{"id":100334,"date":"2025-12-15T09:00:42","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T14:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=100334"},"modified":"2025-12-15T09:00:42","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T14:00:42","slug":"treaty-chiefs-warn-of-severe-impacts-as-alberta-passes-water-legislation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/15\/treaty-chiefs-warn-of-severe-impacts-as-alberta-passes-water-legislation\/","title":{"rendered":"Treaty Chiefs Warn of \u201cSevere Impacts\u201d as Alberta Passes Water Legislation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News Alberta\u2019s UCP government has passed legislation without any input from First Nations that poses severe risks to Alberta\u2019s watersheds, according to a group of Treaty 6, 7 and 8 chiefs. Bill 7, the Water Amendment Act, 2025, which was introduced in the Legislative Assembly by Environment and Protected Areas Minister Rebecca Schulz, received royal assent on December 12. The legislation updates the Water Act to enable \u201clow-risk\u201d transfers between water basins, empower the minister to determine a transfer\u2019s risk level, and merge the Peace-Slave and Athabasca Water Basins into one, reducing the province\u2019s number of watersheds to six. Previously, these transfers were decided on a case-by-case basis and required special legislation to proceed. Minister Schulz said at an Oct. 30&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F12%2F15%2Ftreaty-chiefs-warn-of-severe-impacts-as-alberta-passes-water-legislation%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News Alberta\u2019s UCP government has passed legislation without any input from First Nations that poses severe risks to Alberta\u2019s watersheds, according to a group of Treaty 6, 7 and 8 chiefs. Bill 7, the Water Amendment Act, 2025, which was introduced in the Legislative Assembly by Environment and Protected Areas Minister Rebecca Schulz, received royal assent on December 12. The legislation updates the Water Act to enable \u201clow-risk\u201d transfers between water basins, empower the minister to determine a transfer\u2019s risk level, and merge the Peace-Slave and Athabasca Water Basins into one, reducing the province\u2019s number of watersheds to six. Previously, these transfers were decided on a case-by-case basis and required special legislation to proceed. Minister Schulz said at an Oct. 30... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F12%2F15%2Ftreaty-chiefs-warn-of-severe-impacts-as-alberta-passes-water-legislation%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Treaty Chiefs Warn of \u201cSevere Impacts\u201d as Alberta Passes Water Legislation - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/15\/treaty-chiefs-warn-of-severe-impacts-as-alberta-passes-water-legislation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Treaty Chiefs Warn of \u201cSevere Impacts\u201d as Alberta Passes Water Legislation - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News Alberta\u2019s UCP government has passed legislation without any input from First Nations that poses severe risks to Alberta\u2019s watersheds, according to a group of Treaty 6, 7 and 8 chiefs. Bill 7, the Water Amendment Act, 2025, which was introduced in the Legislative Assembly by Environment and Protected Areas Minister Rebecca Schulz, received royal assent on December 12. The legislation updates the Water Act to enable \u201clow-risk\u201d transfers between water basins, empower the minister to determine a transfer\u2019s risk level, and merge the Peace-Slave and Athabasca Water Basins into one, reducing the province\u2019s number of watersheds to six. Previously, these transfers were decided on a case-by-case basis and required special legislation to proceed. Minister Schulz said at an Oct. 30\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/15\/treaty-chiefs-warn-of-severe-impacts-as-alberta-passes-water-legislation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-15T14:00:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/15\\\/treaty-chiefs-warn-of-severe-impacts-as-alberta-passes-water-legislation\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/15\\\/treaty-chiefs-warn-of-severe-impacts-as-alberta-passes-water-legislation\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Treaty Chiefs Warn of \u201cSevere Impacts\u201d as Alberta Passes Water Legislation\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-15T14:00:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/15\\\/treaty-chiefs-warn-of-severe-impacts-as-alberta-passes-water-legislation\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":858,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/15\\\/treaty-chiefs-warn-of-severe-impacts-as-alberta-passes-water-legislation\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/15\\\/treaty-chiefs-warn-of-severe-impacts-as-alberta-passes-water-legislation\\\/\",\"name\":\"Treaty Chiefs Warn of \u201cSevere Impacts\u201d as Alberta Passes Water Legislation - 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