EDMONTON, Dec. 16 /CNW/ - Some of Alberta's largest users of waters are
taking action to develop and implement water conservation, efficiency and
productivity plans as part of the province's renewed Water for Life strategy.
The Alberta Water Council released a report on December 16, 2008
outlining 21 recommendations for water conservation, efficiency and
productivity sector planning to guide seven Alberta sectors in setting and
meeting water conservation, efficiency and productivity goals. The sectors
include:- Chemical and petrochemical
- Forestry
- Irrigation
- Mining
- Municipalities
- Oil and gas
- Power generationAll of the sectors are active members of the Alberta Water Council, and
have committed to developing Water Conservation, Efficiency and Productivity
(WCEP) plans by December 2010 through their various sector associations. The
WCEP plans will take a sectoral approach to meeting specific conservation,
efficiency and productivity targets, with implementation at the regional
level, on a company by company, or community by community basis. All of the
plans will be made available to the public, and accountability for
implementation will come through an annual reporting process through the
Alberta Water Council.
"The commitment by some of Alberta's largest water users to change the
way they think about and use water is a significant milestone for the renewed
Water for Life strategy," said Alberta Environment Minister Rob Renner. "If
all Albertans were to develop and act on conservation plans like this, we
would go a long way to securing a safe and sustainable water supply both for
today and well into the future."
"This voluntary commitment by all of these sectors is both admirable and
important as they are not only making a collective commitment to change how
they use water, but it also signals a change in how they think about water as
a resource," said Gord Edwards, Executive Director of the Alberta Water
Council. "The fact that these sectors are making a public commitment to
improve water conservation, efficiency and productivity is a highly
progressive step with all Albertans being the beneficiaries."
Two of the sectors - irrigation and municipalities - have already begun
pilot projects under the WCEP initiative.
"All thirteen irrigation districts in the province have made substantial
gains in water-use efficiencies over the past decade. We see our participation
in the WCEP initiative as a way to continuously improve our efficiency and
productivity," said Ron McMullin, Executive Director of the Alberta Irrigation
Projects Association.
A copy of the report - recommendations for Water Conservation, Efficiency
and Productivity Sector Planning -- is available at www.albertawatercouncil.ca
Established in 2004, the Alberta Water Council is a multi-stakeholder
partnership with 24 members from governments, industry, and non-government
organizations. Its primary task is to monitor and steward implementation of
Alberta's Water for Life strategy and to champion achievement of the
strategy's three outcomes of a safe, secure drinking water supply, healthy
aquatic ecosystems, and reliable, quality water supplies for a sustainable
economy.
For further information: Gordon K. Edwards, Executive Director, Alberta
Water Council, (780) 644-7373
