On April 9, dozens of Cochrane and area residents took over the community meeting room at Cochrane Toyota. The group had one thing on their minds: water.
Hosted by Cochrane Environmental Action Committee (CEAC) and facilitated by Alberta WaterSMART, the informal event had participants discussing the topic in terms of water management, healthy lakes, drinking water and wastewater systems, and hydraulic fracturing and water.
“Now is the time for us to have a broad conversation with Albertans about issues that may not be an immediate risk today, though some reflect current pressures, but reflect areas where proactive responses are required to ensure we continue to enjoy the quality of life we benefit from today for the next 50 years,” said Renee Hackney, public affairs officer with Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (ESRD).
The ideas shared at these community sessions, along with those sent through email and online workbook submissions, will be presented in a report set to be released this summer. The concept is that the themes found through the water conversation initiative will give the provincial government a better understanding of how to manage the expectations and needs of residents.
The conversation has been brought to 20 communities across Alberta, said Hackney, with more than 1,000 residents taking part in the discussions. She added that online feedback was collected from another 1,000 residents.
“Public input is essential for building a system that meets the values of Albertans,” she said. “We wanted to hear all sides of the water conversation…. We don’t want to jump to solutions or new policy until Albertans have told us what their priorities are. No decisions were made and no decisions will be made until the conversation with Albertans is complete.”
A draft of the summary notes for the Cochrane leg of the tour has already been released to participants.
“Cochrane citizens represent diverse stakeholder interests with respect to water use — from environmental governance networks, to oil and gas,” said Judy Stewart, spokesperson for CEAC, via email.
She added that it’s this diversity that leaves Cochrane residents with “great advice for government about the future of water in this province for drinking, for the aquatic environment and for the economy.”
The themes brought up by Cochrane and area residents for the water management portion of the discussion included water allocation systems and transfers, protecting water, landowner stewardship, sustaining water storage, and groundwater data collection and monitoring.
Water management also brought up issues relating to hydraulic fracturing, touching on the idea of using less water in the fracking process, as well as increasing transparency and education surrounding the drilling activity.
The healthy lakes conversation explored ideas such as monitoring the water quality and quantity of Cochrane Lake, the effect of recreation on our lakes, regulating and managing lakes, as well as creating a more comprehensive resource for groundwater data.
The drinking water and wastewater systems discussion touched on the concepts of managing these systems from a local, private and regional standpoint. Currently, Cochrane has an independent drinking water system but a regional system for wastewater. Concerns and questions about greywater coding, consumption, funding and drinking water quality were brought up throughout the night.
Lastly, the concerns and ideas about hydraulic fracturing and water included greater transparency on the use of chemicals for fracking purposes, as well as on the environmental impact of the drilling practice. This conversation mentioned ideas about regulation and enforcement, and educating residents on the fracking process.
“These four topics were identified as priority areas through input from community-based groups, municipal governments and many stakeholders over the last few years,” said Hackney. “… These priorities have been identified as they are areas that could have an impact on the economic, environmental and social interests of Albertans into the future.”
Once the thoughts and feedback from Alberta residents is collected, it will be compiled and referred upon by the government for future planning and management decisions, said Hackney.
The report reflecting the discussions, as well as potential outcomes will be released to Albertans later this year.
To check out the summaries from the 20 water conversations, visit waterconversation.alberta.ca.
