Friday, August 14, 2026
The Alberta government has issued a request for proposals to develop a white paper examining the security of Alberta’s water supply.
The work will examine bold, practical and innovative opportunities to increase water availability, strengthen water management and help guide future infrastructure and investment decisions across the province.
“Water is the foundation of Alberta’s future. If we want our communities, farms and industries to keep growing, we need to make sure the water is there to support them. We’re looking 100 years ahead and asking what Alberta needs to build, invest in and do differently today to secure our water supply for generations to come,” said Grant Hunter, Minister of Environment and Protected Areas.
The white paper will take a comprehensive look at Alberta’s long-term water needs and the tools that could help meet them. This includes potential new or expanded water storage and conveyance infrastructure, better use of groundwater, stronger water measurement and reporting, advanced modelling and forecasting, and policy tools that could improve how Alberta manages and moves water.
“Water is the foundation of Alberta’s agriculture sector, our growing communities and our economy. As Alberta continues to grow, we need to take a long-term view of how we secure reliable water supplies for future generations. This white paper and the new forecasting models will provide valuable data and insight to help us explore practical solutions, strengthen water security and start an important conversation with Albertans, Indigenous communities, local governments and industry partners about how we meet our future water needs in a responsible and sustainable way,” said Tara Sawyer, Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation.
The work will also examine potential partnerships and funding models that could help deliver major future projects.
Ideas identified through the white paper will not automatically proceed. Potential projects would still require detailed technical assessment and considerations before decisions are made.
Alberta’s government will work with local governments, Indigenous communities and organizations, industry associations and Albertans as the province considers how to turn the long-term vision into action.
At the same time, Alberta is investing in better tools to understand where water is available, where demand is growing and how conditions could change.
Two new water-modelling and forecasting projects are underway. Kerr Wood Leidal Associates Ltd. will develop a watershed-scale water-demand forecasting model for the South Saskatchewan River Basin, covering municipal, irrigation, livestock, industrial and commercial water use.
Aquanty Inc. will operationalize existing HydroGeoSphere models for the Peace and Athabasca river basins, supporting near-real-time, short-term and seasonal hydrological forecasting in northern Alberta. Both projects are expected to be completed by March 2027.
Featured image: (Government of Alberta)
