Exploring the reluctance to embrace water markets in Alberta, Canada

Abstract

Politically Alberta has acknowledged the need to reallocate existing water allocations to meet future demand using voluntary water transfers. However, support for water markets among irrigators has been slow to emerge, laws do not allow private entities to buy and hold water to meet in-stream needs and among the general public there has been a high level of skepticism and opposition in response to early attempts to reallocate or share water held by irrigation district. This threatens the ability of Alberta’s Water for Life strategy to achieve its objective of meeting future supply in a sustainable manner. This chapter explores the reasons for this reluctance across southern Alberta using a series of surveys of irrigators and other residents conducted over a 9 year period and identifies issues of concern to stakeholder groups which need to be taken into account when marketing water sharing policies. We find distinct variation in policy preferences for water sharing across the region depending on the level of water scarcity, environmental degradation and economic dependence on water experienced across space. Irrigators’ willingness to share water with other sectors of the economy depends on context and purpose.