Author Archives: Chris Hopkinson

About Chris Hopkinson

Chris Hopkinson is a Professor at the Department of Geography and Environment, University of Lethbridge. Professor Hopkinson left the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Canberra, Australia in 2013 to take up a Campus Alberta Innovates Research Chair at the University of Lethbridge. His current research emphasizes mountain and boreal ecosystem eco-hydrological change using innovative field and remote sensing technologies. He has a >25yr history of working alongside Alberta’s Environment and Natural Resources researchers and agencies since undertaking graduate research on Eastern Slopes water resources in the 1990s. Click here for more information.

Does the Water Licence for a Coal Mine Capture its Impact on the Water Resource? Examining Benga Mining Limited’s Proposed Grassy Mountain Mine in the Headwaters of the Oldman River Basin

By: Chris Hopkinson

PDF Version: Does the Water Licence for a Coal Mine Capture its Impact on the Water Resource? Examining Benga Mining Limited’s Proposed Grassy Mountain Mine in the Headwaters of the Oldman River Basin

Matters Commented On: Grassy Mountain Mine Project Water Diversion Licence Application by Benga Mining Limited (Riversdale Resources (16 October 2017)); Oldman River Basin Water Allocation Order, Alta Reg 319/2003

An earlier ABlawg post examined the general implications of proposals to re-open the Oldman River Basin Water Allocation Order, Alta Reg 319/2003 (WAO) so as to allow a greater proportion of the 11,000 acre-feet (AF) reserved by that Order to be used for industrial purposes, such as coal mining (see details on the proposals here). The Order as currently framed limits this to 150 AF. This post examines why this proposed change is such an important issue by considering in detail the water issues associated with one proposed mine in the upper Oldman Basin, namely the Grassy Mountain Mine proposed by Benga Mining Limited (BML). The post examines the Grassy Mountain Mine Project Water Diversion Licence (WDL) Application by BML (Riversdale Resources (16 October 2017)) to explore the viability of their proposed water use in the context of competing water demands and the WAO. The examination draws from materials shared and discussed as part of the Grassy Mountain Coal Project Joint Review Panel Public Hearing (Agreement to Establish a Joint Review Panel for the Grassy Mountain Coal Project Between The Minister of the Environment, Canada and The Alberta Energy Regulator, Alberta, OC 262/2018; documents available here). The analysis presented below first considers the disclosed WDL water uses associated with the Coal Processing Plant (CPP) and evaporative loss from the Raw Water Pond (RWP). It then moves to elements of water loss from the mine site that are either omitted from the WDL or expected to exceed the pre-mine background levels. Finally, potential implications of proposed water uses within the context of low frequency high impact drought periods are considered.

The overall conclusions are that BML’s water licence application likely understates its actual impact to the regional water resource, and that the overall hydrological effects of increased mining activity in the upper Oldman basin will reduce water availability for all users downstream, thus leading to an increased risk of water-related conflict during times of drought.

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