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Preamble:
WHEREAS the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) and Alberta Environment and Protected Areas (EPA) have dual authority to regulate freshwater use and approval of Oil and Gas Diversion licenses; and
WHEREAS The Responsible Energy Development Act authorizes the AER to regulate non-saline (i.e., fresh) water use for the oil and gas sector; and
WHEREAS the use of non-saline water must be licensed under the Water Act; and
WHEREAS EPA’s primary responsibility is to protect and enhance Alberta’s environment and ecosystems to ensure a sustainable future, making life better for Albertans; and
WHEREAS Temporary Diversion Licenses (TDLs) are not appealable and neither the AER or EPA will accept statements of concern from the public prior to approving industry use of TDLs; and
WHEREAS municipalities have continually raised concerns over the use of fresh water in the hydraulic fracturing process.
Operative Clause:
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Government of Alberta (GOA) conduct an audit on the Alberta Energy Regulator’s (AER’s) historic issuance of Temporary Diversion Licences (TDL) to determine if the AER is adhering to required legislation, policies, regulations and directives related to TDL allocation decision-making processes and criteria;
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the audit include evaluation of AER’s compliance with all findings in the Surface Water Management Report of the Auditor General (July 2024);
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the Government of Alberta collaborates with RMA and rural municipalities to ensure that the scope of the audit is adequately representative; and
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the results of the audit are made public.
Member Background:
The issues presented in this resolution have been raised in the past with significant member support (Resolution 7-24F). Despite this previous resolution, the Government of Alberta (GOA) has not taken any measurable action to address the issues raised. The current stance of the government appears to be that the AER is adhering to relevant legislative requirements in the issuance of TDLs. However those municipalities that are seeing increased activities in hydraulic fracking do not agree this is the case. To satisfy the public, it is imperative that the GOA undertake a transparent audit of the AER’s TDL approval and issuance process to confirm their current position.
For the audit to hold merit, it is also important that RMA and rural municipalities be consulted to determine which historical TDLs should form the input to the audit so that a representative sample be reviewed from across the province.
On July 10, 2024, the office of the Alberta Auditor General shared the findings of their inquiry into the management practices of surface water in Alberta. The Surface Water Management Report of the Auditor General (July 2024) identifies four key findings that further support the resolution:
The audit of TDL issuance and approval processes should address all findings in the Surface Water Management Report of the Auditor General which includes, but is not limited to, insufficient monitoring of licensee compliance with requirements such as allocation and withdrawal limits, assessment of risks, and decisions when water conservation objectives are needed. The results of the audit should be made public.
However, in practice we observe the AER does not require demonstration of consideration of non-saline water supplies, such as wastewater effluent or produced water, and that licenses are issued based on what the applicant asks for in terms of volume and rate. In cases where there is access to aquifer sources (through gravel extraction operations), the AER considers these volumes low risk and does not require policy to be followed.
According to the Surface Water Allocation Directives, there are clear guidelines for determining if license applications may be considered low risk. If the screening criteria are met, the Director may issue a license with standard protective clauses and conditions after having considered any matters of cumulative allocation and other timing or species-based criteria or limits as required by this directive. This directive may not be currently followed, and screening criteria may not be required when the AER deems the water body a low risk (examples are, but not limited to, alluvial aquifers). The directives do not state anywhere that the AER has their own discretion regarding low-risk water bodies, and only that the screening criteria must be met.
Further examples of concern are TDL’s being issued for spring fed water bodies/ponds/dugouts that have been created where none existed before, without the appropriate EPA approvals.
Relevant legislation, policy and other documents considered:
RMA Background:
7-24F: Improved Water License Approval and Compliance Processes
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Rural Municipalities of Alberta advocate to the Government of Alberta (GOA) to develop alternatives to the use of fresh water for hydraulic fracking;
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the GOA require the oil and gas industry to reduce water use proportional to all other users if drought restrictions are implemented;
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that that the GOA amend the Responsible Energy Development Act to remove from the mandate of the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) “to consider and decide applications and other matters under the Water Act in respect of energy resource activities” to ensure that all authority for granting water licenses falls to Alberta Environment and Protected Areas and that the AER continue to be responsible for industry compliance;
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that that the GOA, without exception, require all Temporary Diversion License (TDL) applications, including those diversions from alluvial aquifers, follow the process outlined in legislation, policy and directives and that the information on which the approving authority has used to issue the TDL be made available to the public.
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