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By rdnewsNOW Staff

57 PER CENT REDUCTION OVER FOUR YEARS

Water Act applications see reduced wait times

Nov 5, 2024 | 4:25 PM

The Government of Alberta says it has reduced wait times for businesses, landowners, and communities to receive licences through the Water Act by 57 per cent over the past four years.

Officials say they have been reducing red tape, other bureaucratic delays and have addressed outdated processes that slow down the system.

“As environment minister, I’ve made improving our regulatory process a priority. We can protect the environment and make timely decisions at the same time,” said Minister of Environment and Protected Areas Rebecca Shulz. “We are seeing real improvements that help communities grow and businesses succeed, but this is just the start. We are going to keep finding ways to increase transparency, and speed up and improve all of our regulatory processes.”

Alberta government representatives say these changes have also led to a 68 per cent reduction in backlogged Water Act applications open longer than six months.

Additionally, the ministry has introduced service targets outlining a specific time frame decisions must be made within, unless there are extenuating circumstances. Low-risk decisions must be made within 60 days; medium-risk decisions must be made within 90 days; and high-risk decisions must be made within 120 days. Officials say these timelines were designed to include time for required public consultation as well.

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Application risk is assessed based on factors like application complexity, type, location and potential environmental or local impacts, among others.

Finally, a digital system is being implemented to replace paper and email information submissions so it’s easier to receive and review applications.

Moving forward, Alberta Environment and Protected Areas officials say they will focus on speeding up Water Act decisions that have not yet seen as much improvement, including complex or high-risk requests such as wetlands.