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Using denitrifying bioreactors as a beneficial management practice for agricultural drainage waters in Alberta

Description

A collaborative project (2019 - 2021) was completed to address the lack of Alberta-specific information on the use of denitrifying bioreactors to reduce nutrient export from agricultural... More ≫

Description

A collaborative project (2019 - 2021) was completed to address the lack of Alberta-specific information on the use of denitrifying bioreactors to reduce nutrient export from agricultural sub-surface drainage to sensitive aquatic ecosystems. This information is important to agricultural producers as they make water and crop management decisions.

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Using denitrifying bioreactors for management of agricultural drainage water in Alberta

Description

This fact sheet provides information about using denitrifying bioreactors for management of agricultural drainage water in Alberta.

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Summary of enhanced monitoring of the Lower Athabasca River, 2018

Description

Summarizes work completed for the Lower Athabasca River enhanced monitoring program in 2018. Data that has been generated from this program to date includes surface water quality, sediment... More ≫

Description

Summarizes work completed for the Lower Athabasca River enhanced monitoring program in 2018. Data that has been generated from this program to date includes surface water quality, sediment quality, fish health endpoints, and fish communities. These data are provided in appendices at the end of this report.

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A study design for enhanced environmental monitoring of the Lower Athabasca River

Description

Presents an enhanced sampling design for deployment in the Lower Athabasca River. It represents one component of work to describe baseline environmental conditions in the Lower Athabasca River... More ≫

Description

Presents an enhanced sampling design for deployment in the Lower Athabasca River. It represents one component of work to describe baseline environmental conditions in the Lower Athabasca River prior to the potential release of coke slurry-treated oil sands process affected water (OSPW). The document describes sampling locations and sampling frequency to establish a comprehensive description of baseline environmental conditions in surface water chemistry, benthic sediments, benthic algae, benthic macroinvertebrates, and small-bodied fish.

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Rationalizing and optimizing the water quality monitoring network in the oil sands

Description

This report describes the outcomes of a workshop held Nov. 28-30, 2016 in Edmonton to review, rationalize and optimize water quality monitoring conducted under the Joint Oil Sands Monitoring... More ≫

Description

This report describes the outcomes of a workshop held Nov. 28-30, 2016 in Edmonton to review, rationalize and optimize water quality monitoring conducted under the Joint Oil Sands Monitoring Program. The workshop participants included representatives from Alberta Environment and Parks and Environment and Climate Change Canada. The workshop outcomes include a number of recommended changes to monitoring network design.

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Surface water quality of Lower Athabasca River tributaries

Description

This study investigates key issues identified in the Joint Canada-Alberta Oil Sands Monitoring program regarding water quality of tributaries to the lower Athabasca River, specifically: the... More ≫

Description

This study investigates key issues identified in the Joint Canada-Alberta Oil Sands Monitoring program regarding water quality of tributaries to the lower Athabasca River, specifically: the current state of water quality; the distribution of contaminants; whether the presence of toxic substances is increasing or decreasing, and their rate of change' and whether substances added to the rivers by natural and man-made discharges are likely to cause deterioration of water quality.

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Surface water quality of the Athabasca, Peace and Slave rivers and riverine waterbodies within the Peace-Athabasca delta

Description

This study investigates key issues identified in the Joint Canada-Alberta Oil Sands Monitoring program regarding water quality of the Lower Athabasca River mainstem and the downstream... More ≫

Description

This study investigates key issues identified in the Joint Canada-Alberta Oil Sands Monitoring program regarding water quality of the Lower Athabasca River mainstem and the downstream Peace-Athabasca delta, specifically: the current state of water quality; the distribution of contaminants in surface water; and whether substances added to the rivers by natural and man-made discharges are likely to cause deterioration of water quality.

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Regional hydro-climatic and sediment modelling

Description

Reports on the development of an integrated modelling framework established and implemented from April 2012 to March 2015, to provide a comprehensive understanding of hydrology, hydraulics,... More ≫

Description

Reports on the development of an integrated modelling framework established and implemented from April 2012 to March 2015, to provide a comprehensive understanding of hydrology, hydraulics, sediments, and contaminants within the Athabasca River and to inform current and future monitoring efforts. The broad objective of this part of the Joint Oil Sands Monitoring plan was to provide critical knowledge on and improved predictive modelling capability for water availability and sediment/contaminant transport in the lower Athabasca River.

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Aquatic ecosystem health assessment of the Athabasca River mainstem and tributaries using fish health and fish and invertebrate toxicological testing

Description

Results from the Joint Oil Sands Monitoring plan presented here address the need to develop a comprehensive and robust biomonitoring program for fish and toxicity in fish and invertebrates. Fish... More ≫

Description

Results from the Joint Oil Sands Monitoring plan presented here address the need to develop a comprehensive and robust biomonitoring program for fish and toxicity in fish and invertebrates. Fish health monitoring was conducted along the mainstem of the lower Athabasca River and its primary tributaries to assess spatial and temporal change in ecological condition within these aquatic habitats.

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Assessing ecosystem health in benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages of the Athabasca River main stem, tributaries and Peace-Athabasca delta

Description

Results from the Joint Oil Sands Monitoring plan presented here address the need to develop a comprehensive and robust invertebrate biomonitoring program for oil sands development in the lower... More ≫

Description

Results from the Joint Oil Sands Monitoring plan presented here address the need to develop a comprehensive and robust invertebrate biomonitoring program for oil sands development in the lower Athabasca River and area. Benthic macroinvertebrate biomonitoring was conducted along the main stem of the lower Athabasca River, its primary tributaries and in the Peace-Athabasca delta to assess spatial and temporal change in ecological condition within these aquatic habitats. The study focused on macroinvertebrates because they are relatively sedentary, can be sensitive to multiple stressors, are critical components of fish habitat, and are the most common group used for aquatic bioassessments globally.

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