PDF version: Court of Appeal approves decision concluding that water rights did not pass with a transfer of land
Cases Considered: Canada Finance Corporation Limited v Hirsche Herefords, 2012 ABCA 315
The Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeal from a decision of Justice Strekaf in which she had approved the sale by the receiver of a water right separate from the sale of lands to which the water right was appurtenant. In an earlier ABlawg post I commented on Justice Strekaf’s decision (here).
Case and Decision considered: Kelly v Alberta (Energy Resources Conservation Board), 2012 ABCA 19,
Hohloch v Director, Southern Region, Environmental Management, Alberta Environment and Water, re: Eastern Irrigation District (29 March 2012), (AEAB), Appeal No 10-043-ID2
As the Fall 2012 term approaches we here at the law school have started to prepare for the return of students and the resumption of lectures. In my case, this includes getting ready for another year of supervising our environmental law clinic. Before the new term arrives for the clinic, however, I want to look back on some highlights from 2011/2012. The clinic allows one to step out of the law school and into the field of environmental disputes in Alberta. If there was a common theme to all of our files last year, it was access to justice. I’ve chosen to end this recap with a tribute to Rick Collier who stood up for wilderness in an act of civil disobedience to protest the lack of public input into resource and environmental decision-making in Alberta.
PDF version: The severance of a water right from a purchase and sale of land
Case commented on: Royal Bank of Canada v Hirsche Herefords, 2012 ABQB 32
This decision concludes that a provincial water licence can be contingently severed from the land or undertaking to which it is appurtenant by way of an agreement of sale and the subsequent registered transfer. The contingency is the Director’s approval of the transfer of the water licence to another party under the terms of sections 81 – 82 of the Water Act, RSA 2000, c W-5. The decision also confirms the emergence of a water rights market in southern Alberta.
PDF version: The legal status of the commitment by Alberta’s irrigation districts to share the shortage
Document commented on: Declaration re: Sharing Water for Human Needs and Livestock Sustenance During Water Shortages, Alberta Irrigation Projects Association
Last week, on World Water Day, March 22, Alberta’s thirteen irrigation districts (acting through the Alberta Irrigation Projects Association) passed a declaration entitled “Sharing Water for Human Needs and Livestock Sustenance During Water Shortages”. The Declaration is an important political statement by Alberta’s Irrigation Districts. The purpose of this blog is to assess the legal significance of the Declaration. Before doing that I will set out the Declaration and explain just what it is that the Declaration is trying to do.
Documents commented on: Order in Council 546\49; South Saskatchewan Basin Water Allocation Regulation, Alta. Reg. 307/1991 (rescinded by Bow, Oldman and South Saskatchewan River Basin Water Allocation Order, Alta. Reg. 171/2007); Alberta Environment, TransAlta Utilities (TAU) licence for the Spray River development.
I have been doing some work on Crown water reservations over the last few months and in the course of that came across an example of what at first glance seemed to be the use of a water reservation to preserve the aesthetic qualities of a watercourse. The example also has an interesting constitutional twist that is worth reflecting on.
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