Water

In 2004, Syncrude continued its efforts to reduce its water intake from the Athabasca River on a unit of production basis. This resulted in a total river water withdrawal of 30.6 million cubic metres, a reduction of nearly two million cubic metres over 2003 and the lowest withdrawal volume since 1990. Water withdrawals were 2.21 cubic metres per cubic metre of production, which is Syncrude’s best ever performance.

While our plans to increase crude oil production also will increase our future import of river water, Syncrude continues to identify and implement water conservation initiatives to drive down consumption on a unit of production basis.

Water Use

	2005 Target	2004 Actual	2004 Target	2003	2002	2001	2000
Imported from Athabasca River
(millions of m3 per year)	36.9	30.6	33.5	32.4	40.7	37.0	40.2
Process Water Recycled 1
(millions of m3 per year)	226.2	228.4	220.3	189.1	162.4	178.5	171.6
(Recycle as % of total water used)	86	88	87	86	80	83	81
Treated Waste Water Discharged to River (1000 m3)
Sanitary		345.4		353.2	195.3	197.8	125.3
Other	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1 Recycled water volumes reflect the combined volumes for Syncrude’s Mildred Lake and Aurora facilities.

As part of our ongoing efforts to mitigate the cumulative effects of oil sands development, Syncrude is working to improve water management knowledge in concert with other oil sands developers through the Canadian Oil Sands Network for Research and Development which, in February, held a technical workshop on water usage in the oil sands. Syncrude representatives made several presentations on water related issues.
Also see discussion on stakeholder concerns regarding water.

River Water Quality

The Regional Aquatic Monitoring Program’s summary report for 2003 (the latest available) indicates that water quality in the Athabasca River system downstream of Fort McMurray was generally consistent with previous years; no water quality issues were detected at any of the Program’s sample sites, which are located at points upstream of the oil sands industry through to the Athabasca Delta. The report states that the rivers, tributaries and watersheds in the oil sands region were found to have comparable water quality to those of other undisturbed tributaries in the region.

The Regional Aquatic Monitoring Program web page contains useful information such as maps, sample site locations and program reports. Visit www.ramp-alberta.org

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Actions taken by Syncrude in response to stakeholder concerns raised during our stakeholder engagement processes are noted throughout this report; these actions are indicated by the symbol.