The amount of water available in Northern Alberta isn't sufficient to accommodate both the needs of burgeoning oil sands development and preserve the Athabasca River, contends a study issued jointly yesterday by the University of Toronto and the University of Alberta.
The study, written in part by Dr. David Schindler, a University of Alberta biologist considered Canada's top water expert, suggests that the choke point for the province's oil sands expansion may not be the huge carbon dioxide emissions arising from mining and processing the sticky, bitumen containing tar sands, as is widely assumed, but a lack of water. Oil sands plants typically use two to four barrels of water to extract a barrel of oil from the tar sands, a resource that has given the Northern Alberta region the world's largest petroleum reserves but made it a global centre of environmental controversy.
The problem of water availability is expected to become acute in the decades ahead because climate change is likely to cause much more arid conditions, reducing stream flows on the Athabasca River, the source of the industry's water, to critically low levels during parts of each year.
"Projected bitumen extraction in the oil sands will require too much water to sustain the river and Athabasca Delta, especially with the effects of predicted climate warning," the study said. It said the amount of water earmarked for the oil sands has already reached about 20 per cent of the river's water during winter periods, when flows are at seasonal lows, a percentage that could rise even further. "If climate continues to warm, runoff continues to decline and winter flows continue to decrease ... the water needs of the oil sands could reach a critical proportion of winter low flow," it said.
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070511.TARSANDS11/TPStory/National
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