The Water for Life Strategy is a policy framework developed by the Government of Alberta in 2003 to promote cross-ministry, multi-sector, stakeholder-based shared governance of water resources. The Strategy contains three key directions to help achieve three strategic outcomes:

·Safe Secure Drinking Water

·Reliable Quality Water Supplies for a Sustainable Economy

·Healthy Aquatic Ecosystems

Each of these strategic outcomes of Water for Life form a policy branch of the provincial water strategy and are assigned several “actions” that are being pursued by the Government of Alberta in partnership with the Alberta Water Council, the Watershed Planning and Advisory Councils, and Watershed Stewardship Groups

Water for Life Actions

In 2008, the Government of Alberta and the Alberta Water Council conducted a five-year review of Water For Life. The Water for Life Action Plan represents a summary of the commitments of the Alberta Government to the recommendations outlined in the Water for Life Review. In addition to the three key directions, the renewed commitment includes actions to support knowledge development and capacity building, partnerships, and the development of market-based instruments to encourage conservation.

The Shared Governance Model of Water Management

In Alberta we have three levels of water governance whereby each level of governance includes multi-stakeholder participation. It is the premise of this multi-stakeholder “place-based” watershed management approach that by involving all stakeholders in a “partnership” for watershed management that these activities will result in local commitment and long-term sustainability.

A watershed approach focuses efforts within watersheds, taking into consideration both ground and surface water flow. This approach recognizes and plans for the interaction of land, waters, plants, animals and people. Focusing efforts at the watershed level gives the local watershed community a comprehensive understanding of local management needs, and encourages locally led management decisions (Enabling Partnerships)

Alberta Water Council(AWC)

The role of the Alberta Water Council is to provide guidance to the Government of Alberta on the implementation of the Water for Life Strategy. As a council of multiple stakeholders representing interests from across Alberta, this body is also enabled to advise on the policies, legislation, best management practices, and methods of integrating water and land management to large water sectors that include: municipalities, agriculture, oil & gas, petrochemical, hydro, forestry, irrigation, and the provincial government. Since its inception in 2005, the Alberta Water Council has performed three critical reviews of the progress of Water for Life in Alberta, developed several recommendations for provincial level water policy, and provided oversight to the development of conservation and efficiency plans for seven water sectors.

Watershed Planning and Advisory Councils (WPACs)

In the provincial Enabling Partnerships guideline document, the roles of Watershed Planning and Advisory Councils (WPACs) are directed to “build long-term partnerships that examine watershed issues, make recommendations to the appropriate water and land use decision-making authorities, and undertake actions that benefit Alberta’s watersheds” (p. 10).

Most of the work of WPACs has been focused on (1) developing state of the watershed (SOW) assessment reports; (2) developing watershed management plans as per the Framework for Water Management; and (3) encouraging implementation through stewardship, education and capacity building, and ongoing science and adaptive management planning with community stakeholders.

Watershed Stewardship Groups (WSGs)

Watershed Stewardship Groups in Alberta have been and continue to present the first line of action on watershed management. These groups are identified as one of the three legs in the stool of the Water for Life Strategy with their role being defined in the Enabling Partnerships document as on-the-ground information gatherers that have the ability to “translate knowledge into actions that improve watershed conditions”.

Sustainability Resources by Sustainability Resources is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada License.
Based on a work at www.sustainabilitycircle.ca.