The advantages and disadvantages of energy sources for the future have been hotly debated in Alberta for several years. The heavy reliance of the province’s economy on extracting oil, gas and bitumen has led politicians and industrialists to support these activities at whatever the environmental cost. But a large percentage of Alberta’s citizens would like to see a switch to an economy based on cleaner, less environmentally damaging sources of energy.

The debate is usually framed in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, pollution or efficiency of energy extraction. Water use has been a factor in selected areas, such as the...

Much of the wealth in the Province of Alberta comes from the fossil fuel energy industry, with exports of crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids and coal accounting for two-thirds of the province’s merchandise exports, and even more if petrochemicals are included.¹ As industry and population have expanded, so has the demand for electricity. Many forms of energy production require water, but the extraction of bitumen from the oil sands in particular is consuming ever greater quantities as production grows.

At the same time, the province’s fresh water resources are under pressure. Summer river flows are declining, periods of...

Researchers predict that, “with population and energy demands increasing there is going to be a compelling need for the electric power industry to be more water efficient.”⁵¹ Climate change makes such efficiency imperative. In fact, a shift toward those power producing technologies that use little or no water may become necessary.

Different types of electricity generation require different amounts of water. The most obvious use of water for electricity production is hydroelectric power, but fossil fuel energy, nuclear power and biomass can require large amounts of water. In 2007 almost 24% of water allocations in Alberta were for cooling, primarily...

Oil and gas resources are located across much of Alberta, as shown in Figure 3-1.

In 2007 9% of water allocations in Alberta were for the petroleum sector, with three quarters of this being for industrial (oil, gas, petroleum) and the rest for injection, both for conventional oil and for in situ production of bitumen (see Figure 1-2).¹⁵² The industrial petroleum sector includes water for oil sands mining and upgrading, as well as for gas and petrochemical plants. A comparatively small amount of water is used for drilling and developing wells. Figures 3-2 and 3-3 show the allocation and use...

The previous chapters have shown that energy production can use large quantities of water. The impacts on rivers and groundwater vary across the province. Water supplies have already been over-allocated in the South Saskatchewan River Basin, a region that will become increasingly dry as a result of climate change. The use of water for drilling wells and EOR is coming under increasing scrutiny, especially in central and southern Alberta, and landowners are concerned that CBM development could impact groundwater resources.

“If climate change results in lower precipitation in the southern regions, as predicted, water shortages could become acute very quickly.”...

A wide variety of measures will reduce the use and consumption of water for energy production. We may not be able to exactly predict what future climate change will bring, but the historic record shows that Alberta suffered prolonged droughts in the 18th and 19th centuries that exceeded those of the 20th century. Given the huge increase in population and demand for water, common sense tells us that it would be wise to minimize our water consumption and “be prepared.”

The Alberta government wisely initiated the Water for Life strategy in 2003, and the Alberta Water Council and Alberta Environment...