Water Impacts

Oilsands operations return almost none of the water they use to the natural cycle.1

• Oilsands mining operations are subject to a zero-discharge policy because of the toxins in the waste water. Waste water that is not recycled is stored in tailings lakes.2,3
• Waste water from in-situ processes is often re-injected deep underground.4,5

Mining operations alone are licensed to divert 652 million cubic metres of water each year, about seven times as much as the annual water needs of the Edmonton area.6

• Mining requires between two and four barrels of freshwater to extract and upgrade one barrel of bitumen.7
• In-situ techniques require approximately 0.5 barrels of water to extract8 and an additional barrel to upgrade.9
• These volumes are in addition to the water which is recycled through the processes. Mining operations, for instance, use approximately 12 barrels of water to produce each barrel of bitumen in surface mined oil sands operations, 70% of which is recycled. 10

The ecosystem of the Athabasca River, which flows into one of the world’s largest freshwater deltas, is at risk from current water withdrawals.

• The majority of the water used for mining is taken from the Athabasca River.11
• According to the awarded water licenses, current and proposed projects could withdraw more than 15% of the Athabasca River’s water flow during its lowest flow periods.12
• Water withdrawals during winter low-flow periods risk reducing the availability of fish habitat and could reduce the health of the river’s ecosystem.13,14 This is especially a risk for the Lower Athabasca River as it has experienced a 30% decrease in average low flows over a 40-year period. 15

The cumulative impacts of oilsands development on water are largely unknown due to inadequate monitoring.

• Three independent reports published in late 2010 reference the need for improved water monitoring systems at both the provincial and federal level to ensure sustained functioning of the aquatic ecosystem. 16^, 17^, 18
• Independent research suggests concentrations of dissolved polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAC) are higher downstream of oilsands development, in comparison to upstream, in tributaries to the Athabasca. This trend is more pronounced in the summer than in the winter.19

updated May 2011

• 1. Mary Griffiths, Amy Taylor and Dan Woynillowicz, Troubled Waters, Troubling Trends: Technology and Policy Options to Reduce Water Use in Oil and Oilsands Development in Alberta (The Pembina Institute, 2006), 85.
• 2. Royal Society of Canada, Environmental and Health Impacts of Canada’s Oil Sands Industry (2010) (accessed January 28, 2011).
• 3. Mary Griffiths, Amy Taylor and Dan Woynillowicz, Troubled Waters, Troubling Trends, 33.
• 4. Royal Society of Canada, Environmental and Health Impacts of Canada’s Oil Sands Industry.
• 5. Mary Griffiths, Amy Taylor and Dan Woynillowicz, Troubled Waters, Troubling Trends, 89.
• 6. Oilsands mining water allocations are from Alberta Environment, “Water Diversion by Oilsands Mining Projects in 2008” (data received March 2010). EPCOR Water Services reported treating 92.9 million cubic metres of water for the greater Edmonton area in 2008 (2008 Performance Based Regulation Progress Report (2009), 8).
• 7. In 2004, the Albian Sands, Suncor and Syncrude mining operations used on average 2.62 cubic metres of water to produce one cubic metre of bitumen. When the upgrading of bitumen to synthetic crude oil is included, the overall average is 4.04 cubic metres of water (Alberta Energy Utilities Board, personal communication, February 8, 2006). Suncor reported using 2.29 cubic metres of water per cubic metre of synthetic crude oil in 2008 (Suncor Energy Ltd., A Closer Look: An Update on Our Progress, 4.) Note that Suncor’s operations include in situ projects, which use less water per unit of bitumen produced than do mining operations, so Suncor’s average water use for mining operations may exceed 2.29 cubic metres of water per cubic metre of synthetic crude oil. Syncrude reported using 2.26 cubic metres of water per cubic metre of synthetic crude oil in 2008 (Syncrude Canada Ltd., 2007 Sustainability Report). See also R. J. Mikula ,V. A. Munoz and O. Omotoso, Water Use in Bitumen Production: Tailings Management in Surface Mined Oilsands, presented at the World Heavy Oil Congress, Edmonton, 2008, 1.
• 8. Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Water Use in Canada's Oil Sands: Document 2009-0022 (2009).
• 9. Mary Griffiths and Simon Dyer, Upgrader Alley: Oil Sands Fever Strikes Edmonton (The Pembina Institute, 2008), Table 5, p.28.
• 10. R. J. Mikula, V. A. Munoz and O. Omotoso, Water Use in Bitumen Production: Tailings Management in Surface Mined Oilsands.
• 11. Alberta Environment, “Water Diversion by Oilsands Mining Projects in 2007,” data received September 2008.
• 12. Imperial Oil Limited, Imperial Kearl Oilsands Mine Application (no. 1408771 & 1414891, volume 4), (2005), 3-31.
• 13. Royal Society of Canada, Environmental and Health Impacts of Canada’s Oil Sands Industry.
• 14. Mary Griffiths, Amy Taylor and Dan Woynillowicz, Troubled Waters, Troubling Trends, 69.
• 15. Squires, A. J., C. Westbrook, and M. G. Dube, “An approach for assessing cumulative effects in a model river, the Athabasca River basin” in Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management 6 (1): 119–134. (accessed February 14, 2011).
• 16. Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, “2010 Fall Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development” (accessed February 14, 2011).
• 17. Oilsands Advisory Panel, “A Foundation for the Future: Building an Environmental Monitoring System for the Oil Sands” (accessed February 14, 2011).
• 18. Royal Society of Canada, Environmental and Health Impacts of Canada’s Oil Sands Industry.
• 19. Erin N. Kelly, Jeffrey W. Short, David W. Schindler, Peter V. Hodson, Mingsheng Ma, Alvin K. Kwan and Barbra L. Fortin, "Oil sands development contributes polycyclic aromatic compounds to the Athabasca River and its tributaries," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 107 (2009) (accessed March 21, 2011)