EDMONTON - An environmental group says Alberta's decision to allow a ski hill in a provincial park to sell water it's not using and have it trucked away sets a bad precedent.
Late last month, the province approved a request from Fortress Mountain ski resort in Spray Valley Provincial Park to allow it to sell 50,000 cubic metres of water a year.
The resort's original licence was for water to be used on site and the change doesn't increase the hill's total water allowance.
But Carolyn Campbell of the Alberta Wilderness Association says companies shouldn't be allowed to sell water from protected areas for purposes other than what was originally intended.
She says that could open the door to other companies doing the same thing.
Campbell says that would eventually reduce the province's ability to manage water use in the Bow Valley and that's a risky move in a changing climate.
Spray Valley Provincial Park is in the eastern Rockies in an area referred to as Kananaskis Country.