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Canada /dlboria 4 5 NorthernRiverBasinsStudy NORTHERN RIVER BASINS STUDY PROJECT REPORT NO. 69 WATER RESOURCES USE AND MANAGEMENT ISSUES FOR THE PEACE, ATHABASCA AND SLAVE RIVER BASINS: RESULTS OF THE HOUSEHOLD AND STAKEHOLDERS SURVEYS JANUARY TO APRIL, 1995 in ee ch ee TD/226/.R351/1995 Water resources use and Reicher, Philippe 167991 DATE DUE BRODART Cat. No. 23-221 Prepared for the Northern River Basins Study under Project 4121-E2 by Philippe Reicher Consultant and John P. Thompson Alberta Environmental Protection NORTHERN RIVER BASINS STUDY PROJECT REPORT NO. 69 WATER RESOURCES USE AND MANAGEMENT ISSUES FOR THE PEACE, ATHABASCA AND SLAVE RIVER BASINS: RESULTS OF THE HOUSEHOLD AND STAKEHOLDERS SURVEYS JANUARY TO APRIL, 1995 Published by the Northern River Basins Study Edmonton, Alberta December, 1995 NOV 2 9 1896 LIBRARY CANADIAN CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION DATA Reicher, Philippe, 1961- Water resources use and management issues for the Peace, Athabasca and Slave River Basins: Results of the household and stakeholders surveys, January to April, 1995 (Northern River Basins Study project report, ISSN 1192-3571 ; no. 69) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-662-24419-2 Cat. no. R71-49/3-69E 1. Water use -- Alberta — Athabasca River Watershed. 2. Water use -- Peace River Watershed (B.C. and Alta.) 3. Water use -- Slave River Watershed (Alta. And N.W.T.) I. Thompson, John P. II. Northern River Basins Study (Canada) III. Title. IV. Series. TD226.R44 1996 333.91'13'0971231 C96-980146-7 Copyright © 1996 by the Northern River Basins Study. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce all or any portion of this publication provided the reproduction includes a proper acknowledgement of the Study and a proper credit to the authors. The reproduction must be presented within its proper context and must not be used for profit. The views expressed this publication are solely those of the authors. PREFACE: The Northern River Basins Study was initiated through the "Canada-Alberta-Northwest Territories Agreement Respecting the Peace-Athabasca-Slave River Basin Study, Phase II - Technical Studies" which was signed September 27, 1991. The purpose of the Study is to understand and characterize the cumulative effects of development on the water and aquatic environment of the Study Area by coordinating with existing programs and undertaking appropriate new technical studies. This publication reports the method and findings of particular work conducted as part of the Northern River Basins Study. As such, the work was governed by a specific terms of reference and is expected to contribute information about the Study Area within the context of the overall study as described by the Study Final Report. This report has been reviewed by the Study Science Advisory Committee in regards to scientific content and has been approved by the Study Board of Directors for public release. It is explicit in the objectives of the Study to report the results of technical work regularly to the public. This objective is served by distributing project reports to an extensive network of libraries, agencies, organizations and interested individuals and by granting universal permission to reproduce the material. A NORTHERN RIVER BASINS STUDY PROJECT REPORT RELEASE FORM This publication may be cited as: Reicher, Philippe and Thompson, John, P. 1995. Northern River Basins Study Project Report No. 69, Water Resources Use and Management Issues for the Peace, Athabasca and Slave River Basins: Results of the Household and Stakeholders Surveys, January to April, 1995, Northern River Basins Study, Edmonton, Alberta. Whereas the above publication is the result of a project conducted under the Northern River Basins Study and the terms of reference for that project are deemed to be fulfilled, IT IS THEREFORE REQUESTED BY THE STUDY OFFICE THAT; this publication be subjected to proper and responsible review and be considered for release to the public. (Date) Whereas it is an explicit term of reference of the Science Advisory Committee "to review, for scientific content, material for publication by the Board", IT IS HERE ADVISED BY THE SCIENCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE THAT; this publication has been reviewed for scientific content and that the scientific practices represented in the report are acceptable given the specific purposes of the project and subject to the field conditions encountered. SUPPLEMENTAL COMMENTARY HAS BEEN ADDED TO THIS PUBLICATION: [ ] Yes [ ] No ____ V r/u (Dr. P. A. Larkin, Ph.D., Chair) (Date) l / "■u Whereas the Study Board is satisfied that this publication has been reviewed for scientific content and for immediate health implications, IT IS HERE APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS THAT; this publication be released to the public, and that this publication be designated for: [ ] STANDARD AVAILABILITY [ ] EXPANDED AVAILABILITY WATER RESOURCES USE AND MANAGEMENT ISSUES FOR THE PEACE, ATHABASCA AND SLAVE RIVER BASINS: RESULTS OF THE HOUSEHOLD AND STAKEHOLDERS SURVEYS JANUARY TO APRIL, 1995 STUDY PERSPECTIVE In order to assist the Board in discerning the attitudes and concerns of the basin residents on water management issues and possible Related Study Questions recommendations, the Other Aquatic Uses component designed a five-step program to obtain 3. Who are the stakeholders and what are the information. The steps included: the consumptive and non consumptive uses of the water resources in the river 1. Identification of Stakeholders; basins? 2. Development of an information gathering strategy; 16. What form of interjurisdictional body can 3. Implementation of data gathering surveys; be established, ensuring stakeholder 4. Analysis of the survey results; and participation for the ongoing protection 5. Final synthesis report. and use of the rive basins? This report represents step four in this program. Surveys of households and stakeholders in the study area were conducted during early 1995. The administration of these surveys is described in “Implementation of a Household Survey" and “Implementation of Stakeholders Surveys ” (NRBS Report Numbers 70 and 75). The purpose of this report is to analyze the results from the surveys and to bring forward the issues, concerns and recommendations offered by the respondents. The answers to the survey questions varied by group and by location. There were some differences between the types of recommendations suggested by the households and the various stakeholder groups. Householders tended to support the NRBS making recommendations that will quickly resolve the current problems with an emphasis on reducing effluent loads, with more monitoring, enforcement and stopping certain activities. Conversely, municipal governments and industry suggested that more research is needed along with basin planning, eventually leading to stricter guidelines. The other stakeholder groups tended to make recommendations that were intermediate between these two groups in terms of the urgency of the situation. Environmental, recreation and agricultural groups generally supported developing stricter regulations for existing activities and stopping or curtailing certain activities. Between 70 and 80% of households in the study area felt that a management committee for the basin should be established. The purpose of this committee would be to provide advice to the various levels of government, coordinate and conduct research, prepare a basin plan, develop regulations and education programs and oversee enforcement. Interjurisdictional management proposals are discussed further in “Life After NRBS: A Proposal for Interjurisdictional Management of the Peace, Athabasca and Slave River Basins” (NRBS Report Number 84). The concerns and recommendations brought forward in this report will be reviewed by the Board as part of the formation of their final recommendations. REPORT SUMMARY This study was undertaken on behalf of the Northern River Basins Study in response to one of the 16 questions posed by the Study Board at the outset of the study. This question is who are the stakeholders and what are the consumptive and non-consumptive uses of water in the Peace, Athabasca and Slave river basins? This report attempts to answer this question using the results of surveys conducted with stakeholders and a random sample of households in the northern river basins. The information contained in this report is based on completed questionnaires from 718 households (53 percent response rate), and from 183 of 602 stakeholder groups (30 percent response). The results of the surveys are summarized below for individual stakeholder groups. General Public The key stakeholders are the residents of the Peace, Athabasca and Slave river basins. In 1991 there were 268,690 people living in the basins, with about 3,000 of these people living in the NWT. The main consumptive use of water for this group is drinking water. While 55 percent of basin residents obtain their drinking water supplies from municipal water systems and 31 percent use groundwater from wells, most of the remainder use water from surface-water sources including rivers, lakes and dug-outs. Between 40 and 55 percent of households that rely on surface water sources employ some form of water treatment. About 10 percent of people who use river water claim that this water has acquired a chlorine taste during the past 10 years, even though none of them use chorine as a water treatment method. About 72 percent of basin households participate in one or more types of water-based recreation. Total recreational