People walked across the North Saskatchewan River in 1790.

The water was not frozen, nor were the pedestrians part of a Christlike miracle; rather, their trip was the result of a natural drought that caused the river to run extremely low. 

We may not be walking across the river anytime soon, but a faulty “conservation” policy being pushed by local governments may be contributing to a dangerously low-flow future on the North Saskatchewan.

As drains on the river, potential drought and a growing population may take a back seat to industrial demand. About 12 upgraders are currently being discussed for the “industrial heartland” northeast of Edmonton, and their impact will be considerable.

Mary Griffiths, a senior policy analyst with the Pembina Institute, has grave concerns about the impact of incoming industry on the river’s health. Alberta Environment hasn’t done enough research on the amount of water that needs to return to the river to approve the upgraders, she says.

“Until we know what we need to have a healthy river,” she says, “it seems premature to make too many allocations.”

In response to concerns about water-use, the province has issued a policy framework that encourages industry to use municipal greywater, water that has already been used—say, to flush a toilet or wash dishes.

Petro-Canada is already using greywater from the Goldbar wastewater treatment plant for their Fort Hill upgrader. After the water is cleaned, industry uses it as a coolant or as part of the process that turns bitumen into usable oil, when about a third of the water is lost. The remaining water is cleaned, and the contaminants removed. Then the water goes though the process once again, so it never returns to the river.

City council has given EPCOR the go-ahead to market the city’s greywater to oil companies. Joe Gysel, EPCOR’s vice-president of water development, says he’s talking with oil companies regarding all 12 announced upgraders. Because he is still in negotiations with industry, he can’t say if any deals are close to, er, closing, but he does say that  use of greywater is the new normal in the Capital Region: “Some of [the upgraders] will have to look at greywater because they likely will not get a license.”

The province is selling the initiative as good for the North Saskatchewan because it will reduce the amount of contaminants reaching the river. But the hitch is that the water itself won’t make it back to the river either. The scheme doesn’t reduce the amount of water consumed by the upgraders, says Gord Thompson, technical co-ordinator with the North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance. “Whether they stick their straw in that stream that is heading back to the river,” he says, “or stick their straw into the river itself, the river doesn’t see any difference.”

Alberta Environment has no problem with that. According to Sarah Pearce, provincial policy analyst, the planned industrial expansion represents only a one per cent increase in the annual consumption of riverwater, which is currently at a yearly average of 5 per cent of the river. Besides, unlike Alberta’s southern rivers, the North Saskatchewan has quality issues, not quantity issues.

“There actually is a lot of water in the river for growth,” she says. “I know that there is a lot of concern that we will be taking a lot of water from the river, but that’s not the case. We think that by maximizing the use of the greywater, that’s going to help improve the quality.”

No one disputes that the use of greywater will improve the quality of the North Saskatchewan’s water. One of the problems with the use of municipal greywater is that it uses water that was removed from the river under a city license, under which most of the water taken out is returned. Griffith’s research shows that 93 per cent of the water Edmonton takes from the river is returned. None of the municipal greywater that industry uses will be returned.

“It’s insidious,” says Griffiths. “They may be taking less water out of the river, but by using the greywater, there will be less water coming into the river.”

While she agrees that using municipal greywater will keep contaminants like phosphorus and pharmaceuticals out of the river, if too much water is permanently removed from the river, the existing contaminants in the river will be much more concentrated.

“The question,” the Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance’s Thompson says, “is how much can be removed or consumed out of the river and still maintain a good balance and a healthy aquatic ecosystem? What is the upper limit? That may vary from week to week. That’s the question that needs to be answered.”