Environmental impact of the oil and gas industry's consumption of water from the Athabasca River during the predicted water shortage for Canada's western prairie provinces

ENSC 501: Independent study project: April 2008 Water consumption in Alberta continues to grow as demand from industry, agriculture and municipalities increases. In future years, these sectors will be unable to consume the water needed to meet demand because of the projected decreases in water avail...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Jensen, Kelsey
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2010
Subjects:
Oil
Gas
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1974/6180
id ftqueensuniv:oai:https://qspace.library.queensu.ca:1974/6180
record_format openpolar
spelling ftqueensuniv:oai:https://qspace.library.queensu.ca:1974/6180 2024-06-02T08:03:05+00:00 Environmental impact of the oil and gas industry's consumption of water from the Athabasca River during the predicted water shortage for Canada's western prairie provinces Jensen, Kelsey 2010-10-30T14:04:31Z application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1974/6180 en eng http://hdl.handle.net/1974/6180 Water Consumption Athabasca River Oil Gas thesis 2010 ftqueensuniv 2024-05-06T10:47:32Z ENSC 501: Independent study project: April 2008 Water consumption in Alberta continues to grow as demand from industry, agriculture and municipalities increases. In future years, these sectors will be unable to consume the water needed to meet demand because of the projected decreases in water availability. Climate change is predicted to cause decreases in snow pack accumulation and result in continued retreat of glaciers, both of which will reduce the overall water quantity available downstream. The oil and gas industry uses large amounts of water in their processes and facilities, some of which cannot be directly returned to the water cycle. This water is tied up in tailings ponds and Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) oil reservoirs, but most consumed water is returned to the water cycle through evaporation. This large consumption of water is concerning citizens in Alberta. To address the potential water shortage and the concerns about the oil and gas industry’s use of water in the Athabasca Oil Sands, the Alberta Government, industry and other non-governmental organizations have developed various strategies, reports, legislation, allocation guidelines and recommendations for the future. This report provides information on the Athabasca River Basin and the Peace-Athabasca Delta, water legislation and allocation in Alberta, water consumption by the oil and gas industry, and potential environmental impacts of the oil and gas industry’s consumption of water. It presents results of a secondary data analysis, which indicate current and future oil and gas projects, given an increase in water consumption and a decrease in the Athabasca River’s natural flow, will consume 1.86% of the Athabasca River’s natural flow. This report concludes by discussing the information obtained through the literature review and results of the secondary data and analysis and by providing recommendations that would improve the sustainable use of water by the oiland gas industry, effectively balancing the environmental and economic ... Thesis Athabasca River Queen's University, Ontario: QSpace Athabasca River Peace-Athabasca Delta ENVELOPE(-111.502,-111.502,58.667,58.667)
institution Open Polar
collection Queen's University, Ontario: QSpace
op_collection_id ftqueensuniv
language English
topic Water Consumption
Athabasca River
Oil
Gas
spellingShingle Water Consumption
Athabasca River
Oil
Gas
Jensen, Kelsey
Environmental impact of the oil and gas industry's consumption of water from the Athabasca River during the predicted water shortage for Canada's western prairie provinces
topic_facet Water Consumption
Athabasca River
Oil
Gas
description ENSC 501: Independent study project: April 2008 Water consumption in Alberta continues to grow as demand from industry, agriculture and municipalities increases. In future years, these sectors will be unable to consume the water needed to meet demand because of the projected decreases in water availability. Climate change is predicted to cause decreases in snow pack accumulation and result in continued retreat of glaciers, both of which will reduce the overall water quantity available downstream. The oil and gas industry uses large amounts of water in their processes and facilities, some of which cannot be directly returned to the water cycle. This water is tied up in tailings ponds and Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) oil reservoirs, but most consumed water is returned to the water cycle through evaporation. This large consumption of water is concerning citizens in Alberta. To address the potential water shortage and the concerns about the oil and gas industry’s use of water in the Athabasca Oil Sands, the Alberta Government, industry and other non-governmental organizations have developed various strategies, reports, legislation, allocation guidelines and recommendations for the future. This report provides information on the Athabasca River Basin and the Peace-Athabasca Delta, water legislation and allocation in Alberta, water consumption by the oil and gas industry, and potential environmental impacts of the oil and gas industry’s consumption of water. It presents results of a secondary data analysis, which indicate current and future oil and gas projects, given an increase in water consumption and a decrease in the Athabasca River’s natural flow, will consume 1.86% of the Athabasca River’s natural flow. This report concludes by discussing the information obtained through the literature review and results of the secondary data and analysis and by providing recommendations that would improve the sustainable use of water by the oiland gas industry, effectively balancing the environmental and economic ...
format Thesis
author Jensen, Kelsey
author_facet Jensen, Kelsey
author_sort Jensen, Kelsey
title Environmental impact of the oil and gas industry's consumption of water from the Athabasca River during the predicted water shortage for Canada's western prairie provinces
title_short Environmental impact of the oil and gas industry's consumption of water from the Athabasca River during the predicted water shortage for Canada's western prairie provinces
title_full Environmental impact of the oil and gas industry's consumption of water from the Athabasca River during the predicted water shortage for Canada's western prairie provinces
title_fullStr Environmental impact of the oil and gas industry's consumption of water from the Athabasca River during the predicted water shortage for Canada's western prairie provinces
title_full_unstemmed Environmental impact of the oil and gas industry's consumption of water from the Athabasca River during the predicted water shortage for Canada's western prairie provinces
title_sort environmental impact of the oil and gas industry's consumption of water from the athabasca river during the predicted water shortage for canada's western prairie provinces
publishDate 2010
url http://hdl.handle.net/1974/6180
long_lat ENVELOPE(-111.502,-111.502,58.667,58.667)
geographic Athabasca River
Peace-Athabasca Delta
geographic_facet Athabasca River
Peace-Athabasca Delta
genre Athabasca River
genre_facet Athabasca River
op_relation http://hdl.handle.net/1974/6180
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