Alberta has reopened a water-registration process for eligible ranchers who used water for agricultural purposes on unpatented Crown land before Jan. 1, 1999.

The Traditional Agricultural Registration process allows qualifying Crown land leaseholders to seek formal recognition under the Water Act for long-standing water use that may be missing or inaccurate in provincial records.

The province says about 6,800 registrations on unpatented Crown land may be eligible for review. Applications will be accepted until Dec. 31, 2028.

The original registration program closed in 2001. Grazing leaseholders could not apply directly at the time because they did not own the land, and registrations were submitted on their behalf.

A provincial review conducted with the Alberta Grazing Leaseholders Association later identified examples of errors and omissions in historical records. The reopened process gives eligible leaseholders a way to document the use and request a corrected registration.

A Traditional Agricultural Registration is an authorization under the Water Act. It can recognize water used before Jan. 1, 1999, to raise animals or apply pesticides to crops and assign a priority number based on the date of first use.

The maximum eligible use is 6,250 cubic metres a year. Qualifying sources can include dugouts, creeks, rivers, streams, lakes, springs and groundwater wells associated with the occupied land.

The process does not apply to water on private land, non-natural sources such as irrigation districts or reservoirs, water stored and diverted by dams or uses that required a licence under earlier or current water legislation.

Applicants must show that they owned or occupied the land before Jan. 1, 1999, used a source adjacent to the land and used the water for raising animals or applying pesticides.

The application requires detailed maps, legal land descriptions, the date of first use, estimated water volumes and a livestock water-requirement worksheet. The province may request additional information during its review.

Historical evidence may include aerial images and water-well drilling records. Environment and Protected Areas recommends that applicants speak with registration staff before submitting a package.

The reopened program does not create water for new uses, change existing licensed allocations or priorities or reopen registrations for private property. Its purpose is to review eligible historical use and correct the provincial record where the evidence supports a registration.

f

Application forms and contact information are available on Alberta’s Traditional Agricultural Registrations webpage.