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Q & A With Alberta Environment

We have had a variety of meetings and communications with Alberta Environment and on this page we include the answers they've provided to some of our questions, together with our comments.

Q: How many gallons (litres) of water are taken out of Skeleton Lake by Boyle each year?

A:In 2003 the Village of Boyle (Boyle) diverted 176 acre-feet (218,268 cubic metres) of water.

Comment: An acre-foot of water would cover one acre (43,560 square feet) one foot deep. 176 acre feet is equivalent to approximately 48 million Imperial gallons of water or 217 million litres of water.

Conversions: (1 acre-foot of water = 1234 cubic metres) (1000 litres = 1 cubic metre) (1 acre-foot = 271,470 imperial gallons)

Q: What volumes are they entitled to remove?

A:Boyle is entitled to remove 150 acre-feet (185,100 cubic metres) of water from Skeleton Lake.

Comment: 150 acre-feet is approximately 40,720,500 gallons. Therefore they are drawing in excess of 7 million gallons more each year than they are entitled to draw.

Q: What river basin is Skeleton Lake in? What river basin is Boyle in?

A:Skeleton Lake is in the Beaver River Basin. Boyle is in the Athabasca River Basin.

Comment: Section 47 of the Water Act prohibits diverting water from one river basin to another.

Q: Has Boyle applied to amend their licence? If so what is the status of that application?

A:No, they have not recently applied to amend their licence, however, they previously made application for an additional 72 acre-feet (88,810.7 m3) on February 18, 1992. Boyle applied for this additional allocation to their previously approved 150 acre-feet (185,100 m3) under licence 13940, dated September 10, 1985. This would have increased their diversion to 222 acre-feet (273,948 m3) potential total if the additional allocation of 72 acre-feet of water would have been approved.

As a result of concerns from the public and referral agencies the 1992 application was not processed. Alberta Environment felt that Boyle should look for a more secure water source to meet their needs both now and in the future.

Comment: These concerns have been raised for more than 13 years, yet no concrete plans or actions to resolve this problem have been undertaken in that time. It's interesting to note that in 1992 Boyle wanted a license for an addirional 19.5 million gallons of water per year, and since 1994 Miller Western has more then doubled it's Boyle plant which obtains it's water from Boyle.

Q: Has the Director considered conducting a public review of Boyle's licence renewal?

A:There is no licence renewal involved, but Alberta Environment is encouraging Boyle to look to other sources for the future.

Q: What investigations has Alberta Environment conducted on the adverse effect on the aquatic environment of Skeleton Lake or the adverse effect on property around Skeleton Lake caused by Boyle's water diversion?

A:It was evaluated at the time the licences were issued, and has been reviewed in 1992 and since.

Q: Is there a water management plan in place that effects Skeleton Lake?

A:No there is no water management plan.

After receiving answers to the above questions, we had some follow-up questions, some of which we set out below.

Q: You state that condition #2 in Boyle's license specifies the requirement for annual water use returns. Is there a meter on the Village of Boyle's pump house measuring the amount of annual water use and if so, is that meter read and reported on by an independent third party such as Alberta Environment. As well, how was the report of the 2003 usage of 218,268 cubic metres was arrived at? Is that an estimate or an actual measurement taken by a meter?

A:Yes, the staff of the Village of Boyle assure us that the pump house has a meter to measure the water that they divert from Skeleton Lake. The meter is read by staff from the Village of Boyle and is submitted to Alberta Environment to fulfil requirements under the Water Act and the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act and the meter is not read by Alberta Environment staff. The 2003 water usage of 218,268 cubic metres is the measured amount of water that ran through their municipal water system.

Q: You state that according to the Atlas of Alberta Lakes, the surface area of Skeleton Lake is 7.89 square kilometres. Over the past 5 years, the shoreline in areas of Skeleton Lake has receded in excess of 50 feet. When was that calculation of surface area done?

A:The date of sounding used to obtain the data found in Table 2. "Characteristics of Skeleton Lake" and used to compile the data including, the surface area, was Aug 1965.

Comment: This information is 40 years old and the surface area of Skeleton Lake appears to be much less now than it was in 1965. Therefore the impact Boyle's water diversion has on the level of Skeleton Lake seems to be under-reported.

Q: What steps is Alberta Environment taking to assist the Village of Boyle in looking for other sources of water for the future and what other potential sources are available to fill their projected needs as set out in their 1992 application of 220 acre-feet?

A: Alberta Environment have reviewed ground water data from surrounding groundwater wells to determine both the chemical properties and the pump test data to determine the suitability of groundwater as an alternate source. Alberta Environment are also examining the costs and feasibility of various surface water sources to service Boyle and other municipalities in the province. This can be a lengthy process and often comes at considerable cost often requiring grant money from the Province to fund the studies and the infrastructure.

Q: We note that the Village of Boyle diverted more than 7 million gallons of water over and above what their license allows for in 2003. What steps are being taken to limit the Village of Boyle to the amount of water allowed for by their license?

A: The Village of Boyle has an allocation of 185,022.28 m3 [(150 acre-feet) (40,720,579.5 igal)]. In 2003 they diverted 218,268 m3 [ 176.95 acre-feet) (48,037,411.17 igal)]. Difference of 7,316,832 igal. Alberta Environment staff have met with the Village of Boyle on a number of occasions and the issue of the excessive diversion has been discussed at length. They are aware that their diversion is exceeding their allocation and we have advised them that they must reduce their diversion. We have discussed future scenarios with the Village and alternatives that will enable them to have more water to provide to their residents, also to customers like the residents at the lake and other residential users with cisterns, as well as Millar Western plus allow for future growth.

Q: We note that Skeleton Lake is in the Beaver River Basin and Boyle is in the Athabasca River Basin. I also note that section 47 of the Water Act provides that "a license shall not be issued that authorizes the transfer of water between major river basins in the province unless the license is specifically authorized by a special act of the legislature." Was there a special act of the legislature allowing the transfer of this water from the Beaver River Basin into the Athabasca River Basin?

A:No, there was no special act of the legislature allowing the interbasin transfer of water regarding the Village of Boyle water system as Section 47 does not apply to pre-existing licences. The Village of Boyle applied for their initial allocation of 90 acre-feet in March 1968 and then for an additional allocation of 60 acre-feet in May 1985. A licence was issued under the Water Resources Act in September of 1985. At the time of issue of this licence there was not the same concern regarding interbasin transfer of water that there is now. At that time, as now, municipalities were guided to not discharge effluent into recreational lakes. Licences issued under the Water Resources Act were issued in perpetuity and are recognized as licences under the Water Act with no changes to their rights and privileges issued under the previous Act.

Comment: The licence provides, "The rights and privileges hereby granted are subject to periodic review and to modification to ensure the most beneficial use of the water in the public interest and more particularly to ensure preservation of the rights of other water users."

Furthermore, section 9 of the previous Act (the Water Resources Act) provides that no right to the permanent diversion of any water shall be acquired unless that right is acquired pursuant to a valid agreement existing on April 1, 1931. Additionally, section 51 of the Water Resources Act permitted the Minister to declare a forfeiture of a licence for breach (i.e. exceeding permitted allocations) of any provision of the licence.

In light of the above and other legal reasons, we are of the view that Boyle's licence was not issued in perpetuity.