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The AER is building a water licence application and authorization process within OneStop in response to the Government of Alberta’s actions in retiring legacy systems currently used to process water licence applications. 

What's New What's The Same

In 2024, the AER will begin to process energy-related applications for water use licences under the Water Act (including temporary diversion licences) through OneStop.  

The AER will share the confirmed date for this change in early 2024.
  • Criteria for how water use licences are approved will remain the same. 
  • Associated acts, regulations, policies, and requirements for provincial water resources are not changing. 
  • Non-energy industry water applications will continue to be reviewed by Alberta Environment and Protected Areas through the Digital Regulatory Assurance System (DRAS). 
  • There will be no change to the current Water Act approval application process for new applications, amendment applications, and code of practice notifications.
  • Members of the public can view details of applications through the Public Notice of Applications webpage and see what decisions have been made using the Publication of Decision webpage.

System Cutover

There will be a two-week system cutover period before the water licence application and authorization process goes live in OneStop. During this period, industry will be unable to access WATERS or WURS. All other OneStop functionality will be available during this time.

In an emergency (e.g., spill response, unavoidable schedule change affects an existing TDL, source for original TDL is not usable) TDLs will be processed manually during the system cutover period. Please email emergency applications to @email.

Available Functionality  

  • Functionality that will be available when the water licence application and authorization process goes live in OneStop includes:  
  • Temporary Diversion Licence (TDLs) Applications 
  • Term Licence Applications 
  • Submissions for Water Licence Reporting (Individual) 
  • Basic Search for Application and Authorization 

Functionality that will be in development includes:  

  • Submissions for Water Licence Reporting (bulk/batch) 
  • TDL Cancellation Requests 
  • TDL Amendment Applications 

Application Review Times  

The AER will process water licence applications within 10 business days. Baseline reviews will not be available at system launch as the AER continues to mature water licence application processing functionality. 

Industry Engagement  

An industry working group was formed consisting of 12 energy and consulting companies who provided us with a better understand industry needs and considerations. A group of industry members are also involved in system development and testing.  

System Training 

In 2024, the AER will host training sessions for industry users so they are prepared for the systems change and know how to navigate the new water licensing functionality in OneStop. Training dates and registration links will be made available in events.  

Contact 

For industry inquiries, please contact the Digital Transformation team at @email.