The Council hosted a symposium titled WATER: How Alberta Can Do More with Less! on March 4th and 5th 2009 in Calgary as part of the work of our Water Allocation Transfer System Upgrade Project Team (WATSUP Team).  The purpose of the symposium was to inform members of the WATSUP team, key Council stakeholders and policy-makers regarding water allocation transfer systems in other jurisdictions.  The symposium provided an opportunity for stakeholders to engage with experts from other jurisdictions and obtain information on:

• The structure of a water market / water allocation transfer systems in other jurisdictions;
• Similarities and differences to Alberta's water allocation transfer system;
• Successes and challenges that other jurisdictions are experienced in establishing and implementing their systems; and
• Best management practices / emerging technologies in other jurisdictions.

The format included keynote speeches as well as panel discussions on the Australian and western U.S.A. experiences in using water markets to address water allocation issues.  The presentations that informed the symposium attendees are provided below.  A conference summary is also available.

Symposium Presentations

• Wendy Craik, Former Chief Executive of the Murray Darling Basin Commission, Canberra, AU
  "Perspectives from Australia"
• Paul Perkins, Professor, Australian National University, School of Environment and Society
  "Australian Water Security Reform:  Reflections and Predictions"
• Leith Boully, Chair/Director, Boully Pastoral Co, & Member of Murrumbidgee Irrigation Ltd., Dirranbandi, Au
  "Water Market Evolution:  What Does Industry Think in 2009?"
• Heather Cooley, Pacific Institute, Oakland, California
  "More with Less:  Urban and Agricultural Water Conservation and Efficiency in California"
•  David H. Getches, Deal of School of Law, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado
  "Water Markets in the Western U.S.:  A Colorado Case Study"
• Juliet Christian-Smith, Pacific Institute, Oakland, California
  "Water Transfers in the West:  The California Experience: the Reality, the Potential and the Missing Pieces"
• Arlene Kwasniak, Associate Professor, Faculties of Law and Environmental Design, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
  "Why it is so Hard to Meet IFNs in Alberta: a Role for Privately Held Instream Licences and Water Trusts"
• Josefina Maestu, Spanish Ministry of Environment, Coordinator Water Economics and Financing, EU WFD, Madrid, Spain
  "Water Allocation System:  Increasing Scarcity and the Emerging Role of Water Trading in Spain"
• Steven Renzetti, Professor of Economics, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario
  "Economic and/or Market-based Instruments to Allocate Water and Promote Conservation:  Water Pricing"
• Henning Bjornlund, Canada Research Chair in Water Resource Economics, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta [and Associate Research Professor at the Centre for Regulation and Market Analysis at the University of South Australia]
  "Economic and/or Market-based Instruments to Allocate Water and Promote Conservation"
• Robert Glennon, Morris K Udall Professor of Law and Public Policy, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
  "Unquenchable: America's Water Crisis and What to do About it"
• Tracy Mehan III, Cadmus Group, Washington, D.C.
  "Water Abundance in Canada and the United States:  Myth or Reality"
• Richard Roos-Collins, Diretor of Legal Services, Natural Heritage Institute, San Fransisco, California
  "Settlements as Basis for Water Allocation in Face of Shortage"