Alberta's new Environment and Water minister says long awaited public discussions on a system for divvying up southern Alberta's scarce water resources will be coming in 2012.
Calgary Herald - October 31
The newly appointed Diana McQueen, MLA for Drayton Valley-Calmar, said public consultations on water - and southern Alberta's current market for buying and selling limited water licences - is one of the priorities in the new portfolio.
In an interview, McQueen said she wants the consultations to lead to improvements to what she describes as an already solid system that feeds agriculture, cities, towns and industry in the most populated region of the province. "We've got a system that's worked very well over the last 100 years," McQueen said. "We want to make sure we are not throwing the baby out with the bath water." McQueen said her department would release some educational documents on water next year to prompt discussion - but already the province's new premier has waded into the issue.
At a leader's dinner in Medicine Hat earlier this month, Alison Redford suggested she doesn't like the idea of going further down the path of putting a price on water, saying: "It's not the way I think we should go." However, Redford added she wants an open conversation on the issue where Albertans make the decision as to how to proceed.
Via: Alberta Water Portal
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