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May 2, 2008 By now the whole world knows about the 500 ducks that died after landing in one of Syncrude’s toxic tailing ponds in Northern Alberta. The tragedy occurred just after the province had put aside $25 million in public relations cash to convince the White House that tar sands crude was environmentally friendly. To see pictures of what a tailing pond looks like, click here for photos on the Oil Sands Watch website, or here for a CTV report with photos. But dead birds are just the latest reason why tar sands production, which is geared entirely for the U.S. market, should be put on hold. "This is 500 more canaries in the coal mine and 500 more reasons why we need to put the brakes to (the oil sands) project," said Mike Hudema, a Greenpeace activist in Alberta, as reported by the Calgary Herald. "It's the birds today, but it's water shortages the next day,” he added, alluding to an approaching water crisis in the province. “Alberta's share of Canada's renewable freshwater is a scant 2.2 per cent,” wrote University of Alberta economics professor David Schindler in the Globe and Mail today. “Compounding problems, 80 per cent of that tiny share is found in the province's north, where oil-sands companies are the big water consumers, while 80 per cent of Alberta's population is in the south.” Schindler draws attention to a recent Ecojustice report that draws attention to disturbing water management trends in Alberta. Although a 2006 moratorium on new water licences has meant no new strains on southern Alberta’s supplies, which are dwindling, it has “fuelled plans for long-range water transfers and – for the first time in Canadian history – opened an active water-trading market,” according to Ecojustice. Government amendments to Irrigation District rules are particularly worrying. “Irrigation Districts have long provided water to their members for agriculture and irrigation on registered farmlands,” writes Ecojustice. “Now, however, some Irrigation Districts are seeking the authority to provide water to any person for virtually any purpose at whatever price they deem appropriate. Not only does this diminish government oversight, but it threatens aquatic ecosystems, disenfranchises irrigators, and eliminates public rights to information.” The report concludes with a warning that, “The sale of water rights, without robust regulations to protect the public interest and the environment, poses major risks to aquatic ecosystems and public access to sustainable supplies of clean freshwater.”
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Dead birds and water shortages in boomtown Alberta
