Overview

An Evolving Mandate

Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and Canada formed the Prairie Provinces Water Board (PPWB) in 1948 to recommend the best use of interprovincial water and recommend water allocations between the provinces. This method worked well until the 1960s, when the provinces began requesting large allocations of water. Since the approach used by the Board was no longer adequate to allow long-term water planning by the provinces, a new system for sharing this limited resource was developed.

The Master Agreement on Apportionment

In 1969, the parties to the original agreement signed the Master Agreement on Apportionment, which continues to guide board activities to this day. This document contains a simple formula based on the principle of equal sharing of available water in the prairies. The formula states that Alberta and Saskatchewan may each take up to one half of the natural flow of water originating within its boundaries and one half of the flow entering the province. The remainder is left to flow into Manitoba.

Natural flow is an important part of the Master Agreement's formula. Broadly defined, natural flow is the volume of flow that would occur in a particular river if that river had never been affected by human activity. While calculating this amount can be difficult, the result is straightforward - all three provinces, even in drought periods, end up with approximately equal shares of the total water flow. It is then solely up to the provinces to decide how they will use their share of water.

Monitoring

Environment Canada fulfills the monitoring conditions described under the Master Agreement and provides information from 75 long term water quantity monitoring stations, 16 meteorological stations and12 water quality monitoring sites. Other agencies provide information from an additional 13 water quantity monitoring stations. Five of the water quantity stations are also used for international apportionment calculations. The information collected at these stations is used to calculate natural flows and the levels of water quality parameters.

The values calculated for 14 water quantity and 12 water quality monitoring sites along the Alberta-Saskatchewan and Saskatchewan-Manitoba borders are used to inform the PPWB whether requirements of the Agreement are being met. Although the Agreement applies to all eastward flowing interprovincial streams, formal apportionment calculations are only done for eight steam locations with significant water use upstream. Only eight of the water quality sites are monitored monthly with the other four monitored less frequently.

Organization

The PPWB is made up of one representative each from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and two from the federal government. Apart from preparing reports and recommendations on water sharing, the Board is also responsible for promoting continued cooperation and consultation among the three provinces and Canada on water matters.

Committees

The PPWB has three permanent committees made up of personnel from provincial and federal agencies, that assist in technical work, such as data analysis, and provide advice to the board.

• The Committee on Hydrology studies questions related to the quantity of water in streams crossing provincial borders. The committee also reviews natural flow calculations for use in the Master Agreement's formula.
• The Committee on Water Quality coordinates the PPWB water quality monitoring program, addresses issues about the quality of water crossing interprovincial borders and is responsible for the Water Quality Contingency Plan. The contingency plan keeps downstream water users informed of any contaminant spills or unusual water quality conditions.
• The Committee on Groundwater deals with questions related to the use and the quality of groundwater shared by the provinces.

PPWB Support

The PPWB was supported by its Executive Director and staff of the PPWB Secretariat from 1969 until 1995, at which time the functions of the Secretariat were integrated into the Transboundary Waters Unit of Environment Canada. The day to day operations of the Board remain the responsibility of the PPWB Executive Director who is supported by the PPWB committees and staff of Environment Canada.

A History of Success

Given the importance of water to the prairies, deciding how to share it to the satisfaction of all parties can be a difficult process. A spirit of cooperation and mutual respect have been the key ingredients in making it work.

The Master Agreement on Apportionment has enabled the equitable sharing and protection of interprovincial streams while developing a consensus approach to preventing interprovincial surface and groundwater problems. Because of the PPWB's consensus approach, provincial governments, as the primary regulator of water supplies, have always complied with the Agreement. Therefore, the Master Agreement could be referred to as a model for dealing with interjurisdictional issues.