There was zero flow on the Blindman River on Tuesday.
A water shortage advisory is in place and water licence holders have been advised to check the conditions of their licences and no surface water temporary diversion applications will be accepted until conditions improve.
This scenario is exactly what has a group of central Albertans so concerned about the state of the watershed and prompted an upcoming public meeting on hydraulic fracturing and freshwater management.
Friends of Blindman River are holding a public meeting on Aug. 8 at 6:30 p.m. at Ponoka County's Liberty Hall on Highway 611 near Bluffton, about 25 km northeast of Rimbey.
Representatives from the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER), Alberta Environment and Protected Areas (AEPA) and Calgary-based Baytex Energy will make presentations at the meeting, which will include a moderated question and answer session.
Friends member Haleigh Sanderson said the meeting will "offer attendees an in-depth view of freshwater use in hydraulic fracturing and the associated processes and approvals for water licences within the Blindman River watershed.
"The meeting will also share the importance of maintaining healthy water levels and river/creek ecosystems within the Blindman River sub-basin of the Red Deer River."
The group is pleased that experts on the regulatory side will be there to answer questions about how licences are approved and the requirements involved. The presence of industry players will also provide another important perspective.
"It's huge. It's a great opportunity and it gives them an opportunity to tell their side of the story," said Sanderson.
Friends of Blindman River was formed out of growing local concern for the river system and the need to improve monitoring and regulations to ensure its health. It plans to create a formal watershed society and hopes to use next month's meeting to recruit volunteers and board members.
Earlier this month, the group sent a letter to Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz to do more to protect the aquatic ecosystem to apply the province's Water Conservation Objectives,which are considered when water licences are approved, to smaller tributary rivers "especially in water-short or potentially water-short areas, such as the Blindman and Medicine River sub-basins."
Both sub-basins were designated as potentially water-short basins as early as 2006 by Alberta Environment. The two sub-basins also have the highest intensity of hydraulic fracking in the Red Deer River Watershed, the Friends point out in its letter.
There have been troubling signs that all is not well in the last couple of years. In 2023, part of Lloyd Creek, a tributary of the Blindman River, ran dry.
Most alarming to the Friends was that freshwater diversion was being allowed at a gravel pit upstream of the dry creek.
"For such an acute water shortage to occur and still allow freshwater diversions in the area, shows either a failure of monitoring and enforcement of the licensing system, or a failure of the licensing system itself, which would suggest a policy revision is required," says the letter.
As well, in the last two years the Blindman River and its tributaries have not broken their banks, even during spring runoff because of low soil moisture, low snowpacks and below-average precipitation.
Despite that, temporary diversion licences have been issued.
"This has our community very concerned for the impact on water availability for traditional agricultural rights holders and other downstream users, as well as on the actual viability of our river ecosystems and aquifers."
The Friends called on the minister to appoint an expert panel to review water conservation objectives and to do more to gather data on watersheds to regularly update state of the watershed reports.
The group says it is not opposed to the "judicious use of freshwater for hydraulic fracturing or other industries." However, water diversion licences should only be issued when sufficient water is available
The province has successfully made regulatory changes that reduce water usage in the oil sands, Friends acknowledges. A similar approach should be taken in other areas and licensing regulations strengthened to ensure potentially water-short areas are protected.
Other recommendations include updating the 2006 Water-short Areas Assessment, better monitoring of groundwater in areas with large freshwater diversion projects and better public notification of proposed water diversion applications.
"This would allow for greater public participation in the decision-making process. It would also help build public trust with the AER."
