Protecting Aboriginal Rights and Customs through Water Policy Innovation
Sarah Baines, MES Candidate, School of Environment and Sustainability
Research Context and Problem
•  Social conflict is rising as Aboriginal peoples’ intensify the assertion of their rights and the public becomes more aware of water depletion problems.
•  Federal and provincial water resource decision-makers require innovative, new policy approaches to address the intersection of Aboriginal rights and water problems.
•  Research on the integration of Aboriginal rights and customs in water policy is lacking.
Purpose
Design
Methods
Data Collection: Guided
by Participatory Action
To explore how Aboriginal rights and customs can
be introduced into water policy systems.
Case study using Aboriginal Base Flow (ABF)
Data Collection: Guided by the Policy Sciences
Framework and Participatory Action Research
methods (Figure 2).
Objectives
1.  Describe the existing water governance regime
in place for the lower Athabasca River in northern
Alberta.
2.  Document and examine the experiences of
Aboriginal peoples from Fort Chipewyan, Alberta,
in water use policy processes.
•  ABF is a proposed water policy intended to
guide decisions about water withdrawals.
Stage 1: Analysis of provincial and federal water
policies and legislation, water agreements, water and
land use plans, regulatory guidelines, and licensing
documents.
o  Sets a minimum flow rate within the Lower
Athabasca River based on the water level needed to
maintain boat access to traditional hunting and
fishing grounds within the Peace-Athabasca Delta
(Figure 1).
Stage 2: Semi-structured interviews based on
purposive sampling of First Nations leaders and elders
in Fort Chipewyan (Figure 1).
o  Developed by the Mikisew Cree and Athabasca
Chipewyan First Nations (MCFN and ACFN).
Stage 3: Semi-structured interviews based on
purposive sampling of federal, and provincial (Alberta)
decision-makers.
Data Analysis: Open and axial coding.
3.  Determine the barriers to and opportunities for
integrating Aboriginal rights and customs into
existing federal and provincial water policy
systems.
4.  Identify ways to overcome barriers and increase
opportunities for integrating Aboriginal rights and
customs into existing federal and provincial water
policy systems.
Acknowledgements
•  My ever helpful committee: Drs. Toddi Steelman, Lalita Bharadwaj, Jennifer FresqueBaxter, and Patricia Hania.
•  Peace Athabasca Delta Ecological Monitoring Program for introducing me to ABF.
•  SSHRC grant for financial support.
References
Clark, S. (2012). The Policy Process: A practical guide for Natural Resource
Professionals. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Knowledge Sharing: Follow up workshops with
interview participants.
Significance
Figure 1: Peace-Athabasca Delta
(Adapted from www.usask.ca/research-groups/ddn/research-projects.php)
•  Theoretical: Insight into the initiation of policy
reform based on Aboriginal rights and customs.
Social
Process
Map the
Context
Decision
Process
Problem
Orientation
Figure 2: Simplified Policy Process Framework
(Adapted from Clark, 2012)
•  Societal: Document an innovative approach to
managing river flows that enables aboriginal
rights.
•  Creation of knowledge on which the MCFN and
ACFN can build to develop an action plan for
advancing ABF as a policy.