Sectoral Allocations - Athabasca River Basin

The first chart shows the Sectoral Water Allocations Sub-Index (allocations measured against supply) for the Athabasca River basin. To be able to see the allocations in detail, a second chart (underneath) shows the data using a smaller scale.

Overall water allocations dropped between 2004 and 2005 in the Athabasca River basin as a result of an administrative review that cancelled some unused licenses. However, volumes jumped by an additional 9% in 2006 from 2005 levels, mainly due to an increase in municipal allocation. The largest sector use of water in the Athabasca River basin is for oil and gas, representing about 55.5% of total allocations in 2006. Between 2000 and 2006, allocated volumes for the oil and gas sector increased by 150% due to rapid oil sands development. The next largest uses are for commercial (27%), municipal water supply (13%) and other use-water management (2.5%). Growth in overall allocations had been fairly consistent, however this has accelerated in recent years with a 78% increase in total allocations since 2000. Even so, the Athabasca River remains a lesser-utilized basin, with approximately 3.9% of the average natural supply allocated in 2006.

Note that allocations are not a direct measure of actual use, rather they represent the maximum amount of water that can be used under the terms of licenses that have been issued, when and if sufficient water is available in the quantities licensed in a given year.