The sale of water rights in Alberta is creating a water-trading market that puts aquatic ecosystems at risk and threatens public access to the valuable resource, according to a new report put out by environmental law firm Ecojustice and Banff-based conservation group Bow Riverkeeper.

Citing two local examples — the Balzac mall project, and a Southern Alberta irrigator’s failed plan to sell surplus water from its licence — the report argues that the provincial government’s water policies are becoming obsolete as water shortages loom on the horizon.

In 2006, the provincial government put a moratorium on new water licences in the Bow River basin. The moratorium has created a water-trading market where would-be licensees seek to buy water from existing license holders. “At the end of the day, we would come out unequivocally and say that [this] type of water brokerage arrangement is bad,” says Randy Christensen, an Ecojustice lawyer who co-authored the report. “It’s bad as a matter of public policy, it’s bad for the environment and we would even say it’s contrary to Alberta law — but that’s undecided at this point.”

Ecojustice says the government should improve its water governance before it’s too late. “Right now is a critical time where the course for the future is going to be set,” Christensen says. “So there’s a need to think these decisions through very carefully.” (JK)