Title :
Conflict analysis on water use and oil sands development in the Athabasca River
Author :
Kuang, Hanbin ; Kilgour, D. Marc ; Hipel, Keith W.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Syst. Design Eng., Univ. of WaterlooWaterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
Abstract :
A conflict over water use and oil sands development in the Athabasca River Basin is modelled, and a stability analysis is carried out based on the Graph Model for Conflict Analysis. Oil sands require a great deal of water to extract bitumen, which may lead to insufficient water supply to the downstream area. Moreover, inappropriate waste water disposal can have serious effects on local fresh water resources. In order to balance industrial development and environmental protection, the conflict among the Alberta government, oil sands companies, and non-governmental organizations are analyzed, and insights and reasonable suggestions are provided.
Keywords :
river pollution; rivers; wastewater; water quality; water resources; Alberta government; Athabasca river basin; conflict analysis; environmental protection; graph model; industrial development; local fresh water resources; nongovernmental organizations; oil sands companies; oil sands development; stability analysis; waste water disposal; water use; Companies; Government; Hydrocarbons; Industries; Investment; Rivers; Water resources; Conflict Analysis; GMCR II; oil sands development; water protection;
Conference_Titel :
Systems, Man and Cybernetics (SMC), 2014 IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
San Diego, CA
DOI :
10.1109/SMC.2014.6974373
