Ban should still be in place on Athabasca River

October 2, 2015. The Keepers of the Athabasca are calling into question the province’s decision to lift a water ban that had been temporarily put in place on the Athabasca river. Due to low water levels, on July 24, the province restricted all restricted all tar sands operators on the Athabasca River from withdrawing water, except for Shell, Suncor and Syncrude. That ban was lifted Sept. 16. Jesse Cardinal, coordinator with the keepers, said giving companies the first rights to access the river water over long standing Indigenous treaties or any other recognized water license holders is “clearly a human rights issue.”