Allocating Water

[cakadu]

Once again there is a rumbling out there about how more of the water from the Red Deer river should be diverted to other places. AB Environment will be looking at an application to divert water to that new horse/sporting complex that will be going up in the Balzac area.

We need to be very careful that we don't divert too much out of the river. People keep looking at the volume that is currently in the river - historical patterns must also be taken into consideration. Earlier this year, we had less than normal rainfall and snow melt, which impacts the river volume.

[cakadu]

Ooops, got a little "trigger" happy there.

I'm not saying that there shouldn't be water diversion happening, after all, that new pipeline just opened to the north to bring water to several communities. There are other applications to pipe water elsewhere too.

50% of that water is not even ours as it is allocated as part of the North/South Saskatchewan river system. Do we really want to end up like the folks along the Colorado river where not one single drop of the water from that river now reaches the ocean?

What about increased usage for things like getting the oil out of the tarsands that is totally, 100% non-recoverable? Oh sure it sits in those toxic tailings ponds, but what can you do with it?

Nothing is ever as simple as it seems.

[cowman]

I believe the Red Deer River is the only tributary on the south Saskatchewan that still has a surplus? The Old Man and Bow allotments are all gone?
I still like the idea of a dam(ala Glennifer) on the border of Red Deer County and Stettler county, and then a pipeline to east central Alberta?
It would take some developement pressure off the Highway II corridor, create some recreational/manufacturing opportunities in east central Alberta?
We all can't live in the corrider and we should all benifit from the "Alberta advantage"?
Just my opinion.