A reminder about tonight's event organized by the Our Water is Not For Sale network and Keepers of the Athabasca. Hope to see you tonight!
Unsettled Waters: Examining the
implications of federal and provincial changes to water policy
Featuring Jeremy Schmidt
Tuesday, October 2 (7:00 pm)
Telus Building Room 134
Corner of 111 Street & 87 Avenue, U
of A Campus
With long-promised public consultations on changes to
Alberta’s water allocation system expected this fall and increased emphasis in
Alberta on the development of regional land-use frameworks, recent changes at
the federal level present Alberta with an opportunity to cultivate a broader
and more equitable ethic for land and water governance.
Land and water are intricately connected systems, yet they
are often managed separately. Jeremy Schmidt will explore the historical
context in which land and water were divided for the purposes of resource
governance in Alberta. This move effectively excluded alternate conceptions of
social organization and of the land-water system itself.
Schmidt will discuss two contemporary challenges to the
effective governance of land-water systems in Alberta. The first is that of
shifting from policies where water is instrumental to land, such as in
presumptions that water left for nature is not in use. This challenge is taken
up in relation to federal changes to inland water protection passed in the 2012
federal budget. The second is that of recognizing the broader community
dependent on effective land and water governance. This is taken up in the context
of federal signals that the legislation of private property on First Nations
territory is likely to change. Depending on these changes, there could be
significant impacts on water rights.
Presented by
the Our Water is Not for Sale Network and Keepers of the Athabasca.
Jeremy J. Schmidt is a
SSHRC Post-doctoral Fellow at Harvard University. He received his PhD in
Geography from Western University, where he held one of Canada’s prestigious
Trudeau Scholarships. He holds a MA in Geography (McGill) and two undergraduate
degrees (Lethbridge; Prairie) with majors in geography, philosophy, theology
and wilderness leadership. He is the author of the Parkland Institute’s report Alternative Water Futures in Alberta,
co-editor of Water Ethics: Foundational
Readings for Students and Professionals, and has served on working groups
for ethics and water management with UNESCO. He has been an invited participant
of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to the Religion, Science and
Environment Symposium. His doctoral research examined water governance and
ethics in Alberta. Find out more at www.jeremyjschmidt.com.