{"id":15295,"date":"2021-02-11T21:15:21","date_gmt":"2021-02-11T21:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/?p=15295"},"modified":"2021-02-11T21:15:21","modified_gmt":"2021-02-11T21:15:21","slug":"open-pits-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/?p=15295","title":{"rendered":"open pits &#038; water&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-0 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Take water for example. It is a scarce and precious commodity in southern Alberta, and shortages will get scarier with climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The region\u2019s water security is primarily protected by the integrity of the eastern slopes of the Rockies, which hold and filter clean water for the plains below.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it is governed by a specific&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/qp.alberta.ca\/documents\/Regs\/2003_319.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">allocation order<\/a>&nbsp;allowing water to be assigned to towns, farmers and ranchers, industry and other users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But Australian coal miners in the Crowsnest Pass don\u2019t have enough water for their proposed open-pit mines and have lobbied the government for help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Benga Mining and Atrum Coal both got&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/passherald.ca\/archives\/200722\/index3.htm\" target=\"_blank\">what they asked for<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"664\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/water-pit-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/water-pit-copy.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/water-pit-copy-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/water-pit-copy-768x510.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Without public consultation (a persistent theme here), the Kenney government has put forward a plan to take up to eight billion litres from the Oldman River dam reservoir, reserves that had been set aside for drought and other environmental conditions and emergencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Did the Kenney government do any specific studies on the impact of coal mining on water scarcity, climate and selenium pollution in the eastern slopes before giving away this water? No.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"961\" height=\"671\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/water-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15299\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/water-copy.jpg 961w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/water-copy-300x209.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/water-copy-768x536.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile southern Albertans are&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/thenarwhal.ca\/alberta-coal-mining-rockies-oldman-river\/\" target=\"_blank\">appalled<\/a>&nbsp;that the government is proposing to change water allocation rules for Australian companies and undermine the existing market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just last week, the municipal districts of Pincher Creek and Ranchland sent off a&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/thetyee.ca\/Documents\/2021\/02\/10\/OldmanRiverBasinWaterAllocationOrder.pdf\">blistering letter<\/a>&nbsp;to their local MLA, Roger Reid, about the Kenney government\u2019s glaring Australian bias in overriding the water allocation order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt is deeply troubling to see that this Order appears to be in the process of being dismantled, effectively with no consultation. What appears to be passing for consultation, is a rapid \u2018drive-by\u2019 where provincial officials appear to be merely giving notice as to what is going to happen, as opposed to seeking meaningful input from the residents and jurisdictions impacted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The battle to protect the water security of two million Albertans and their economies has just begun.&nbsp;<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thetyee.ca\/ui\/img\/ico_fishie.png\" width=\"12\" height=\"16\" alt=\" [Tyee] \"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Excerpted from<\/em> <strong> :<\/strong> <strong>Don\u2019t Be Fooled: Alberta Is Still Playing the Coal Game<\/strong>:Reinstating the Coal Policy does little to protect the Rockies or already scarce water resources relied on by two million people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thetyee.ca\/Bios\/Andrew_Nikiforuk\/\">Andrew Nikiforuk<\/a> February 10|&nbsp;The Tyee.ca<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Court-Painter-brain-trust.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15301\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Court-Painter-brain-trust.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Court-Painter-brain-trust-300x177.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Court-Painter-brain-trust-768x453.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><figcaption>Court Painter with finished painting of Premier Kenney &amp; Minister of Energy Savage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Take water for example. It is a scarce and precious commodity in southern Alberta, and shortages will get scarier with climate change. The region\u2019s water security is primarily protected by the integrity of the eastern slopes of the Rockies, which hold and filter clean water for the plains below.&nbsp; And it is governed by a &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/?p=15295\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;open pits &#038; water&#8230;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","hentry","category-images","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15295"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15304,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15295\/revisions\/15304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}