Compared to other parts of Canada, Alberta is a relatively dry place. Only about 2% of Canada's water is found here. However, the water that Alberta does have is not distributed evenly across the Province. The north-flowing river basins contain the majority of Alberta's water supply, yet the population resides mainly in the south. So, even though the Saskatchewan River basin has 88% of our population, it contains only 13% of Alberta's water. In the face of increasing population and economic growth overall, this makes managing water wisely an important challenge. Issues related to the management, availability, use, and enjoyment of water in Alberta are ongoing. They change and evolve as science improves and as we learn more about our water systems. Programs and policies are under continuous review and examination by Alberta Environment. This section highlights some of the key issues facing water resources and water managers in Alberta.

How much water is allocated to licenses in the major basins and the major uses of water in Alberta? This section discusses how much water we are using compared to what is naturally available in our rivers and streams and licensed groundwater quantities.

Alberta has legal responsibilities to our downstream neighbours to ensure that water is shared and delivered in the streams that cross interprovincial and international boundaries. Agreements have been negotiated with the United States (Montana) and with Saskatchewan to deal with east-flowing and south-flowing basins. Another agreement with British Columbia, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories provides a framework to co-operatively manage and share water within north-flowing basins. Learn more about Apportionment Agreements.

To see how climate change might affect water in Alberta, visit our web page for a discussion on Climate Change or visit the Alberta Environment's Climate Change home page.