Need for a New Approach

1. Alberta’s Strategy for Sustainabilitypresented toPrairie Water Policy SymposiumBeverly Yee, Assistant Deputy MinisterAlberta EnvironmentSeptember 23, 2005

2. Need for a New Approach • We face changing and challenging times – the way we manage the environment must respond to those changes and challenges. • Significant drivers for change • Economic and population growth • Complexity of environmental issues • Information and knowledge • Public expectations • Ability to control environmental outcomes • Traditional systems

3. Systems Approach Key elements of a systems approach are: • environmental outcomes that are agreed to across government and amongst stakeholders • policies that are integrated across all media (land, air and water) and across government departments • shared delivery of programs to better manage and protect the environment • good information and knowledge to support decision-making • monitoring, validation and reporting of results to the public on achievement of environmental outcomes

4. Five Strategic Shifts • Government-wide vision and shared implementation across ministries • Shared responsibility with communities, organizations, technical experts and individuals • A place-based approach, across all media, looking at cumulative impacts • A comprehensive, flexible set of regulatory and non-regulatory tools and incentives • Continuous improvement in environmental performance and accountability

5. Water for Life • Developed with Albertans, released in November 2003 • Dialogue on issues was very important • Results: • increased awareness and understanding of water-related issues • sense of shared responsibility by Albertans • comprehensive, long-term strategy focused on sustainability

6. Water for LifeSignals a Change • From process to outcomes • From water management to watershed management • From regulating to shared governance

7. Water for Life - Outcomes • Safe, secure drinking water supply • Healthy aquatic ecosystems • Reliable, quality water supplies for a sustainable economy • agreed-to outcomes

8. Water for Life – Key Directions • Knowledge and research • Partnerships for watershed management and stewardship • Water conservation

9. Safe,Secure Drinking Water Supply • Drinking water facility assessment completed • Priority on regional water/wastewater systems • Source protection • Continuously improving standards • Health surveillance system for waterborne diseases • Report the quality of drinking water • shared delivery of programs • monitoring and reporting • continuous improvement

10. Healthy Aquatic Ecosystems • Wetland policy and inventory • Determine aquatic ecosystem requirements • What threshold amount of water is needed for a healthy aquatic ecosystem? • What are the incremental benefits of more water in rivers? • What are the incremental benefits of withdrawing more water? • Monitor and report on the state of aquatic ecosystems • good information and knowledge • monitoring and reporting

11. Reliable, Quality Water Supplies • Evaluation of water storage sites • Transboundary agreements • International Joint Commission • Prairie Provinces Water Board • Mackenzie River Basin Board • Water allocation transfers • flexible tools • integrated policies

12. Knowledge and Research • Knowledge to make good decisions: • Scientific knowledge of groundwater and surface water resources • Understanding needs of aquatic ecosystems • Research on emerging issues: • Climate change • Impact of pharmaceuticals • Alberta Water Council developing a water research strategy • good information and knowledge

13. Partnerships for Watershed Management • Three types of partnerships that have distinct roles and are complementary to one another. • Alberta Water Council - provincial • Watershed Planning and Advisory Councils - regional • Watershed Stewardship Groups - local • shared responsibility • place-based approach

14. Shared Governance for Effective Water Management • Alberta Water Council: • Advise on provincial water management issues • Steward implementation of Water Strategy • Develop approach to water conservation • Identify research priorities • Wetland policy

15. Shared Governance for Effective Water Management • Watershed Planning and Advisory Councils (WPACs) • Develop watershed management plans - must be integrated to include quantity, quality, ecosystem health, source protection and land use impacts. • Promote best management practices. • Report on state of the watershed.

16. Shared Governance for Effective Water Management • Watershed Stewardship Groups • Educate Albertans and raise awareness on the watersheds they live in. • Undertake stewardship activities to improve and protect watersheds.

17. Water Conservation • Ensure water efficiency and productivity improves by 30% improvement from 2005 levels by 2015 • Sector plans for water use improvements (Advisory Committee on Water Use Practice and Policy) • Full cost accounting • Determination of the value of water in Alberta’s economy • Investigation of the merits of economic instruments • shared responsibility • flexible tools • integrated policy

18. Lessons Learned - Successes • Outcomes come first! • Breadth and depth of engagement of stakeholders • Public support – working with the media • Educating the decision-makers • Cross-Ministry buy-in • Shared governance model • Shift to watershed management

19. Lessons Learned - Challenges • Monitoring, validation and reporting of results • Capacity-building – internal and external • Cross-Ministry coordination of implementation

20. What has changed with Water for Life?