The use of freshwater for fracking should be phased out, say a pair of central Alberta environmental groups.
Medicine River Watershed Society and the newly formed Friends of the Blindman are calling on the Alberta government to move towards a ban on the use of freshwater for fracking operations by oil and gas companies.
"No freshwater for fracking should be the stated long-term goal by Alberta Environment," say the groups in a June 6 letter to Alberta Environment and Protected Areas Minister Rebecca Schulz.
The groups say that before a total ban comes into effect, small steps could be taken in the interim that "will not require high-level change and will build public confidence that the government is moving in the right direction."
The groups said the need for action has been heightened by the increasing demand by energy industry companies for freshwater for fracking at a time when river flows are falling.
"Water use demands in our area are increasing significantly while the mean annual discharge of our rivers is declining," says the letter. "When the reality of the ground changes, as it has, it is the job of government to undertake policy review.
"Better protections for both the Medicine and Blindman rivers should be studied, particularly with the long-term downward trends in both annual precipitation and annual discharge in our local rivers, after which public consultation could occur."
It is suggested a fracking freshwater ban be put in place beginning in provincially designated Water Short Areas and then extended to Potentially Short Areas before becoming province-wide.
"This would give industry direction and time for innovation and planning."
Medicine River Watershed Society president Dana Kreil said they are not against fracking.
"We're just concerned about the use of freshwater for fracking at any time, but especially during a drought," said Kreil.
Rural residents are becoming increasingly concerned about the impact on aquifers from industry pressure. Meetings near Leedale a few weeks ago and another in Rimbey on Wednesday drew big crowds.
"There are 150 people showing up at these (meetings) with concerns," she said.
Another sign of the growing interest around fracking issues was the turnout of eight councillors from Ponoka County, Clearwater County, Lacombe County and Red Deer County who were the Medicine River society's meeting last week.
"It all comes down to water. There's getting to be a more limited supply and we've all got to figure out a way to navigate how to use it wisely during these times.
"We're trying to do this with a measured approach and trying not to be emotional. But for people personally affected you can understand the emotion for sure."
Kreil said the group understands that fracking oil companies need water and decision makers can be caught between industry and landowners. But there are steps that can be taken.
"We need to do it wisely. We need to understand all sides involved, but there has to be some meeting-in-the-middle solution somewhere here.
"I think all sides need to figure this out, sooner (rather) than later.
The group wants to see industry do more research on workable ways to frack without relying on valuable freshwater.
"(Fracking) is not going away. We've got to figure out how to make this all work."
Among the changes they would like to see is more transparency around temporary diversion licences. Applications are posted on the Alberta Energy Regulator website for 30 days but there is no information on where the water is coming from or how much.
The two groups and Gull Lake Watershed Society met with Schulz in April to discuss their concerns and talk about how the situation could be improved.
Existing directives and regulations have not kept up with or anticipated the huge volumes of water now being requested for fracking, say the groups.
In a May 21 response to issues raised at that meeting, Schulz said that her ministry is working with the AER to gather data on the impacts of the temporary diversion licences (TDLs) required by industry to withdraw water for fracking and is reviewing policies around them.
The province's Water Conservation Policy is being applied to TDLs when a site is in development, "which would increase the considerations of non-freshwater."
Upstream oil and gas applications under the conservation policy "include specific requirements to identify alternative water sources and examining the environmental net effects of using potentially available alternatives."
