SOURIS, Man. – A workshop here last week helped clear up issues surrounding Manitoba’s water resources.
Those attending the workshop were told of the increasing water demand in Manitoba. The underlying question was how to best manage and allocate that resource in the future.
The province hopes the public can help answer that question. The Souris workshop was one of five being held this month to gather Manitobans’s thoughts on water use.
Every year five percent more water is used in southern Manitoba. Some aquifers and streams are already fully allocated or close to it. That has set the stage for increased conflict about who gets first dibs.
Read Also
Short rapeseed crop may put China in a bind
Industry thinks China’s rapeseed crop is way smaller than the official government estimate. The country’s canola imports will also be down, so there will be a lot of unmet demand.
The province’s water rights act offers some direction. But the legislation is silent on several key issues, said Raymond Bodnaruk, manager of water licensing for the province’s water resources branch. The overriding principle of the existing act is to protect the best interests of Manitoba residents. However, those interests may have changed since it was passed in 1987.
The province hopes to remedy that by developing a new water rights act using input from the workshops.
In times of drought, or in areas where water is already fully allocated, legislation and policy decide who gets priority. The existing water rights act provides a list of priority uses, which leads with domestic, followed by municipal, agricultural, industrial, irrigation and other.
In most instances, anyone wanting to tap into a water supply needs a licence from the province. The key exception is the use of water for domestic purposes.
Licences are issued based on what the province calls the “first in time, first in right principle.” That means licences are granted based on the order in which applications are received.
But a fundamental part of the water rights act is open to debate. The province wants to know where the first in time, first in right principle should stand in relation to priority uses. For example, how should licenced users be treated in years when water is scarce and there’s a need to satisfy priorities such as domestic and municipal use?
Existing users need assurances that their supply will not be cut off. However, society also wants assurances that priority uses are safeguarded, said Darwin Donachuk, provincial water policy co-ordinator.
“The question is, how do you have both of those in one piece of legislation?”
The province said other issues need to be dealt with including:
- The ecosystem and environmental needs. The province says it is addressing those areas through ministerial reservations and through licence cutoffs.
- The role watershed plans play in water allocation.
- Water export and interbasin transfers. While addressed in policy, those items are not spelled out in legislation.
- Co-management arrangements, allowing groups such as irrigator associations to share in the management and policing of water allocation.
- Public control versus private ownership of water rights.
A task force was struck to oversee the review of water use and allocation in Manitoba. The task force will eventually prepare a white paper for the minister of natural resources, who oversees the water resources branch. The public will be given a chance to review the recommendations before any new legislation is drafted.
