Sheelagh Matthews, Contributor

Like a high water mark on a bridge, or a newspaper headline announcing devastating tidal waves, water has a way of making history.

Take, for example, the recent earthquakes of Haiti and Chile. These severe events have shown us how clean, fresh drinking water is one of our most precious resources.

With water facilities and pipelines in shambles, many quake victims must resort to looting water for their survival.

One of the most important things disaster relief crews can do is provide clean water for drinking and hand washing.

But, it’s not just physical water-related events that make headlines. Sometimes paper-pushing government bureaucrats and politicians do some pretty exciting things when it comes to water.

For example, in 1972 Canada and the U.S.A. signed the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.

This agreement was held up by the international community as a model way for two nations to work together on serious environmental issues.

Almost 40 years old, this agreement continues to live on through updates and amendments dealing with new issues of concern — a remarkable achievement.

Today, Alberta is about to make history with a new water policy involving deregulation. Although not yet finalized, this will be the biggest thing to happen involving water in the province since 1894.

This new policy will, hopefully, address the increased challenges and competition associated with water between people, industry and the environment.

Here’s one of Alberta’s problematic situations.

About 80 per cent of the province’s population lives in southern Alberta, yet this same region has only about 20 per cent of the province’s water supply. The provincial government controls the amount of water being used by issuing water licences. These licences state just how much water can be withdrawn from a river or other body of fresh water.

Some communities, like Okotoks, are close to, or have already, reached their limit based on existing licences.

For communities in this position the pressure is on to find more water, whether through better water conservation practices, a transfer of water rights, or a combination of the two.

While water rights can be transferred in Alberta, up until now any transfer of licence had to go through three processes before any deal could be made: a public review, a government review, and a hydrologic (water science) review. However, deregulation of our water could mean no review of any kind being required.

Isn’t this just a bit scary? At the very least, don’t we need to make sure that certain minimal conditions are met before any water licence transfers take place? Leaving enough water to support the basic needs of humans, wilderness, wildlife and domesticated animals before transferring any water rights to industry or economic development seems reasonable to me.

To leave your mark on Alberta’s history and future water availability, phone, email, or write your provincial and local politicians now, before discussions close. Pleading the case for water as a basic right for all living things — now that’s in our best interest.

For more information see www.ideagarden.net

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