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Guide to Water Act authorizations required for excavations (dugouts, borrow pits and other types of pits/excavations) [2024]

Description

This document clarifies authorization and application requirements under the Water Act and the Water (Ministerial) Regulation where excavations into the ground are proposed. Typically, excavations... More ≫

Description

This document clarifies authorization and application requirements under the Water Act and the Water (Ministerial) Regulation where excavations into the ground are proposed. Typically, excavations into the ground that may trigger Water Act authorizations are dugouts, borrow pits, pits, or other pits/excavations. This guide does not address excavations that may be created for the purpose of drainage, flood control, erosion control, or channel realignment. Also not addressed by this guide is the issue of whether evaporative loss is considered a "diversion of water" under the Water Act.

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Looking upstream : a 5-year review of Alberta’s monitoring, evaluation, and reporting (MER) plan for lotic systems

Description

This report provides a summary of activities conducted between 2016 and 2021 under A Five-Year Provincial Water Quality Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Plan for Lotic Systems (Kerr and Cooke... More ≫

Description

This report provides a summary of activities conducted between 2016 and 2021 under A Five-Year Provincial Water Quality Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Plan for Lotic Systems (Kerr and Cooke 2019). An overview of this first river water quality monitoring, evaluation and reporting plan is provided, along with an evaluation of key metrics of the program, including sampling details, parameters monitored, and quality assurance/quality control efforts. The report presents summary findings and identifies ongoing gaps related to scientific questions. Key issues and improvements are recommended for consideration in the development of the next monitoring, evaluation and reporting plan.

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Status of surface water quality, South Saskatchewan Region, Alberta

Description

This report presents median and 90th percentile (peak) concentrations calculated from monthly water quality samples at Long-Term River Network stations across the South Saskatchewan River Basin.... More ≫

Description

This report presents median and 90th percentile (peak) concentrations calculated from monthly water quality samples at Long-Term River Network stations across the South Saskatchewan River Basin. The results of the report address whether there is a significant change in water quality parameters from historical concentrations, and whether there were any exceedances of limits as defined in the South Saskatchewan Region Surface Water Quality Management Framework. The data provided in this report fulfills the reporting requirements mandated by the Framework, which supports the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan. This publication informs appropriate management responses where necessary and provides reporting of ambient conditions to the Alberta public.

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Status of surface water quality, Lower Athabasca Region, Alberta

Description

This report was prepared to fulfill reporting requirements mandated by the Lower Athabasca Region Surface Water Quality Management Framework for the Lower Athabasca River, which supports the Lower... More ≫

Description

This report was prepared to fulfill reporting requirements mandated by the Lower Athabasca Region Surface Water Quality Management Framework for the Lower Athabasca River, which supports the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan. Each annual report communicates the status of surface water quality at the Athabasca River at Old Fort monitoring site for the calendar year indicated.

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The WaterSHED monitoring program : technical progress report 2018-2021

Description

This is the second technical report from the multistakeholder WaterSHED water quality monitoring program of North Saskatchewan River Basin tributaries. The report includes a summary of program... More ≫

Description

This is the second technical report from the multistakeholder WaterSHED water quality monitoring program of North Saskatchewan River Basin tributaries. The report includes a summary of program operation, results from water quality sampling and flow monitoring, assessments of water quality relative to surface water quality guidelines, and quantification of mass export of several water quality parameters from tributaries across the basin. The report concludes with a review of program learnings realized during operation of the WaterSHED monitoring program and descriptions of ongoing and future work.

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Alberta Environment and Protected Areas Indigenous Lake monitoring program evaluation report

Description

The Indigenous Lake Monitoring Program (ILMP) was developed in response to Indigenous communities’ concerns about the quality of lakes of local importance as well as the Community-Based Monitoring... More ≫

Description

The Indigenous Lake Monitoring Program (ILMP) was developed in response to Indigenous communities’ concerns about the quality of lakes of local importance as well as the Community-Based Monitoring & Knowledge teams’ mandate to explore opportunities to work together with Indigenous communities to advance environmental stewardship. The ILMP aims to support and enable stewardship and management of Alberta’s lakes based on the best available Indigenous and scientific knowledge. From 2016-21, staff from CBM&K, Watershed Sciences and Watershed Monitoring units within the Airshed & Watershed Stewardship Branch worked with community technicians from four First Nations (Bigstone Cree Nation, Cold Lake First Nations, Whitefish Lake First Nation, Dene Tha' First Nation) to collect and report on water chemistry, physical measurements, and biological samples on seven lakes in Northern Alberta. The ILMP Evaluation Report summarizes the findings of an independent evaluation of the ILMP...

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Oldman River fish community, 2012 : Oldman River Dam environmental monitoring program

Description

The report describes the fish community of the Oldman River between the Oldman River Dam and the confluence with the Bow River, based on the results of field sampling conducted in 2012. Assessment... More ≫

Description

The report describes the fish community of the Oldman River between the Oldman River Dam and the confluence with the Bow River, based on the results of field sampling conducted in 2012. Assessment of the fish community was completed as part of the Oldman River Dam environmental monitoring program. Monitoring was intended to determine the environmental impacts of the construction and operation of Oldman River Dam and the effectiveness of environmental mitigation measures. In 2012, the fish community in the Oldman River was similar to the pre-dam fish community, but the range of fish had likely shifted downstream in response to changes in flow and water temperature. Stocked brown trout persist, but additional work is needed to determine if a sport fishery has developed.

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Industrial heartland designated industrial zone water quality management program

Description

Establishes a clear and consistent wastewater and runoff management approach in the Industrial Heartland Designated Industrial Zone (IH-DIZ). The program outlines monitoring and reporting... More ≫

Description

Establishes a clear and consistent wastewater and runoff management approach in the Industrial Heartland Designated Industrial Zone (IH-DIZ). The program outlines monitoring and reporting requirements to be met by industrial facilities and identifies additional monitoring programs to be established within the IH-DIZ reach of the North Saskatchewan River. Data collected from the monitoring activities will be used to inform load-based management within the zone and will also help to verify the overall success of the program in achieving the environmental objective to maintain or improve water quality.

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Bow River phosphorus management plan : agricultural phosphorus beneficial management practices

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This publication outlines beneficial management practices to reduce the risk of phosphorus loss to the environment from agricultural production. It was written to support the Bow River Phosphorus... More ≫

Description

This publication outlines beneficial management practices to reduce the risk of phosphorus loss to the environment from agricultural production. It was written to support the Bow River Phosphorus Management Plan and focuses beneficial management practices in rural or agricultural settings.

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Evaluation of quality control data from Alberta’s lotic water monitoring programs : 2016-2019

Description

This report investigates the bias and variability of data generated from the Long Term River Network (LTRN) and Tributary Monitoring Network (TMN) programs. In total, 323 field blank samples and... More ≫

Description

This report investigates the bias and variability of data generated from the Long Term River Network (LTRN) and Tributary Monitoring Network (TMN) programs. In total, 323 field blank samples and 318 duplicate samples were taken from nearly 100 stations across the province of Alberta. Data analyses relate these QC samples to 4,482 provincial LTRN and TMN environmental samples taken between January 2016 and December 2019. There was a wide range of potential contamination (i.e. bias) and variability evident in the parameters monitored in the TMN and LTRN programs. Data end-users should be cognizant of this potential bias and variability in data generated by the LTRN and TMN programs. Parameters with low environmental concentrations, elevated potential for extraneous contamination and/or high variability should be interpreted with caution.

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