Changes to the Water Act will help streamline licences and consolidate allocations. Photo by Stephen Strand
The Water Amendment Act came into effect on March 11, which made changed to the Water Act.
This is the first time in over 25 years that the Water Act has been updated, and according to the Alberta Government says the new piece of legislation will balance the needs of Albertans, the environment, and the economy.
The Water Amendment Act passed in legislature in fall of 2025, and as a result of these changes, it will improve transparency and help to meet the needs of farmers, ranchers, businesses, and communities, all while maintaining strong environmental protections.
Through these changes, it will help to streamline processes that will help farmers, ranchers, and others to easily amend their licences and consolidate allocations under a single licence, as well as making sure other water users and the environment are not impacted negatively.
According to the Alberta Government, this flexibility will make it easier to adapt to the conditions on the ground and effectively access and use of water.
“For too long we’ve put up with outdated and unnecessary rules that no longer make sense. Starting today, Alberta’s water management system is more practical and modern, with less red tape to slow down the good work of Albertans,” the Minister of Environment and Protected Areas, Grant Hunter, stated in a media release. “I’d like to thank the previous minister, Rebecca Schulz, for leading this transition and doing so much work to get us to this point.”
On top of that, the Water Amendment Act removed barriers and improve the processes that are associated with water licensing, which will make it easier to access and use water.
These amendments to the Water Act will allow the government to set consistent measurement and reporting water use, which will be informed through the upcoming discussions with water licence holders.
The government will also develop policy to establish how the prices paid for water as part of a licence transfer will be reported.
While Alberta was the only province to require inter-basin transfer decisions to be authorized through a special act of legislature, a new category will now allow for lower risk inter-basin transfers to be approved through a ministerial order.
Under this lower risk category, only the transfers that meet strict environmental standards and limits are eligible.
The proposed inter-basin transfers that do not meet the environmental standards will continue to require a special act of the legislature.
On top of that, the new amendments will also allow communities and others to collect rainwater from rooftops and reuse wastewater, which will improve conservation and increase water reuse for municipalities, industry, and others.
Even though there are changes to the Water Act, the water licence priority system, based on first-in-time, first-in-right, remains unchanged.
Same goes for royalties, bulk or volumetric pricing of water.
With this, Environment and Protected Areas will engage water users and licensees to establish and implement standards for water use measurement and reporting.
Most large water users already have measurement systems in place, but low- and no-cost options will be available for water users, and reporting will be made public.
To read more about the Water Amendment Act, click here.
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