When the Girl Guides come knocking in the next few weeks with their cookies in tow, Cochranites might want to consider buying even more than usual, and perhaps adding a “Thank you” to the exchange.
That’s because the Guides have come to the rescue of the Town of Cochrane by coming to a water license sharing agreement, which, once approved by the province, will mean water supply security for the fastest-growing town in Alberta for a number of years.
Exactly how many years is unclear at this point, but all those details are coming.
The Girl Guides of Canada have a historic water license on the Bow River, in connection to their Camp Jubilee, right across the river from Riverfront Park.
Drew Hyndman, executive director of Development and Infrastructure Services at the Town, said the Guides are being good neighbours.
“We are very happy to partner with Girl Guides Canada,” Hyndman said.
At a council meeting March 6, administration presented a report estimating that at current growth rates, current water license limits (to a pop of 40,000) will be reached in four to five years. Applying the Town’s 4.4 per cent growth rate assumption to the current population of 33,453 the population would be dangerously close to 40,000 in four years.
And the province, as of 2006, put a stop to anyone in the Bow basin even applying for a new license.
Which put the ball clearly in the Town’s court to find someone with an existing license willing to enter an agreement to share.
There was no guarantee that the Town would be able to find a license holder nearby, or even if they did, be able to come to such an agreement.
Enter the girls with cookies.
“We've got a great partner in this,” Hyndman said.
The Town has a water license transfer application with Alberta Environment and Protected Areas (AEPA).
As part of that process, the province requires the Town to post a public notice that notifies impacted parties they can review that application and provide any submissions within the next 30 days.
“We need to get through the Alberta environment process and then there's certainty about water supply, certainty for our community,” Hyndman said.
He said the Town is hoping to have a response from AEPA early in 2024, after which council will be able to make a more detailed announcement.
“Once we're through it, we'll be able to share more information.”
Alberta’s existing water transfer system currently allows for the re-distribution (trading) of water licences between different water users, under certain conditions. The current system has several public policy protections: a public review of every water transfer, each transfer is considered for its hydrological and third-party impacts, and the province has the opportunity to hold back 10 per cent of the allocation for environmental instream purposes.
The 30-day submission window began Oct. 10, the date the notice appeared in newspapers, and reads in part:
“Notice is given that Town of Cochrane filed an application to permanently transfer 4,440,528 cubic metres of water under a licence issued to divert water from Bow River at SW-34-025-
04 W5M to SW-04-026-04 W5M on Bow River. The proposed transfer is an upstream (2.7 KM) transfer of allocation with the Town of Cochrane.”
The recreation purpose of the water use will be changed to municipal purpose.
Anyone directly affected by the application may submit a Statement of Concern.
To submit a Statement of Concern, sign in to the Digital Regulatory Assurance System (DRAS) using a MyAlberta Digital ID (MADI) or MyAlberta Digital ID for Business (MADI-B) account.
The DRAS webpage is alberta.ca/digital-regulatory-assurance-system.aspx.
To sign up for an MADI or MADI-B account see How to access DRAS on that same webpage.
