2022: Outstanding reporting by Andrew Nikiforuk, and courage by The Tyee for publishing his works. Complete with nasty backlash from anti-public health, pro-corporate-rape-&-pillage-for-profit bullies (COVID liars, minimizers, and deniers). December 31, 2022
- Best quote of 2022: “To me, reconciliation’s all bullshit,” Simogyet (Chief) Neekt, George Muldoe, in line to take hereditary name Delgamuukw. December 31, 2022
- Frac’ing on its way out: “We’re going to run out of inventory in the next four to six years.” Will the shysters leave anything but ruin behind? December 12, 2022
- Fresh Frac Hell: Frac’ers dumped waste from wells with PFAS across Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia. Regulators refuse to test for PFAS, even after spills. How many wells in Canada were/are frac’d with PFAS and the waste dumped on our foodlands? How many by illegal aquifer frac’er Encana/Ovintiv? December 8, 2022
- Self-regulating shit show: UK lawyer Stephen Jones pleads guilty, gets 12 years for fraud after private prosecution. Solicitors Regulation Authority pisses in the wind, does not disbar him. No wonder “self-regulation is regarded with quasi-religious fervour.” December 6, 2022
- Dec 8, 2022 Free Webinar: Home on Native Land – RAVEN & Sentinel December 6, 2022
- Los Angeles City Council votes unanimously to ban new oil & gas wells and close existing ones to *protect health of residents* December 5, 2022
- Nov 29, 2022 Cabot Oil & Gas on Criminal Docket. Public invited to Montrose PA main courtroom to hear AG read off each of 15 criminal charges against the frac’er for polluting waters of Dimock and hear Cabot’s guilty plea. Families have endured polluted water for 14 years. No such justice for Canadians suffering illegal acts by Encana/Ovintiv. November 25, 2022
- West Texas Permian frac field: 5.4M earthquake, 6.9km depth “likely caused by oil and gas industry activity.” Felt in Fort Davis in the mountains and as far away as State of Ohio! Even after industry reduces injection, frac quakes get bigger and bigger and bigger … November 17, 2022
- New Freeport Pennsylvania: EQT Frack Hit (last June); Gas contaminated water for Thanksgiving, enabled by DEP. “Ongoing testing shows that the water for dozens of households is unsafe to drink” November 13, 2022
- Pennsylvania Frac Lawsuit Latkanich v Chevron et. al., family contaminated with high levels benzene and toluene, PFAS “forever chemicals” and more. Brian Laktanich: “They gotta stop poisoning people” November 7, 2022
- Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf feeds the frac’ers with multi-billion dollar taxpayer giveaway November 4, 2022