MIGHTY PEACE WATERSHED ALLIANCE Integrated Watershed Management … · 2018. 3. 21. · Integrated...
Transcript of MIGHTY PEACE WATERSHED ALLIANCE Integrated Watershed Management … · 2018. 3. 21. · Integrated...
Integrated Watershed Management Plan PEACE AND SLAVE WATERSHEDSMarch 2018
MIGHTY PEACE WATERSHED ALLIANCE
© Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance
Distribution of this document to all interested parties is encouraged, provided any use is accompanied by credit to the Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance.
AcknowledgementsWe would like to acknowledge the contributions of all those who participated in the development of the Peace and Slave Rivers Integrated Watershed Management Plan.
The Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance board of directors and staff initiated and led the planning process. The IWMP Steering Committee worked through the process by developing the Terms of Reference, assembling working groups, prioritizing working group recommendations and overseeing the IWMP writing. We thank in particular the members of the working groups, who donated their time and expertise to assess the information on priority issues of concern, formulate and frame the issues and develop a comprehensive suite of solutions. Petra Rowell facilitated working group sessions and Hutchinson Environmental Sciences Ltd., in collaboration with O2 Planning and Design, prepared the IWMP document. West Hawk Associates provided final graphic design, editorial and proofing services.
This report has been created with support from Alberta Environment and Parks.
March 2018
Integrated Watershed Management Plan | Peace and Slave Watersheds iii
Executive Summary
This Integrated Watershed Management Plan (IWMP) is needed to address the complexity of water management issues that transcend landscapes, ecosystems, jurisdictions, and water users in the Peace and Slave Watersheds. It will support and coordinate the efforts of government, residents, stakeholders and communities in effective and sustainable management and use of the water resources in the Alberta portion of the watershed.
The IWMP is non-regulatory and has no statutory authority, but it documents major agreements and decisions of the collaborative group of stakeholders who have direct and substantial influence on the watershed. The recommendations of the Plan will be implemented by others through its influence on regional and municipal statutory plans, Government approvals, resource lease agreements, regulations and others.
The IWMP is part of the mandate of the Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance (MPWA), one of the 11 Watershed Planning and Advisory Councils in Alberta, in an official partnership with Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP). The IWMP provides strategies to achieve the three goals of the Provincial “Water for Life” Strategy: safe secure drinking water, healthy aquatic ecosystems, and reliable, quality water supplies for a sustainable economy.
This Plan contains priority strategies and actions to address the following key issues of concern, as identified from results of the State of the Watershed Report and stakeholder engagement:
ɣ Non-saline groundwater ɣ Water quality and availability away from the mainstem ɣ Wetlands and wetland loss ɣ Peace River flow regime ɣ
Additional recommendations were recorded and will be considered throughout IWMP implementation.
This IWMP identifies partners in government, non-governmental organizations, industry and institutions to move forward with the implementation of recommendations. An adaptive management approach, including monitoring, reporting and evaluation, will allow for Plan revisions to address newly developing conditions and shifting priorities.
Consumptive use of fresh water (groundwater and surface water)
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Executive Summary iii
Introduction 2What is the purpose of the Plan? 3Why is the Plan needed? 4How will the plan be used? 5
The Planning Context 6
The Planning Process 12
The Watershed at a Glance 16The Biophysical Environment 17The People 19The Economy 19
Vision, Principles and Core Concepts 20A Vision for the Watershed 21Guiding Principles 22Core Concepts 23
Plan Recommendations 24Water Quality, Availability Away from the Mainstem and Consumptive Use 26Peace River Flow Regime 28Wetlands and Wetland Loss 30Non-Saline Groundwater 32Policy Integration 34
Implementation: From Plan to Action 36Partnerships 38Stewardship 39Milestones and Schedule 39Monitoring and Reporting Success 40Next Steps 41
References 42
Appendices 44Appendix A: List of Participants 45Appendix B: List of all Recommendations 46Appendix C: List of Related Regulations, Legislation and Policies Reviewed During the IWMP Process 58Appendix D: Abbreviations 59
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FiguresFigure 1: Peace and Slave Watersheds 8Figure 2: Adaptive Approach to Watershed Management 13Figure 3: Plan Development Process 14Figure 4: Ecoregions in the Peace and Slave Watersheds 18Figure 5: Water Cycle 34
1Introduction
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What is the purpose of the Plan?This Plan is the first step of a systematic and prioritized adaptive management process at the watershed scale. This Plan supports and coordinates the efforts of governments, residents, stakeholders, and communities in the Peace and Slave Watersheds regarding watershed management.
The purpose of this Plan is to address effective and sustainable management and use of the water resources of the Peace and Slave Watersheds, and to support the maintenance of other benefits provided by the ecological functioning of the watershed. The Plan will ensure that cumulative effects are understood and communicated among all users of the watershed to improve decision-making about human activity in the watershed.
The Plan is built upon an understanding of the present conditions and historical trends in the watershed as described in the State of the Watershed report (MPWA 2015). It identifies key issues and desired future conditions and provides strategies and actions to achieve the desired future. The ongoing monitoring and evaluation necessary to ensure success of the Plan are identified. The Plan identifies the areas with the greatest need for coordinated management and creates a roadmap for ongoing watershed management in the Peace and Slave Watersheds.
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Why is the Plan needed?
A plan to coordinate efforts of watershed management is needed to address the complexity of water issues that transcend landscapes, ecosystems, jurisdictions, and water users in the Peace and Slave Watersheds. Integrated watershed management in Alberta and Canada evolved in response to this complexity. Key drivers for the development of integrated watershed management were described by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (2016) as follows:
ɣ Recognition that environmental issues such as water are multi-scale. Individual activities in one area often have impacts that are felt in another area (e.g., jurisdiction, watershed, or downstream/upstream in the same watershed), and could additively and cumulatively have significant regional impacts.
ɣ Recognition by federal, provincial and territorial governments that it is neither desirable nor feasible to have a single “water agency” lead all water and land-related resource management. Thus, there is a need to bring together (or integrate) the efforts of several government agencies and non-governmental groups within and, where appropriate, between jurisdictions.
ɣ Consideration of how water is connected through the hydrologic cycle, and how groundwater and surface water must be connected in our management activities (see Figure 5). This type of thinking also suggests that we should connect water resources, and the associated impacts on these resources from activities on land, to the ecosystems and to human health which rely on secure and safe water.
ɣ Increased water use and types of water use, as well as the need to better balance ecosystem requirements with water withdrawals, has led to challenges in achieving effective resolution of conflicting demands. IWM is seen as a way to better manage and resolve water use conflicts among various sectors (e.g., recreation, industries, agriculture, municipalities, energy production, etc.).
ɣ Recognition of the need for participatory or community-based management approaches that could eliminate or reduce user conflicts, and provide a basis for better implementation. These approaches also serve to ensure problems are well scoped and alternative solutions well considered.
ɣ Awareness that funding for water resources management is limited and requires creative approaches to distribute the costs of planning, implementation and monitoring among the many participants including those who use and benefit from water.
ɣ Awareness that climate change will alter what we have come to expect from “normal” and historical climate conditions. Current thinking on IWM best practices recognizes the high level of uncertainty associated with our ability to predict the future, and that we must be prepared for increased variability and change. Thus, adaptive approaches that rely on data collection, analysis and experimentation are an important component of IWM.
ɣ Appreciation that Aboriginal people rely on many water resource services, and need to be involved in the planning and management of those resources.
These key drivers were considered, and integrated where feasible into the IWMP.
Integrated watershed management (IWM) is a continuous and adaptive process of managing human activities in an ecosystem, within a defined watershed. IWM involves the integration of environmental, social and economic decisions and activities through an inclusive decision-making process to manage the protection, conservation, restoration and enhancement of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem features, functions and linkages.
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How will the Plan be used?
This Plan provides advice to governments, agencies and others with decision-making authority for land and resource management. The recommendations of the Plan (Section 6) will be implemented by others, through its influence on regional and municipal statutory plans, Government approvals, resource lease agreements, regulations and other land use and planning authorities.
Government and industry resource planners and managers, municipal governments, the Government of Canada, First Nations and Métis, and many others are participants in the Plan, as well as recipients of the recommendations (Section 7 – Partnerships, Table 2). All are strongly encouraged to adhere to the recommendations of the Plan they helped develop.
This Plan follows the “Guide to Watershed Management Planning in Alberta” (2015). Consistent with adaptive management principles (Section 3), this Plan will be reviewed every 10 years or as otherwise determined by the MPWA. The Plan will be assessed for its effectiveness and relevance and the results of this assessment will guide any necessary future revisions to the Plan (Section 7 – Monitoring and Reporting Success). Integral to effective planning is appropriate, relevant and current information; as such the State of the Watershed will be renewed regularly to inform plan revisions.
Implementation is critical to the utility of this work. With the first iteration of the plan complete, implementation challenges will no doubt arise. Based on ongoing stakeholder input, the MPWA will prioritize areas and issues of greatest concern, and consider how best to address them. The MPWA will ensure that recommendations are carried forward to decision-makers. It will encourage the relevant governments, stakeholders, communities and residents of the watershed to work together to support and implement the recommendations of the IWMP.
What is the Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance?The Alliance is a multi-sector, not-for-profit society committed to planning for an ecologically healthy watershed while ensuring environmental, economic and social sustainability. Its active stakeholders and communities use consensus, adaptive management and innovation to understand and promote living within the watershed. The MPWA’s Board of Directors report on the state of the watershed, lead watershed planning activities, promote best management practices and develop educational programs.
2The Planning Context
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The Plan AreaThe geographic scope of this Plan includes the Alberta portions of the Peace and Slave Watersheds (Figure 1). Although this is the defined scope of the IWMP, consideration will also be given to those portions of the Peace and Slave Watersheds that are in British Columbia and significant tributaries if the need arises. The Slave watershed extends into the Northwest Territories, and, although this portion of the watershed is not considered in this Plan, the IWMP recognizes the need to protect downstream uses.
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Figure 1: Peace and Slave Watersheds
Peace and Slave Watersheds
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Water For LifeThe Water For Life Strategy (2003) commits the Alberta Government to the wise management of Alberta’s water quantity and quality for the benefit of Albertans now and in the future. While the Government of Alberta, led by Alberta Environment and Parks, will remain accountable and will continue to oversee water and watershed management activities in the province, Water for Life identifies three types of partnerships that are integral to achieving stewardship of our water resources:
1. Provincial Water Advisory Council 2. Watershed Planning and Advisory Councils 3. Watershed Stewardship Groups
Each of these partnerships have different but compatible roles, and each involves interested Albertans in the planning and implementation of improved water and watershed management throughout the province.
To that end, Water for Life is based on the following commitments to Albertans:
ɣ Albertans will be assured their drinking water is safe ɣ Albertans will be assured that the province’s aquatic ecosystems are maintained and protected
ɣ Albertans will be assured that water is managed effectively to support sustainable economic development
The Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance (MPWA) was formed in 2011 as one of the 11 Watershed Planning and Advisory Councils, in an official partnership with Alberta Environment and Parks under the Water for Life Strategy. The MPWA has the mandate to work towards the three goals of the Water for Life Strategy: safe secure drinking water, healthy aquatic ecosystems, and reliable, quality water supplies for a sustainable economy, in the Alberta portion of the Peace and Slave Watersheds.
Alberta’s Land-use Framework (LUF)Alberta’s Land-use Framework (LUF) and its supporting legislation, the Alberta Land and Stewardship Act is a province-wide framework to support management and land-use planning on private and public lands in Alberta to achieve long-term economic, environmental and social outcomes. Launched in 2008, the LUF sets out guiding principles and identifies key strategies which will guide future land-use management in Alberta. The LUF established seven land-use regions and calls for the development of a regional plan for each. The Peace and Slave Watersheds straddle two of these regions: the Upper Peace and the Lower Peace.
To date the Government of Alberta has completed two regional plans: the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan (Alberta Government 2012) and the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan (Alberta Government 2014). The Upper and Lower Peace Regional Plans will be among the next to be developed by the province, in consultation with relevant stakeholders. The IWMP provides an important opportunity to ensure that these Regional Plans are based on an adequate and comprehensive assessment of the values, opportunities and constraints at play in the Peace and Slave Watersheds. By aggregating knowledge, highlighting data gaps, and bringing together communities, stakeholders and other impacted partners, the IWMP will provide the information necessary to develop a robust Regional Plan when the time comes.
For administrative purposes, the province is divided into two broad land use areas: Green Area and White Area. The Green Area (forested portion) comprises most of northern Alberta. In the Green Area, public land is managed for timber production, watershed, wildlife and fisheries, recreation and other uses. Agricultural use is limited to grazing where it is compatible with other uses. The White Area (settled portion) land is primarily privately held. In the White Area, public land is part of the agricultural landscape. It is managed for various uses including agriculture, recreation, soil and water conservation, and fish and wildlife habitat. Métis settlements are managed by the Métis Settlement government.
The government of Alberta owns the bed and shore of most naturally occurring lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands, even when these occur on private lands.
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Regional PlanningTo date there is no comprehensive regional plan at the scale of the Peace and Slave Watersheds. Thus, this plan will play a crucial role in bringing together the work of the existing initiatives, some of which are indentified in this section. Furthermore, this plan provides a watershed-specific lens with a multi-stakeholder perspective on water and watershed management planning issues.
Traditional Land Use Management FrameworkThe Peace River basin drains Crown lands that are occupied by Aboriginal members of a number of Treaty 8 (1899) First Nations and Métis communities, which collectively have constitutionally protected rights to use these Crown lands and waters to sustain a way of life that is central to their culture. In 2015, an Alberta Land Use Review Panel1 suggested that regional land use planning processes ought to be guided by development of a “Traditional Land Use Management Framework” capable of ensuring that regional land use plans focus on optimization of the exercise of these constitutionally protected Treaty rights.
The lakes, wetlands and rivers within the basin are central to the way-of-life of these Aboriginal peoples, particularly in the Wabasca, Lower Peace and Slave River sub-basins and in the Peace-Athabasca Delta, where their livelihoods are dependent on wetland-dominated ecosystems. First Nation and Métis peoples make extensive use of these wetlands and waters, relying on these aquatic landscapes to support the cultural and spiritual practices, which connect them to the land and sustain their communities.
By documenting the ecological function and need for conservation of these wetland dominated ecosystems, the Integrated Watershed Management Plan will provide input to development of a robust Traditional Land Use Management Framework. This will help to frame regional land use planning approaches that can optimize opportunities for Métis and First Nation peoples to use Crown lands within the Peace River Basin to sustain their way of life.
Forest Management PlanningForest management plans typically consider a 200-year planning horizon and follow the Alberta Planning Standard which is based on the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers’ “CAN/CSA-Z809-02 Sustainable Forest Management: Requirements and Guidance” (Canadian Standards Association 2008). In Alberta, forest harvest practices may be used to approximate natural disturbances caused by wildfire with consideration given to sensitive sites such as riparian areas. Any disturbance, including forestry, has the potential to affect water quality and quantity so there is a need to ensure that activities are informed by the IWMP to ensure compatibility with other values and uses. In turn, the IWMP should ensure that it adequately reflects the impact of forestry activities on the watershed.
Municipal Land Use PlanningWhile municipal land use plans typically cover only a small fraction of the Peace and Slave Watersheds, they represent intensive land use activities and there is real value in providing municipalities with the context and frame that the Integrated Water Management Plan provides. Municipalities are the direct administrators of land and therefore put a lot of legislation and planning into practice. Identifying upstream impacts and downstream concerns will help guide municipal land use decisions toward more sustainable actions, recognizing the cumulative impacts that might otherwise be lost without a watershed-scale lens.
Other Decision-Makers While this IWMP does not have statutory power, it serves as a useful framework for a cumulative impact assessment, which may help to inform or guide collaborative decision-making among other organizations or industry partners. The IWMP development process has paved the way for this, because decision-makers were involved in the development of the recommendations. Please see Appendix C for more planning context.
¹ Alberta Review Panel Report, 2015, Lower Athabasca Regional Plan, to the Alberta Land Use Stewardship Minister (subsection 19.2 (2) ALSA, S.A. 2009, c A-26.8)
Traditional Uses of wetlands include: ɣ Hunting ɣ Gathering of bog cranberry, labrador tea, cattail root, medicinal plants, waterfowl eggs
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3The Planning Process
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Watershed Management for the Peace and Slave Watersheds will follow an adaptive management approach (Figure 2). The Integrated Watershed Management Plan is based on watershed issues identified in the SoW report. The Plan makes recommendations for a course of action which the MPWA will recommend to decision-makers for implementation. After monitoring and reporting on which actions have or have not been implemented by decision-makers and their corresponding success, the Plan will be reviewed, evaluated and updated based on the new information.
PLANExamine alternatives and makerecommendations for the best
course of action in a plan.
IMPLEMENTWork with appropriate individuals,organizations and jurisdictions to
implement plan.
MONITOR & REPORTGather and analyze monitoring
data in successive ‘state of’ reports.
REVIEW & EVALUATEIdentify issues and establish
the need for a plandevelopment or revision.
Figure 2: Adaptive Approach to Watershed Management (Modified from: Handbook for State of Watershed Reporting, Government of Alberta 2008)
Adaptive Management is a systematic process for continually improving management policies and practices by learning from the outcomes of previously employed policies and practices.
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Previous WorkThe MPWA was tasked to report on the State of the Watershed (SoW) and to develop an Integrated Watershed Management Plan (IWMP) for the Peace and Slave Watersheds. After completing a number of initial technical studies that compiled available watershed information (i.e., the Watershed Directory, the State of Drinking Water, Water Supply, and Aquatic Ecosystem Health), the State of the Watershed (SoW) study was completed in 2015.
The SoW provided a comprehensive overview of watershed health and the pressures that act on it. Watershed indicators assessed in the SoW represented the landscape, biological communities, and surface and groundwater quality and quantity (Section 7 – Performance Monitoring Indicators). The findings of the SoW formed the basis for defining the issues to be addressed in this IWMP and represent the baseline conditions for future comparison.
Upon completion of the SoW, the public was engaged to solicit feedback from watershed stakeholders to help identify the Issues of Concern that the MPWA should focus on first (see Figure 3). As a result, the MPWA identified issues of priority concern for watershed planning:
ɣ Non-saline groundwater ɣ Water quality and availability away from the mainstem ɣ Wetlands and wetland loss ɣ Peace River flow regime ɣ Consumptive use of fresh water (groundwater and surface water)
This prioritization recognized that water quality and quantity are critical to the functioning of the watershed and to the people depending on water resources.
The IWMP Steering Committee was then struck to lead the development of the IWMP, under direction of the MPWA Board. A “Terms of Reference“ document was prepared to kick off and guide the watershed management planning process (Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance 2015). Four working groups, made up of MPWA Board members, subject experts and sector representatives, tackled the issues of priority concern, analyzing the issues, and developing a vision, desired outcomes and recommendations to achieve them.
While all working group recommendations will be constructive means to advance watershed health, they were too numerous to be addressed all at once (see Appendix B for a complete list). Therefore the IWMP Steering Committee deliberated on working group recommendations to identify a subset of priority strategies and actions to be considered in this Plan. The main criteria for prioritization included feasibility (fiscally, legally, timelines, existing partners) and impact (likelihood of achieving the desired outcome). Only the recommendations that ranked high on the priority list were included as the recommendations that the MPWA will focus on first (Section 6). All recommendations, including non-prioritized strategies and actions, are presented in Appendix B.
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Technical Information Compilation | MPWA, Consultants
22 Open houses/forums | MPWA
Stakeholder Survey | MPWA
State of the Watershed | MPWA, Consultants
10 Forums | MPWA
IWMP Terms of Reference | MPWA
Working Group Deliberation | MPWA, Stakeholder, Facilitator
Prioritization of Recommendations | MPWA
Draft IWMP | MPWA, Consultants
Figure 3: Plan Development Process
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General Approach and MethodsEach working group met four to five times, with the help of a facilitator who documented the deliberations. The tasks of the working groups were to review the information provided by the IWMP Steering Committee, to properly frame and define the issues of concern through discussions, and to identify and evaluate potential management options of how to address the issues. To the extent possible, a lead and partners were identified for each management action. The diversity of participant organizations encouraged sharing of sector perspectives and promoted mutual understanding, which was seen by the participants as a positive outcome of the process itself.
Consensus decision-making is how the MPWA Board of Directors operates and this concept was also applied to the IWMP development. This does not mean that each interest represented around the table had every concern addressed exactly as they might wish, but rather that everyone around the table could live with the compromises that were made. In the case that no consensus can be reached, “Those who do not support the direction or decision are expected to explain what they cannot agree to, provide the rationale for their position and offer alternative solutions or changes that would make the idea acceptable” (MPWA process guidelines). If there was still no consensus reached, the group agreed on the remainder of the IWMP, noting the areas and reasons why consensus could not be reached and then accepted the IWMP including caveats with consensus.
Public and Stakeholder Engagement ProcessThe MPWA engaged and interacted with the public and watershed stakeholders throughout its work toward this IWMP. Participation in the MPWA Board of Directors and its delegated committees has been the most direct form of stakeholder involvement from a variety of sectors. Routine consultation with Alberta Environment and Parks, the lead agency for implementing “Water for Life,” was an integral part of stakeholder engagement.
Communication of MPWA activities through workshops, public forums and the website are ongoing. A discussion paper produced by the IWMP Steering Committee after completion of two working group reports was circulated for public review in the summer of 2016 to inform the IWMP development (MPWA 2016).
An extensive survey at 22 open houses, supported by an online and mailed-out stakeholder survey, was conducted on the results of the SoW. This survey allowed broad input from people across the watershed; including those that may not have been reached previously due to their remote location. Common concerns identified in the survey included the availability and security of drinking water, ecosystem health, and the industrial use of water. Stakeholders also expressed interest in the impacts of dams on the Peace, the effects of agricultural runoff and forestry practices, and the treatment of industrial effluent (MPWA 2015).
4The Watershed at a Glance
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The Biophysical Environment
OverviewThe Peace and Slave Watersheds is the largest area under the mandate of an Alberta Watershed Planning and Advisory Council (WPAC). Approximately, 208,834 km2 is drained by the Peace and Slave rivers in Alberta. The total drainage area including the area in British Columbia is approximately 326,000 km2. It is split into six sub-basins: Smoky/Wapiti, Upper Peace, Central Peace, Lower Peace, Wabasca and Slave River. Approximately 35% of the watershed is considered an “Aquatic Environmentally Significant Area” based on the area’s aquatic species, habitat, peatlands, biological connectivity and features supporting water quality and quantity (Fiera Biological Consulting 2010).
Natural Regions There are five natural regions within the watershed (Figure 4). The Boreal Forest has the largest coverage, spanning the north of the Smoky/Wapiti sub-basin, southeast side of the Central Peace sub-basin and the entire Lower Peace and Wabasca sub-basins. The Parkland natural region covers the Grande Prairie to Peace River corridor and rural surrounding areas. The headwaters are in the Rocky Mountains natural region which is in the southern portion of the Smoky sub-basin. The Foothills natural region is found in the Smoky/Wapiti, Upper Peace and Central Peace sub-basins. In the northeastern side of the watershed there is a small portion of the Slave watershed that is within the Canadian Shield natural ecoregion.
The watershed is an area of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a body of water such as a stream, wetland, river, lake or reservoir.
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Major RiversThere are three major rivers in the Peace and Slave Watersheds: the Peace River, the Slave River and the Smoky River (Figure 1). Historically, the Peace River began at the confluence of the Finlay and Parsnip rivers in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia. The Peace River is regulated by the Bennett Dam in northern British Columbia. It flows into the Slave River at the Peace-Athabasca Delta. The Slave River flows northwards to Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. Major tributaries of the Peace River include the Smoky and Wabasca rivers. The Smoky River originates in the Rocky Mountains in Jasper National Park, Alberta. Tributaries of the Smoky River include the Wapiti and Little Smoky rivers.
LakesThere are hundreds of lakes in the watershed, many of which are nutrient rich and have high concentrations of rooted plants and algae. Numerous lakes of recreational value provide areas for fishing, boating and swimming.
WetlandsAlmost 30% of the watershed is covered by wetlands. The majority (95%) of these wetlands are swamps, bogs and fens. They provide habitat for rare and important species, play an important role in the water cycle and are a resource of cultural and traditional value (see Section 6 – Wetlands & Wetland Loss).
Peace-Athabasca DeltaThe Peace-Athabasca Delta is the largest freshwater inland river delta in North America. It is approximately 3,820 km² in area, and contains three river deltas and four freshwater lakes. It is also the largest boreal delta in the world, is under Ramsar protection and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Figure 4: Ecoregions in the Peace and Slave Watersheds
The Mighty Peace, as it is known to many, is the largest river in Alberta, meandering nearly 2,000 km from its source in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia until it joins the Slave River near the Northwest Territories. At some points approaching 2 km in width, it drains nearly a third of Alberta.
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The People
The population of the Peace and Slave Watersheds was 165,000 in 2011; 37% of people lived in rural areas, 33% in Grand Prairie, 23% in smaller towns and villages, 6% on Indian reserves, and 1% in Métis settlements.
The first people arrived in the Peace region more than 10,000 years ago. First Nations still represent 16.7% of the total population, with the proportion ranging from a low of about 10% in the Upper Peace and Smoky/Wapiti sub-basins to 67% in the Wabasca sub-basin.
Major areas of employment include agriculture, oil and gas, forestry, mining, tourism and recreation.
The Economy
The Peace and Slave Watersheds have a resource-based economy, with the majority of its economic wealth coming from the land. As such, the economy is dependent on the natural features of the watershed.
The Foothills and mixed-wood regions of the Boreal forest support forestry and oil and gas operations. The forestry industry (either directly or indirectly) employs 10% of Northern Alberta workers. The Peace River Oil Sands deposit is one of the three main Alberta oil sands reserves.
Nutrient rich soils of the Parklands support agriculture in the watershed. Agriculture practices are expected to increase in the area as the population increases. Active coal mines are found in the Rocky Mountain headwaters.
To ensure a healthy economy it is important to sustainably manage natural resources. Maintenance of thriving forests, sustainable soils, and sufficient, quality water to serve industry, local consumption and recreation is important to support the resource-dependent economy of the Peace and Slave Watersheds.
5Vision, Principles and Core Concepts
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A Vision for the Watershed
The Vision for the IWMP was stated in the Terms of References as follows:
The Integrated Watershed Management Plan of the Peace and Slave Watersheds balances and supports our social, environmental and economic objectives.
Guiding Principles
The Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance recognizes the following shared values which guide the watershed planning process:
Respect a diversity of peoples and valuesBy demonstrating individual and collective respect for the air, land and water and by appreciating the diversity of values and opinions found in the Peace and Slave Watersheds.
Be an ambassadorBy promoting our vision and mission, demonstrating integrity, accountability and practicality, and practicing effective communication, knowledge-building and consensus decision-making.
Be a trustworthy and credible source of informationBy being well-informed and providing sound advice through an adaptive watershed approach that integrates traditional local and scientific knowledge in information-gathering and problem solving.
Be fair and transparent to allBy seeking balanced representation and listening to all stakeholders in an open, transparent manner.
Be inclusive and collaborativeBy facilitating inclusive and collaborative processes and partnerships, promoting membership and interaction and providing opportunities for all stakeholders to be involved.
Be action-oriented and innovativeBy being motivated, resourceful and action-oriented in finding new, innovative ideas and win-win strategies.
Foster stewardshipBy encouraging and enabling individuals and organizations to be good stewards of the watershed.
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Core Concepts
Multi-functional Watersheds and LandscapesThe Peace and Slave Watersheds and landscapes must be managed to provide a wide range of functions and services. Forests need to provide timber, wildlife habitat, hunting and grazing opportunities; energy and minerals will be extracted from landscapes, and crops produced in agricultural areas. These activities support a steady flow of revenue that supports livelihoods, education, health care and social services. Resources such as forests, minerals, wildlife, water, fish, rangeland, public land, and plants need to be managed in a manner that addresses their interdependence and which avoids impacts from their exploitation. At the same time, clean water must be available for drinking, recreation, irrigation, industry and aquatic ecosystem health. Wise use of the watershed, and hence the IWMP, must recognize the multi-functionality of the watershed, where the use of one resource can affect others and actions can lead to both intended and unintended impacts.
Cumulative EffectsThe cumulative effects of population growth, climate change and economic development are increasing pressures on the watershed’s air, water, land and biodiversity. The development of watershed policies and management interventions must recognize the connections between different stressors and their interactions. In the absence of this recognition, solving one problem may simply aggravate another problem. Better understanding of cumulative environmental stressors and resultant coordination and integration of policy, planning and decision-making, including adaptive management, is needed in the watershed, given the number and complexity of initiatives and approval processes in the region.
Importantly, a system needs to be in place that has a focus on watershed goals and management, as well as the ongoing regulation and control of individual activities and approvals. An integrated approach to environmental management that considers Cumulative Effects Assessment and Management in the formal planning and decision-making process is needed. This is recognized in the Environmental Management System of the Alberta government (Alberta Environment and Parks 2017), which aspires to be outcome-based, place-based and knowledge-based. Effective cumulative effects management
with respect to watershed issues include the documentation of a sound baseline condition, identification of stressors, receptors and associated metrics of impact, identification or prediction of system responses or outcomes, and management objectives and strategies. Taken together, these activities should provide environmental limits that set clear system boundaries that are not to be exceeded along with a monitoring, reporting and adaptive management framework. This IWMP is an important contribution toward a cumulative effects management system in the Peace and Slave Watersheds.
Ecosystem Goods and ServicesEcosystem services are the benefits that nature provides to people. Ecosystem services have been defined as the delivery, provision, protection or maintenance of goods and services that humans obtain from ecosystem functions.
For the Aboriginal Communities, Ecological Goods and Services are requisite to their way of life. Some Ecosystem Service benefits, such as crops, are familiar and tangible; however, others, such as water filtration and carbon storage, are hard to observe or quantify and are underestimated or unaddressed in decision-making. Ecosystems provide innumerable services that are underrepresented or absent in most economic development decisions; however, these services contribute to development objectives (e.g., scenic quality of the land) and to realizing quality of life goals. For the Aboriginal Communities, Ecological Goods and Services are requisite to their way of life.
Identifying and understanding Ecosystem Services within the IWMP will provide more information to decision-makers, which may help to prevent unintended consequences from development decisions.
Cumulative effects are “the combined effects of past, present and reasonably foreseeable land-use activities, over time, on the environment.” — Alberta Land-use Framework (2008)
6Plan Recommendations: Outcomes, Strategic
Directions and Actions
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This section represents the “core” of the Plan, i.e., the goals it wants to achieve and the means to get there. The Plan recommendations were taken verbatim from the working group reports and represent a prioritized “short list” of Outcomes, Strategic Directions and Actions that the MPWA wants to address first. Many issues (almost 100) were considered, but through several processes this “short list” was selected. This section is structured by the four working group topics, but does address the five key issues of concern identified in early stages of the IWMP process (see Section 3 – Previous Work).
In each of the following sections, the issue is introduced, explaining why it is important to address in the Plan. It is followed by a vision, which is the overarching desired end goal, then a list of the prioritized outcomes. For each outcome, strategic directions and actions to achieve them are recorded, along with responsible partners. The lead organization is highlighted in bold type and abbreviations for the partners are explained in Table 2 (Section 7 – Partnerships).
26 Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance
Why Is It an Issue?Water quality is generally good on the Peace River mainstem, with its large volume and relatively few point and nonpoint source pollution inputs. Due to their location throughout the watershed, however, many communities and industries draw from smaller tributaries, lakes or from groundwater that may not provide optimal source quality or volume. Several tributaries, such as the Little Smoky River, where water is withdrawn for municipal and industrial uses, face restrictions on timing and levels of flow when water can be drawn in order to protect ecosystem functions or maintain assimilative capacity. This may result in the need to withdraw at high flows and store water, both of which create an increase in costs for municipalities and residents.
This Plan will explore options for ensuring a sustainable supply of water away from the Peace River mainstem.
Consumptive use of water for oilfield injection and hydraulic fracturing has recently been growing in prominence in the Peace and Slave Watersheds. The discussion about consumptive use is made complex by the source (surface water or groundwater; saline or non-saline), timing of flows and withdrawals (particularly for small, seasonal tributaries and lakes), and the need for timely monitoring of the cumulative effects of multiple withdrawals at multiple diversion points on downstream aquatic health.
This Plan will develop a strategy to better understand the extent of the consumptive industrial use of water.
VisionWater in the Peace and Slave Watersheds is adaptively managed for current and future generations such that the water resource is well understood, quality source and drinking waters are available where and when they are needed and aquatic ecosystems are healthy.
Water Quality, Availability Away from the Mainstem and Consumptive Use
Outcomes, Strategic Directions and Actions
Outcome 1: Land use and water managers and the public are knowledgeable about the water balance (inputs and outputs, Figure 5 – Water Cycle) and share accountability for managing current and future water demands sustainably in the Peace and Slave Watersheds.
Strategic Direction 1: Develop an education and outreach strategy that identifies target audiences, key messages and appropriate communication tools.
Actions: ɣ Develop a mainstream media education campaign for a public audience (MPWA, GoA)
ɣ Develop an industry-focused campaign promoting compliance, stewardship, best practices, etc. for water haulers, road builders, construction, grader operators, etc. Work through certification and training programs to improve water awareness (MPWA, Industry associations, trade schools)
ɣ Develop or tap into existing municipally focused campaigns (MPWA, AAMDC, AUMA, ASVA)
Integrated Watershed Management Plan | Peace and Slave Watersheds 27
Outcome 2: Source water yield is recognized as a value to be managed by the Crown ensuring source waters are protected.
Strategic Direction 2: Raise awareness and promote the use of source water protection plans for all source waters (existing and new) in the Peace and Slave Watersheds.
Actions: ɣ Define, locate and map source waters (surface and groundwater) in the watershed (MPWA, AAMDC)
ɣ Promote existing tools and programs that are currently available to municipalities and private system owners to develop source water protection plans (technical advice, templates) (MPWA, AAMDC)
Outcome 3: Source water availability is a key consideration of current and future population growth and development.
Strategic Direction 3: Identify and support communities with critical water supply and/or treatment issues.
Actions: ɣ Create a list of communities and issues (including First Nations communities with boil water advisories) (AAMDC, FCM, GoA, Treaty 8)
ɣ Prioritize communities for action (AAMDC, Federation of Canadian Municipalities, GoA, Treaty 8)
ɣ Outline possible actions to improve supply and/or treatment options, in particular looking at regional collaborations (AAMDC, Federation of Canadian Municipalities, GoA, Treaty 8)
ɣ Conduct feasibility studies (AAMDC, Federation of Canadian Municipalities, GoA, Treaty 8)
ɣ Select an option (AAMDC, Federation of Canadian Municipalities, GoA, Treaty 8)
ɣ Seek funding and implement through existing federal and provincial municipal infrastructure programs, where possible (AAMDC, Federation of Canadian Municipalities, GoA, Treaty 8)
See Appendix B — page 47
Source water yield is a concept that conveys how much water a given area contributes to the overall watershed that provides source water. Water that comes upstream from that point at which water is withdrawn is source water and the relative productivity is the water yield. — https://albertawater.com/water-yield-streamflow-analysis/alberta-s-water-yield
28 Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance
Why Is It an Issue?The Peace is a “regulated” river, because its flow is controlled by dams. The dams have tempered the annual fluctuations in the hydrograph, significantly reducing flows in spring, summer and autumn and significantly increasing them in winter. There is evidence that the modified flow regime has created cultural, social, economic and environmental issues for residents in the Peace and Slave Watersheds, in particular for Aboriginal Communities in the Lower Peace sub-basin. On the other hand, specific effects on aquatic ecosystems and communities, including the Mode of Life of Aboriginal and Métis Communities, as well as flow values required to mitigate these effects, have not been fully characterized.
This Plan will explore the impact of flow regime on the Lower Peace Wetlands, including the Peace Athabasca Delta and recommendations to restore and maintain its ecological functioning. Flow regime will be reviewed in terms of the risk it poses to communities, farmland and infrastructure so that recommendations for their safeguarding can also be made.
VisionThe Peace River Flow Regime is healthy, understood and adaptively managed (using both Western Science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge) to deliver optimal social, economic and ecological goods and services (including instream flow needs and wetland health in the Lower Peace watershed), for current and future generations.
Peace River Flow Regime
Outcomes, Strategic Directions and Actions
Outcome 1: Cultural, social, economic and environmental issues with the current flow regime as well as desired Aboriginal, cultural, social, economic and ecological flow values to guide management of the Peace River and its tributaries are documented, well understood and communicated to decision-makers.
Strategic Direction 1: Using traditional ecological and local knowledge, compile an inventory of sites where people, municipalities, or industry experience issues because of river flow regime and identify community flow values to guide water and land managers and decision-makers and share them with other basin initiatives.
Actions: ɣ Conduct a literature search and compile a summary of existing work on flow regime issues and flow values. (MPWA, Aboriginal Communities)
ɣ Conduct a survey and/or do interviews with river users and communities along the river on flow regime issues and flow values; compile and provide results to AEP. (MPWA, river users)
Post-Bennett DamPre-Bennett Dam
JAN FEB MAR APRIL MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC
Integrated Watershed Management Plan | Peace and Slave Watersheds 29
Outcome 2: The current Peace River flow regime and its relationship to the aquatic ecosystem health of other waterbodies (e.g., Delta lakes, Lower Peace and Delta wetlands, groundwater, etc.) is understood.
Strategic Direction 2: Collect existing technical information on the Peace River flow regime (including its interactions with associated lakes, wetlands, ponds, channels, groundwater, etc.), synthesize key learnings and identify and fill information gaps.
Actions: ɣ Assess current mainstem and other waterbody monitoring and determine if additional monitoring, mapping or modelling is required to improve our understanding of flow regime relationships, particularly between overbank flooding and wetland integrity in the Lower Peace and Delta. (AEP, EC, PC, PADEMP, MPWA, North Peace Land and Water, DUC)
ɣ Organize a technical committee to identify, prioritize and fill data gaps. (Build on existing PADEMP work but extend membership outside of Delta.) (AEP, MRBB, EC, PC, PADEMP)
ɣ Undertake a literature review of naturalized to recorded flow comparisons. Then determine instream flow needs (via modelling/naturalizing recorded flows dataset). Compare to current flow regime and identify any issues. (AEP, MRBB)
ɣ Review and update the 1980s study (Northern River Basin Studies, NRBS) to evaluate the effectiveness of weirs constructed in the Delta in the 1970s. This should inform if a) maintenance of these structures is required; b) whether these structures were/are still effective; and c) if such structures might provide management options for other areas of the Watersheds. (AEP, EC, PC, MRBB)
ɣ Conduct a literature review, and possibly initiate a study, to assess sediment transport/siltation/water-quality issues identified by basin residents. (AEP, EC, PC, MRBB)
ɣ Conduct a study to identify the feasibility, optimal conditions and costs of a controlled release to augment flooding, as well as the costs of not doing anything. (AEP, EC, PC, PADEMP)
Outcome 3: People are aware of the importance of the Peace River flow regime, what it means to basin residents and what it provides.
Strategic Direction 3: Develop an education and outreach strategy to raise awareness about the importance of healthy river flow from the headwaters to the Delta (including a focus on how the mainstem flow interacts with other waterbodies such as the Lower Peace wetlands and Peace-Athabasca Delta).
Actions: ɣ Develop the strategy and associated materials. (MPWA, AEP, PC, PADEMP, MRBB)
ɣ Distribute materials at meetings around the basin, or via trade shows, newspaper articles, workshops, etc. (MPWA, AEP, PC, PADEMP, MRBB)
See Appendix B — page 50
Flow regime refers to both volume and timing of flow. Generally flow peaks in spring with snow and ice and then tapers off to flows dominated by base flow that is groundwater inputs, with intermittent precipitation inputs.
Naturalized flows are developed by examining the historical recorded flows of the river and then adding the known withdrawals back into the flow. This estimates what the flow would have been before industrial uses.
30 Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance
Why Is It an Issue?Wetlands are a prominent component of the Peace and Slave Watersheds, covering slightly more than 29% (52,898 km²) of the area (not including national parks, for which information was not readily available). Wetlands provide many cultural and ecological benefits for the watershed. They supply food, plants for traditional medicine, and recreational opportunities, and fulfill spiritual and inspirational needs. They store water, mitigate floods and droughts, moderate water flow, stabilize shorelines, and discharge and recharge groundwater. Moreover, wetlands play a critical role in water purification, especially those that contain herbaceous plant species such as cattails (Typha latifolia), sedges (Carex spp.) and bulrushes (Schoenoplectus spp.). Wetlands also moderate weather and climate, and process and store greenhouse gases. The accumulation of carbon in bog and fen sediments is of global importance. Wetlands’ high biological productivity and aquatic components provide diverse wildlife habitats. In northern Alberta, wetlands provide key rearing and overwintering habitat for fish and are primary habitats for birds, amphibians, beavers, mink, muskrats, otters and plants. Wetlands provide important habitat for moose, caribou, and songbirds.
VisionThe state and functions of wetlands are well understood and human activities affecting wetlands are mitigated (avoided, minimized or replaced) such that ecological integrity and resilience of wetlands are maintained, and sustained on the landscape for current and future generations.
Wetlands and Wetland Loss
Wetlands have therefore been highlighted as essential sources of Ecosystem Goods and Services, upon which human and natural processes are strongly dependent. The current extent of wetland areas is a reflection of the natural land cover and human land use. The regions with high coverage of wetlands correspond with extensive boreal forest areas and little human activity. As the Peace and Slave Watersheds have been developed, wetlands have been converted to agricultural, industrial and urban land uses. This loss and alteration of wetlands in the human-dominated portions of the watershed has led to disruption of natural ecological functioning. The true extent and intensity of these disruptions is difficult to assess, given the lack of data on the historical distribution of wetlands throughout the watershed. For example, a resource road cutting through a wetland complex can affect a large area. The cumulative impact of human disturbance on wetlands is one of the key unknowns in scientific knowledge.
This Plan presents a strategy addressing the lack of data around wetlands, calls for solutions to address the loss of wetlands, and explores the role of restoration in safeguarding wetlands in the watershed.
Integrated Watershed Management Plan | Peace and Slave Watersheds 31
Outcomes, Strategic Directions and Actions
Outcome 1: Everyone in the watershed is knowledgeable about wetlands and their social, economic and environmental values.
Strategic Direction 1A: Strike an education committee to develop and implement a general wetland education and outreach plan.
Actions: ɣ Model this education and outreach plan on the University of Saskatchewan Delta Dialogues Network. (MPWA, Cows and Fish, DUC, ACA, Nature Alberta)
ɣ Provide input to AEP as it reviews and renews the Alberta Education wetland curriculum. (MPWA, AEP, school districts, Grande Prairie Environmental Sciences Education Society, other forest education societies)
ɣ Engage post-secondary and professional organizations in the Peace and Slave Watersheds in wetland education and outreach. (MPWA, NAIT Boreal Institute)
Strategic Direction 1B: Communicate the state of wetlands and wetland trends.
Actions: ɣ Integrate wetland state of reporting into the MPWA state of reporting process. (MPWA, AEP, ABMI)
Outcome 2: Landowners and land users are incented to be good stewards and conserve wetlands.
Strategic Direction 2: Promote stewardship with various users.
Actions: ɣ Work with off-roading/all-terrain vehicle users to promote stewardship. (AEP, WPACs, Users, retailers, recreation groups)
ɣ Work with the agriculture sector to improve understanding of the economic benefits of wetlands and the ecological goods and services they provide and to implement BMPs. (AAF, municipalities, GoA Agriculture groups, agriculture field men AAAF, Cows and Fish)
ɣ Work with industry to promote stewardship tools such as BMPs, Codes of Practice, biodiversity and conservation offsets. (GoA, WPACs, Industry, DUC)
ɣ Work with other groups toward wetland and wetland function restoration.
See Appendix B — page 52
32 Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance
Why Is It an Issue?Groundwater is a crucial source for many residents and communities throughout the watershed. Non-saline groundwater is present throughout the Peace and Slave Watersheds, but the current level of knowledge is limited to some areas within the watershed, while others have none. Until we have a more complete understanding of non-saline groundwater aquifer volumes, as well as an understanding of current and future use, potential risks, cumulative effects, and how climate change will affect this resource, it is challenging to set groundwater management priorities.
Hence the majority of Plan recommendations focus on building better baseline information, and communicating this information to decision-makers in the Peace and Slave Watersheds.
VisionAbundant, uncontaminated groundwater in the Peace and Slave Watersheds is managed with integrity so that the resource is publicly understood, predictable, sustainable and protected to benefit and meet the needs of the basin’s inhabitants.
Non-Saline Groundwater
Outcomes, Strategic Directions and Actions
Outcome 1: Groundwater information required for decision-making is available to all.
Strategic Direction 1A: Develop, complete, and continually update a single, centrally located, accessible and shared groundwater database.
Actions: ɣ Form a partnership/working group responsible for database development and maintenance. (CAPP, AER, AGS, AHS, PFRA (AAFC), MPWA)
ɣ Determine what kinds of data should be included in the database. (CAPP, AER, AGS, AHS, PFRA (AAFC), MPWA)
ɣ Build on the existing Coal Bed Methane database to develop a single, centrally located, accessible shared groundwater database. (CAPP, AER, AGS, AHS, PFRA (AAFC), MPWA)
ɣ Identify data gaps on subsurface structure and groundwater inventory and develop a plan to fill gaps with new data and information; consider citizen science. (MPWA, AGS, AEP)
Strategic Direction 1B: Ensure processes (e.g., licensing, water use, etc.) are designed such that new data are automatically entered into the central shared database (onus is on the applicant to enter data).
Actions: ɣ Improve mandatory licensee “Water Use Reporting System” reporting and make it a subset of the new proposed database. (AEP, AER)
ɣ To support AEP’s integrated application system, at the application stage, require information such as transmissivity and the information needs identified under Outcome 1 to populate the database. (AEP, AER, licensee)
Integrated Watershed Management Plan | Peace and Slave Watersheds 33
Outcome 2: Groundwater users, decision-makers and the public receive credible information about sector groundwater use and how allocation decisions are made.
Strategic Direction 2: Share sector information about the Water Allocation System and specific sector water use (including licence requirements, return flows, wastewater treatment, etc.) with the public and other audiences via MPWA state of reporting, and AEP and industry factsheets.
Actions: ɣ Promote existing sector information by linking to relevant industry websites or resources where they exist to make licensing and other information more visible. (MPWA, Board member sectors)
ɣ Develop fact sheets that focus on industry groundwater use and practices including case studies of water sharing/conflict resolution, water re-use between sectors and other innovations. (MPWA, Board member sectors)
Outcome 3: The groundwater resource is better understood by the general public with time.
Strategic Direction 3: Improve general public understanding of groundwater resources (amount, inventory, regulatory process); groundwater–surface water interactions; the cumulative effects of land cover/land use on groundwater quantity and quality; and how groundwater will be affected by climate change.
Actions: ɣ Develop an education plan that identifies appropriate public audiences, messages, communications tools, etc. (MPWA, AEP, Inside Education)
ɣ Support the GoA Working Well program as a means to reach landowners with private wells. The MPWA can promote landowner well testing, identification and proper decommissioning of abandoned wells. (AEP/AHS, MPWA)
ɣ In conjunction with the next MPWA state of the watershed report, develop a groundwater atlas similar to the Edmonton-Calgary Corridor atlas showing yield, salinity, possible contaminants, etc. (MPWA, AEP, AGS)
ɣ Work with municipalities to distribute information to rate-payers. (MPWA, AEP, AAMDC)
ɣ Support the Alberta Science Network and get groundwater speakers into schools and other public venues. (MPWA, Alberta Education)
River / Lake
Extraction forMunipical, Agricultural
& Industrial Use Flooding
GroundwaterRecharge
GroundwaterIn Flow
Stormwater
Wastewater
WellsGroundwater Flow
WetlandWater Flow & Storage
RiparianVegetation
Forests &the Watershed
ShallowGroundwater
DeepGroundwater
Infiltration
Evaporation
Overland Flow
Rainfall
34 Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance
Policy Integration
This Plan lists individual actions and strategies that work toward achieving certain outcomes for selected watershed indicators. Developing this hierarchy and compartmentalizing the work under certain topic areas breaks the work down into doable pieces for the respective subject experts and sectors, which is indispensable for implementation. We need to recognize, however, that many of the proposed actions are inter-related and will work together toward the stated outcomes. The success of one action may depend on the success of another. For example, the restoration of water quality in one river through mitigation of point source pollution may only be successful if non–point source pollution is addressed at the same time.
There are many relationships between watershed components, strategies and actions as the different phases of the water cycle, such as surface water in rivers, wetlands and shallow groundwater, are closely related (Figure 5). Sustainable groundwater management (Issue: “Non-Saline Groundwater”) will help with source water protection (Issue: “Water Quality”), because surface waters away from the mainstem are fed to a large part by groundwater.
Surface water in return affects the quality of groundwater, at least in shallow surficial aquifers. Hence, what we do on the land, and how we manage risks like contamination, point and non–point source pollution, soil erosion, perviousness and wetlands, can impact the quality and quantity of groundwater. Wetland conservation in the cultivated areas in particular can be a valuable tool to preserve groundwater recharge and improve surface water quality and availability off the mainstem. Wetland health in the Peace-Athabasca Delta (Issue: “Wetlands”) depends directly on the flooding frequency and intensity in the Lower Peace (Issue: “Peace River Flow Regime”).
Education and outreach are part of the strategies to address every issue discussed in this Plan. There is likely ample opportunity to develop education and outreach strategies about watershed health that address multiple priority issues of concern simultaneously. More so, raising awareness about the interconnections between the different water sources will encourage respect and collaboration between potentially conflicting water users.
Figure 5: Water Cycle
Integrated Watershed Management Plan | Peace and Slave Watersheds 35
Table 1: Existing Watershed Management Plans and Initiatives in the Peace and Slave Watersheds
Existing Plan or Initiative Related Plan Recommendation Comments
Wat
er Q
ualit
y, Av
aila
bilit
y &
Cons
umpt
ive
Use
Peac
e Ri
ver
Flow
Reg
ime
Wet
land
s &
Wet
land
Los
s
Non
-Sal
ine
Grou
ndw
ater
Proposed Community-Focused Management Strategy for the Grimshaw Gravels Aquifer Technical Report
S S Focus on maintaining water quality and quantifying quantity in aquifer.
Heart River Watershed Management PlanHeart River Watershed Restoration Plan
S S Focus on restoring fish habitat by land use practices that improve water quality and water quantity (less flashiness).
Redwillow Watershed Restoration Plan S S Focus on restoring fish habitat by land use practices that improve water quality and water quantity (less flashiness).
Wapiti River Water Management Plan S Focus on ensuring water license needs can be met without comprising aquatic ecosystem integrity.
Grande Cache Source Water Protection Plan
S Focus on protecting water quality in Victor Lake.
AER Area Based Regulation Panel S S Regulatory recommendations to reduce the use of high-quality non-saline water in the Duvernay play.
Little Smoky Water Users Group S Focus on communication between municipalities and industry that withdraw from the Little Smoky to facilitate licensees being able to withdraw the needed water.
Grimshaw Gravels Aquifer Source Water Protection Plan
S S This plan will provide protection of water quality in the Grimshaw Gravels Aquifer and look at water quantity.
Peace Athabasca Delta Ecological Monitoring Plan
S S This ongoing study and knowledge collection is designed to better understand the Peace-Athabasca Delta and the functioning of its wetlands.
Fish and Wildlife Water Implementation S
Wetland Policy implementation S S This policy works to manage wetlands.
Transboundary agreements with NWT and BC
S S Flow across political borders affects water quality and availability for other jurisdictions and is addressed in the bilateral agreements. Lower Peace wetlands are largely flood dependent and influenced by flow from BC.
Tool for assessing Lake and Lake Watershed Risk
S
UNESCO - Reactive Monitoring Mission to Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada 2017
S This report looks at the ecological integrity of the Peace-Athabasca Delta.
AEP’s DRAFT Water Conservation Policy S This DRAFT policy examines approaches to conserving water use and this would be applicable to users in the Peace and Slave Watersheds.
DRAFT IWM
P
DRAFT IWM
P
Integrated Watershed Management Plan | Peace & Slave Watersheds | 35
Table 1: Existing Watershed Management Plans and Initiatives in the Peace and Slave Watersheds
Existing Plan or Initiative Related Plan Recommendation Comments
Wat
er Q
ualit
y,
Avai
labi
lity
&
Cons
umpt
ive
Use
Peac
e Ri
ver
Flow
Reg
ime
Wet
land
s &
W
etla
nd L
oss
Non
-Sal
ine
Gro
undw
ater
Proposed Community-Focused Management Strategy for the Grimshaw Gravels Aquifer Technical Report
S S Focus on maintain water quality and quantifying quantity in aquifer
Heart River Watershed Management PlanHeart River Watershed Restoration Plan
S S Focus on restoring fish habitat by land use practices that improve water quality and water quantity (less flashiness)
Redwillow Watershed Restoration Plan S S Focus on restoring fish habitat by land use practices that improve water quality and water quantity (less flashiness)
Wapiti River Water Management Plan S Focus on ensuring water licence needs can be met without comprising aquatic ecosystem integrity
Grande Cache Source Water Protection Plan
S Focus on protecting water quality in Victor Lake
AER Area Based Regulation Panel S S Regulatory recommendations to reduce the use of high quality non-saline water in the Duvernay play
Little Smoky Water Users Group S Focus on communication between municipalities and industry that withdraw from the Little Smoky to facilitate licensees being able to withdraw the needed water
Grimshaw Gravels Aquifer Source Water Protection Plan
S S This plan will provide protection of water quality in the Grimshaw Gravels Aquifer and look at water quantity.
Peace Athabasca Delta Ecological Monitoring Plan
S S This ongoing study and knowledge collection is designed to better understand the Peace-Athabasca Delta and the functioning of its wetlands.
Fish and Wildlife Water Implementation S
Wetland Policy implementation S S This policy works to manage wetlands.
Transboundary agreements with NWT and BC
S S Flow across political borders affects water quality and availability for other jurisdictions and is addressed in the bilateral agreements. Lower Peace wetlands are largely flood dependent and influenced by flow from BC.
Tool for assessing Lake and Lake Watershed Risk
S
UNESCO – Reactive Monitoring Mission to Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada 2017
S This report looks at the ecological integrity of the Peace-Athabasca Delta.
AEP’s DRAFT Water Conservation Policy S This DRAFT policy examines approaches to conserving water use and this would be applicable to users in the Peace and Slave Watersheds.
7Implementation: From Plan to Action
37
The IWMP will have very little impact if the actions it recommends are not implemented. This section therefore discusses the components and process of successful Plan implementation.
The “Guide to Watershed Management Planning in Alberta” provides a checklist for successful implementation of the IWMP, which can serve as a useful self-evaluation for this IWMP and the process that led to its completion (Government of Alberta 2015). The Guide also recommends striking an implementation committee and developing an implementation workplan that outlines timelines, roles and responsibilities, possible funding resources and technical support and a process to monitor implementation progress.
The following sections present information on potential partners, ways to monitor progress and a tentative schedule to provide a basis for an implementation plan.
38 Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance
Partnerships
Solving watershed health issues and addressing cumulative effects are complex undertakings. The recommendations from the working groups (Section 6, Appendix B) demonstrated this complexity, by including actions in education, science, regulatory processes, infrastructure and more. These diverse strategies and actions of the Plan can only succeed if a multitude of organizations work together toward a common goal.
Table 2: Partners Identified in IWMP Recommendations
Non-Government Organizations
Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance (MPWA) Aboriginal Communities River Users
Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMDC)
Peace Country Beef and Forage Association
North Peace Land and Water
Peace-Athabasca Delta Ecological Monitoring Program (PADEMP)
Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) Mackenzie River Basin Board (MRBB)
Cows and Fish Nature Alberta Watershed Planning and Advisory Councils (WPACs)
Grande Prairie and Area Environmental Sciences Education Society
Forest Education Societies All-terrain vehicle users
Recreation groups Inside Education Grimshaw Gravels Aquifer Management Advisory Association (GGAMAA)
Alberta Conservation Association (ACA)
Provincial Government Agencies
Government of Alberta (GoA) Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) Alberta Education
Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP) Alberta Geological Survey (AGS)
Alberta Agriculture and Forestry (AAF) Alberta Health Services (AHS)
Other Agencies
Association of Summer Villages of Alberta (ASVA)
Parks Canada Agency (PCA), Wood Buffalo National Park (WBNP)
Municipalities
Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM)
Alberta Conservation Association (ACA)
Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA)
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)
Métis Treaty 8
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)
Industry/Commercial
Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP)
Retailers Board member sectors
Education
School districts NAIT Boreal Institute Ecosystem Management Emulating Natural Disturbance Project (EMEND)
When developing recommendations, the working groups identified partner organizations that could be involved in the implementation of the actions (Section 6). When summarizing these organizations (Table 2), it becomes clear that partnerships will be a cornerstone of the IWMP implementation. Organizations across all levels of government, non-government organizations as well as industrial, commercial and educational sectors will have a role to play in the diversity of addressed issues and proposed actions.
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. — African Proverb
39
Stewardship
This Plan is non-statutory, implying that it does not have any regulatory power. While regulation is one means to achieve watershed protection from the effects of certain activities, voluntary and cooperative action is another effective way to achieve responsible management of watershed resources that are not that easily addressed by regulation. Many watershed residents are stewards of their land; for example, many farmers take care of their land for sustainable yields for future generations. Formal stewardship groups, such as lake stewardship groups, take care of a specific type or portion of the landscape and encourage protective measures, including best management practices. The MPWA is a facilitator of stakeholder interactions and, as such, a connecting place and an enabling force for stewardship groups. This IWMP provides a roadmap for stewardship of natural resources in the Peace and Slave Watersheds that is based on scientific and traditional knowledge summarized in the SoW.
Milestones and Schedule
Each recommendation of the Plan was associated with a timeline: short: 2 years, medium: 5 years or long-term: 10 years (Appendix B) after the final IWMP is approved.
Major milestones are defined by the completion of components of the planning cycle (see Figure 2). The State of the Watershed reporting may be reviewed every 10 years or as otherwise determined by the MPWA. Subsequently, the progress on IWMP implementation will be reviewed, and the Plan adapted to start a new implementation phase.
Stewardship is the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care.
40 Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance
The progress toward achieving the desired outcomes of the IWMP needs to be recorded to allow evaluating and adjusting the Plan. It is therefore important to periodically review the progress made in implementing the recommended actions and the effect they had on the status of the watershed. This involves performance and implementation monitoring.
Performance monitoring is long-term scientific monitoring of the indicators of watershed health. It answers the question of whether or not watershed health is improving and attaining the stated desired outcomes. The GoA operates ongoing performance monitoring programs, such as the Long-Term River Network for river water quality and the Groundwater Observation Well Network for groundwater quantity and quality, while Environment and Climate Change Canada conducts river flow monitoring at Water Survey of Canada sites. In addition, site-specific compliance monitoring is completed by industry (e.g., Environmental Effects Monitoring) or utilities as conditions of their approval to operate. These data are reported on in various intervals by the program owners, but can also be summarized and synthesized in SoW reporting to gain a comprehensive understanding of the status of watershed health. Many more resources can be used to monitor and report on watershed health, as summarized in the Handbook for State of the Watershed Reporting (Government of Alberta 2008). The SoW and working groups identified certain data and knowledge gaps, which should be considered for improving existing monitoring networks.
Monitoring and Reporting Success
Implementation monitoring tracks progress on plan actions to:
ɣ Document and record progress toward implementation of Plan actions as a tracking system so that implementation can be evaluated against the timelines and schedule indicated in the Plan
ɣ Provide feedback to implementers
The MPWA will lead the efforts on monitoring implementation progress on the IWMP.
Performance Monitoring IndicatorsWhereas implementation monitoring tracks how many recommendations have been implemented, performance monitoring tracks how the environment responds to the changes in policy and practice. An environmental indicator is a parameter or a value that describes an aspect of the environment, and has a significance extending beyond that directly associated with any given parametric value.
For the purpose of SoW reporting, the MPWA identified indicators that would be:
ɣ Relevant to the watershed and the people associated with it ɣ In alignment with their goals, vision and mission statement ɣ Measurable according to similar standards at future dates ɣ Accessible in terms of data availability ɣ Applicable at various scales of watershed ɣ Likely to contribute to a basic understanding of watershed health
Table 3: Indicators Evaluated in the State of the Watershed
Indicator Category Indicators
Landscape Wetland Area and Status Riparian Health Land Use
Biological Community Fish Population Invasive Species
Surface Water Quantity Water Level: Peace River Flows
Water Level: Surface Water Away From
Mainstream
Allocations and Withdrawals
Surface Water Quality ARWQI Lake Water Quality Phosphorus Coliforms
Groundwater Quantity Groundwater Quantity
Groundwater Quality Groundwater Quality
41
Next Steps
This Plan is the result of years of work collecting information, establishing collaborations and working toward a set of recommendations that address key watershed health issues. The next steps are to ensure that conditions for successful Plan implementation are met and then to get started.
Throughout this process, ongoing collaboration and awareness of the issues, of the current state of the watershed and of the needs of the different users on the landscape will be central to the work being done by the MPWA and its partners.
Finally, it is important to remember that this Plan is intended as a Living Document. This draft IWMP will be subject to discussion and stakeholder consultation. The final IWMP will be subject to review periodically and allow revisions to address new challenges, changed conditions and priorities or new information. Thresholds, Targets and Limits are ongoing work of the MPWA and will contribute to the development of monitoring approaches. MPWA is working with GoA on this. The monitoring, reporting and evaluation process defined in this document will allow for this flexibility, and will ensure that the Plan will be relevant for generations to come.
References
Integrated Watershed Management Plan | Peace and Slave Watersheds 43
References
Alberta Environment and Parks 2017. Cumulative Effects Assessment in Environmental Impact Assessment Reports Required under the Alberta Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act. http://aep.alberta.ca/lands-forests/land-industrial/programs-and-services/environmental-assessment/documents/CumulativeEffectsEIAReportsUnderEPEA-A.pdf
Canadian Standards Association 2008 (reaffirmed 2013). Sustainable Forest Management. CAN/CSA-Z809-2002.
Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment 2016. Summary of Integrated Watershed Management Approaches across Canada. PN 1559. http://www.ccme.ca/files/Resources/water/water_conservation/Summary%20of%20Integrated%20Watershed%20Management%20Approaches%20Across%20Canada%20PN%201559.pdf
Fiera Biological Consulting Ltd. 2010. Aquatic Environmentally Significant Areas in Alberta. Report prepared for Alberta Environment, Edmonton, Alberta. Fiera Biological Consulting Report Number 9030-2. Pp. 66. Report Prepared by: Katherine Maxcy and Gillian Holloway.
Government of Alberta. 2003. Water for Life: Alberta’s Strategy for Sustainability. http://aep.alberta.ca/water/programs-and-services/water-for-life/strategy/documents/WaterForLife-Strategy-Nov2003.pdf
Government of Alberta 2008 a. Handbook for State of Watershed Reporting. http://aep.alberta.ca/water/programs-and-services/water-for-life/partnerships/watershed-planning-and-advisory-councils/documents/HandbookStateWatershedReporting-Nov2008.pdf
Government of Alberta 2008 b. Alberta Land-use Framework. http://aep.alberta.ca/water/programs-and-services/water-for-life/partnerships/watershed-planning-and-advisory-councils/documents/HandbookStateWatershedReporting-Nov2008.pdf
Government of Alberta 2012. Lower Athabasca Regional Plan 2012-2022. http://aep.alberta.ca/water/programs-and-services/water-for-life/partnerships/watershed-planning-and-advisory-councils/documents/HandbookStateWatershedReporting-Nov2008.pdf
Government of Alberta 2014. South Saskatchewan Regional Plan 2014-2024. https://landuse.alberta.ca/LandUse%20Documents/South%20Saskatchewan%20Regional%20Plan%202014-2024%20-%20February%202017.pdf
Government of Alberta 2015. Guide to Watershed Management Planning in Alberta. http://aep.alberta.ca/water/programs-and-services/water-for-life/partnerships/watershed-planning-and-advisory-councils/documents/GuideWatershedPlanningAlberta-2015.pdf
Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance 2015. State of the Watershed Report. http://mightypeacesow.org
Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance 2015. Terms of Reference for the Peace and Slave Watersheds Integrated Watershed Management Plan. http://aep.alberta.ca/water/programs-and-services/water-for-life/partnerships/watershed-planning-and-advisory-councils/documents/GuideWatershedPlanningAlberta-2015.pdf
Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance 2016. Peace and Slave Watershed Management Discussion Paper. https://www.mightypeacewatershedalliance.org/projects/integrated-watershed-management-plan
Appendices
Integrated Watershed Management Plan | Peace and Slave Watersheds 45
Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance Board of Directors
MPWA Seat
Richard Keillor Public at Large
Dave Walty Public at Large
Bob Cameron Conservation/Environment
Jean-Marie Sobze Research/Education
Cathy Newhook Watershed Stewardship
Dave Hay Tourism/Fisheries/Recreation
Shelleen Gerbig Agriculture
Ian Daisley Forestry
Ashley Rowney Utilities
Natalia Rossiter-Thornton Oil & Gas
Sylvia Johnson Métis Nation of Alberta
Alden Armstrong Metis Settlement General Council
Jim Webb Lower Watershed First Nation
Elaine Garrow Rural Municipality
Elaine Manzer Small Urban
Abdi Siad-Omar Federal-Transboundary Relations
Chris Thiessen Large Urban Municipality
Dan Benson Provincial Government
Appendix A: List of Participants
A large number of people participated in working groups and their time, expertise and work is greatly appreciated. Working group members are listed in the working group reports. The table below lists the Members of the MPWA Board of Directors.
46 Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance
Appendix B: List of all Recommendations
Working group recommendations were too numerous to be addressed all at once. Therefore the IWMP Steering Committee deliberated on working group recommendations to identify a subset of outcomes, strategic directions and actions to be considered in this Plan, as presented in Section 6. This Appendix contains a complete list of Outcomes, Strategic Directions and Actions received by the MPWA Board of Directors as recommended by the working groups. These are not prioritized nor have they been vetted through the consensus processes of the Board. These are the basis of the IWMP and may be potential future items of work. All recommendations, including non-prioritized strategies and actions, are presented in this appendix.
SHORT TERM = 2 YEARS
MEDIUM TERM = 5 YEARS
LONG TERM = 10 YEARS
Integrated Watershed Management Plan | Peace and Slave Watersheds 47
Out
com
esSt
rate
gic
Dir
ectio
nsAc
tions
Part
ners
Tim
efra
me
Wat
er Q
ualit
y, A
vaila
bilit
y Aw
ay fr
om th
e M
ains
tem
and
Con
sum
ptiv
e U
seAc
cess
ible
, tim
ely
and
accu
rate
ba
selin
e in
form
atio
n on
wat
er
qual
ity, a
vaila
bilit
y an
d co
nsum
ptiv
e us
e su
ppor
ts
know
ledg
e-ba
sed
deci
sion-
mak
ing
and
adap
tive
man
agem
ent s
uch
that
aqu
atic
eco
syst
em h
ealth
an
d ec
olog
ical
inte
grity
are
su
stai
ned.
Dev
elop
an
acce
ssib
le w
ater
dat
abas
e(s)
and
/or
port
als.
(Bui
ld o
n ex
istin
g da
taba
ses l
ike
the
wat
er
use
repo
rtin
g sy
stem
, AEP
, etc
.)
Iden
tify
a 3r
d pa
rty
neut
ral m
ulti-
stak
ehol
der d
atab
ase
host
. (e
.g., M
PWA,
AEP
)M
PWA,
AEP
/ac
adem
iaSH
ORT T
ERM
Dev
elop
a c
omm
unic
atio
ns st
rate
gy to
raise
aw
aren
ess o
f ava
ilabl
e da
ta.
MPW
A, A
EPME
DIUM
TERM
Find
fund
s for
dat
abas
e su
ppor
t and
for r
esea
rch
to
fill d
ata
gaps
.Cr
eate
a d
atab
ase
of a
vaila
ble
fund
ing
sour
ces.
MPW
ASH
ORT T
ERM
Inve
stig
ate
and
leve
rage
exis
ting
Wat
er fo
r Life
and
oth
er p
rovi
ncia
l in
itiat
ives
(e.g
., AB
Inno
vate
s, W
RRP
prog
ram
) for
fund
s.M
PWA,
Al,
AEP-
WRR
P, A
AFME
DIUM
TERM
Expl
ore
the
use
of a
levy
or d
onat
ion
from
wat
er u
sers
to fu
nd a
shar
ed
publ
icly
ava
ilabl
e da
taba
se.
MPW
A, w
ater
lic
ence
esME
DIUM
TERM
Colla
bora
te w
ith U
nive
rsity
rese
arch
ers
MPW
A, a
cade
mia
LONG
TERM
Dec
ide
wha
t par
amet
ers,
indi
ces w
ill be
mon
itore
d an
d as
sess
ed fo
r wat
er q
ualit
y, qu
antit
y/use
and
aq
uatic
eco
syst
em h
ealth
(inc
ludi
ng e
colo
gica
l goo
ds
and
serv
ices
).
Surv
ey c
urre
nt in
dice
s and
par
amet
ers a
nd se
lect
bes
t fit.
MPW
A, A
EP/A
BMI
SHOR
T TER
M
Stan
dard
ize c
olle
ctio
n an
d as
sess
men
t met
hods
and
tim
elin
es.
MPW
A, A
EP/A
BMI
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Esta
blish
bas
elin
e an
d be
gin
colle
ctin
g da
ta fo
r the
se in
dice
s and
/or
para
met
ers a
nd m
ake
findi
ngs p
ublic
ly a
cces
sible
.LO
NG TE
RM
Iden
tify
trig
gers
, res
pons
es.
LONG
TERM
Prom
ote
man
dato
ry w
ater
use
repo
rtin
g by
all.
Link
wat
er u
se re
port
ing
data
to th
e pu
blic
ly a
vaila
ble
data
base
and
en
sure
com
plia
nce.
AEP,
MPW
AME
DIUM
TERM
Impr
ove
our u
nder
stan
ding
of h
istor
ical
and
futu
re
flow
s and
dem
ands
.En
cour
age
Firs
t Nat
ions
and
com
mun
ity e
lder
s to
shar
e tr
aditi
onal
and
hi
stor
ical
kno
wle
dge.
MPW
A, T
reat
y 8
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Back
cas
t the
pas
t 100
yea
rs o
f flow
dat
a; fo
reca
st th
e ne
xt 10
0 ye
ars t
o ga
in a
bet
ter u
nder
stan
ding
of s
easo
nal fl
ows o
n sm
alle
r trib
utar
ies a
nd
com
pare
to p
roje
cted
inst
ream
and
Indu
stry
nee
ds, in
the
face
of
clim
ate
chan
ge.
AER-
AEP,
ac
adem
ia,
BC H
ydro
MEDI
UM TE
RM
48 Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance
Out
com
esSt
rate
gic
Dir
ectio
nsAc
tions
Part
ners
Tim
efra
me
Land
use
and
wat
er m
anag
ers a
nd
the
publ
ic a
re k
now
ledg
eabl
e ab
out t
he w
ater
bal
ance
(in
puts
an
d ou
tput
s) a
nd sh
are
acco
unta
bilit
y fo
r man
agin
g cu
rren
t and
futu
re w
ater
use
de
man
ds su
stai
nabl
y in
the
Peac
e an
d Sl
ave
Wat
ersh
eds.
Dev
elop
an
educ
atio
n an
d ou
trea
ch st
rate
gy th
at
iden
tifies
targ
et a
udie
nces
, key
mes
sage
s and
ap
prop
riate
com
mun
icat
ion
tool
s (e.
g., t
rade
show
s, Si
ster
City
, sch
ool c
urric
ulum
, etc
).
Dev
elop
a m
ains
trea
m m
edia
edu
catio
n ca
mpa
ign
for a
pub
lic a
udie
nce.
MPW
A, G
oASH
ORT T
ERM
Dev
elop
a m
ore
Indu
stry
-focu
sed
cam
paig
n pr
omot
ing
com
plia
nce,
st
ewar
dshi
p, b
est p
ract
ices
, etc
. for
wat
er h
aule
rs, r
oad
build
ers,
cons
truc
tion,
gra
der o
pera
tors
, etc
. Wor
k th
roug
h ce
rtifi
catio
n an
d tr
aini
ng p
rogr
ams t
o im
prov
e w
ater
aw
aren
ess.
MPW
A, In
dust
ry
asso
ciat
ions
, Tra
de
scho
ols
SHOR
T TER
M
Dev
elop
, or t
ap in
to e
xistin
g, m
unic
ipal
ly fo
cuse
d ca
mpa
igns
.M
PWA,
AAM
DC,
AU
MA,
ASV
AME
DIUM
TERM
Ensu
re a
ccou
ntab
ilitie
s by
build
ing
proc
esse
s int
o th
e W
ater
Act
allo
catio
n an
d lic
ensin
g sy
stem
that
as
sure
cum
ulat
ive
effec
ts a
re k
now
n an
d im
pact
s are
le
ssen
ed.
Mak
e it
a co
nditi
on o
f a li
cenc
e th
at th
e w
ater
hau
ler,
or o
ther
use
r, ha
s to
pro
ve tr
aini
ng/c
ertifi
catio
n, e
tc . (
Man
y te
mpo
rary
div
ersio
n lic
ence
ap
plic
ants
not
e th
at th
ey h
ave
thei
r hau
lers
com
plet
e on
line
trai
ning
at
ww
w.su
rfac
ewat
erdi
vers
ion.
com
.)
AER/
AEP,
Ac
cred
itatio
n bo
dies
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Ensu
re a
nd re
port
on
com
plia
nce
with
wat
er u
se re
port
ing,
con
ditio
ns
on li
cenc
es su
ch a
s mon
itorin
g, e
tc.
AER/
AEP
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Put a
mor
e fo
rmal
syst
em in
pla
ce w
ith re
sour
ces t
o m
onito
r/mod
el
licen
ce w
ithdr
awal
s and
tim
ing
of fl
ows o
n an
y sm
all t
ribut
ary
with
m
ultip
le te
rm o
r tem
pora
ry d
iver
sion
licen
ces o
n it.
AER-
AEP,
ap
plic
ants
LONG
TERM
Sour
ce w
ater
yie
ld is
reco
gnize
d as
a v
alue
to b
e m
anag
ed b
y th
e Cr
own
ensu
ring
sour
ce w
ater
s are
pr
otec
ted.
Raise
aw
aren
ess a
nd p
rom
ote
the
use
of so
urce
w
ater
pro
tect
ion
plan
s for
all
sour
ce w
ater
s (ex
istin
g an
d ne
w) i
n th
e Pe
ace
and
Slav
e W
ater
shed
s.
Defi
ne, lo
cate
and
map
sour
ce w
ater
s (su
rfac
e an
d gr
ound
wat
er) i
n th
e w
ater
shed
.M
PWA,
AAM
DC
SHOR
T TER
M
Prom
ote
exist
ing
tool
s and
pro
gram
s tha
t are
cur
rent
ly a
vaila
ble
to
Mun
icip
aliti
es a
nd p
rivat
e sy
stem
ow
ners
to d
evel
op p
lans
(tec
hnic
al
advi
ce, t
empl
ates
, etc
.)
MPW
A, A
AMD
CME
DIUM
TERM
Miti
gate
ant
hrop
ogen
ic p
oint
and
non
–poi
nt so
urce
po
llutio
n (s
edim
ents
, nut
rient
s, et
c).
Iden
tify
curr
ent a
nd p
oten
tial p
ollu
tant
s and
sour
ces (
both
nat
ural
and
an
thro
poge
nic)
.M
PWA,
aca
dem
iaME
DIUM
TERM
Crea
te a
nd im
plem
ent a
n ed
ucat
ion
plan
abo
ut N
PSP
and
how
to
miti
gate
its i
mpa
cts.
MPW
A,
Agric
ultu
re
Indu
stry
SHOR
T TER
M
Prom
ote
the
use
of a
gric
ultu
ral B
MPs
(e.g
., off-
site
wat
erin
g sy
stem
s)
part
icul
arly
in th
e Up
per P
eace
and
Sm
oky-
Wap
iti su
b-ba
sins.
MPW
A,
Agric
ultu
reME
DIUM
TERM
Inve
stig
ate
trad
e-ab
le c
redi
ts/o
ffset
s/cap
-and
-trad
e sy
stem
s for
thei
r ab
ility
to a
ffect
cum
ulat
ive
effec
ts. (
See
prov
inci
al p
olic
y on
co
nser
vatio
n off
-set
s)
Acad
emia
, MPW
ALO
NG TE
RM
Prom
ote
pass
ive
ecos
yste
m m
anag
emen
t with
bu
ffers
, set
back
s, co
nser
vatio
n ea
sem
ents
, mun
icip
al
and
envi
ronm
enta
l res
erve
s, et
c. a
roun
d w
ater
bodi
es, w
etla
nds,
ripar
ian
land
s, flo
odpl
ains
and
aq
uife
r rec
harg
e an
d di
scha
rge
area
s.
Inve
stig
ate
the
ALUS
or a
sim
ilar i
ncen
tive
prog
ram
(eco
logi
cal g
oods
an
d se
rvic
e pa
ymen
ts) f
or th
e Pe
ace.
AB L
and
Inst
itute
, M
PWA,
aca
dem
iaME
DIUM
TERM
Iden
tify
(del
inea
te) C
row
n la
nds (
bed
and
shor
e) o
n tit
le b
efor
e la
nd
sale
s (or
at t
he re
ferr
als s
tage
) (se
e th
e ne
w g
uide
on
esta
blish
ing
perm
anen
ce).
AEP,
AAM
DC
Map
floo
dpla
ins a
nd li
mit
deve
lopm
ent o
n an
d re
stor
e; se
e W
RRP
prog
ram
.AE
P, T
own
of
Peac
e Ri
ver
Integrated Watershed Management Plan | Peace and Slave Watersheds 49
Out
com
esSt
rate
gic
Dir
ectio
nsAc
tions
Part
ners
Tim
efra
me
The
wat
er a
lloca
tion
syst
em is
co
mpr
ehen
sive,
tran
spar
ent,
effici
ent a
nd e
ffect
ive
and
prot
ects
aqu
atic
eco
syst
em
heal
th a
nd e
colo
gica
l int
egrit
y in
th
e Pe
ace
and
Slav
e W
ater
shed
s.
Det
erm
ine
the
in-s
trea
m fl
ow n
eeds
(usin
g th
e de
skto
p m
etho
d) fo
r any
prio
rity
(e.g
., ove
r a
part
icul
ar v
olum
e) tr
ibut
ary
with
an
allo
catio
n lic
ence
on
it w
ith a
vaila
ble
data
and
/or a
surr
ogat
e.
Det
erm
ine
wha
t nee
ds to
be
prot
ecte
d fo
r ins
trea
m fl
ow n
eeds
, in
clud
ing
wet
land
/eco
syst
ems a
nd h
ow m
uch
wat
er is
allo
cate
d in
eac
h ba
sin; w
hat r
emai
ns f
or a
lloca
tion,
seas
onal
issu
es, e
tc.
GoA
-AEP
, MPW
ALO
NG TE
RM
Prom
ote
the
wat
er u
se re
port
ing
syst
em a
nd e
nsur
e co
mpl
ianc
e su
ch th
at a
ll te
mpo
rary
div
ersio
n an
d te
rm li
cenc
e-ho
lder
s (e.
g., a
gric
ultu
ral u
sers
, irr
igat
ion,
larg
er li
cenc
es e
tc.)
are
trac
king
and
re
port
ing
wat
er u
se.
Look
at c
urre
nt m
onito
ring
and
com
plia
nce
syst
ems t
o en
sure
wat
er
allo
catio
ns a
re a
ppro
pria
te th
roug
h se
nsiti
ve p
erio
ds, c
ompl
ianc
e is
100%
, incl
udin
g cu
mul
ativ
e eff
ects
mon
itorin
g (t
o be
defi
ned)
and
re
port
ing.
AER-
AEP,
Indu
stry
LONG
TERM
Unde
rsta
nd li
mits
(car
ryin
g ca
paci
ty) f
or tr
ibut
arie
s an
d m
anag
e th
e cu
mul
ativ
e eff
ects
of W
ater
Act
ap
prov
als.
Star
t a
pilo
t pro
ject
with
smar
t-met
er re
al-ti
me
mon
itorin
g in
crit
ical
ar
eas (
to b
e de
fined
).AE
R-AE
P,
Indu
stry
, MPW
ALO
NG TE
RM
Sour
ce w
ater
ava
ilabi
lity
is a
key
cons
ider
atio
n of
cur
rent
and
fu
ture
pop
ulat
ion
grow
th a
nd
deve
lopm
ent.
Inte
grat
e la
nd a
nd w
ater
shed
pla
nnin
g.En
sure
a M
PWA
boar
d m
embe
r sits
on
the
Uppe
r and
Low
er P
eace
pl
anni
ng p
roce
sses
.M
PWA,
AEP
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Inve
stig
ate
desig
natin
g th
e w
ater
shed
pla
n as
a su
b-re
gion
al p
lan.
AEP,
MPW
AME
DIUM
TERM
Fore
cast
futu
re g
row
th a
nd d
evel
opm
ent o
f the
w
ater
shed
(all
futu
re n
eeds
) to
info
rm d
ecisi
on-
mak
ing
on a
ll so
urce
wat
erbo
dies
par
ticul
arly
prio
rity
sour
ce tr
ibut
arie
s und
er d
eman
d.
Enga
ge c
onsu
ltant
to m
odel
wat
ersh
ed (e
.g., A
LCES
) or t
hose
tr
ibut
arie
s bel
ieve
d to
be
unde
r pre
ssur
e.M
PWA,
M
unic
ipal
ities
, In
dust
ry
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Iden
tify
and
supp
ort c
omm
uniti
es w
ith c
ritic
al w
ater
su
pply
and
/or t
reat
men
t iss
ues.
Crea
te a
list
of c
omm
uniti
es a
nd is
sues
(inc
ludi
ng F
irst N
atio
ns
com
mun
ities
with
boi
l wat
er a
dviso
ries)
.AA
MD
C, F
CM,
GoA,
Tre
aty
8SH
ORT T
ERM
Prio
ritize
com
mun
ities
for a
ctio
n.AA
MD
C, F
CM,
GoA,
Tre
aty
8ME
DIUM
TERM
Out
line
poss
ible
act
ions
to im
prov
e su
pply
and
/or t
reat
men
t opt
ions
, in
part
icul
ar lo
okin
g at
regi
onal
col
labo
ratio
ns.
AAM
DC,
FCM
, Go
A, T
reat
y 8
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Cond
uct f
easib
ility
stud
ies.
AAM
DC,
FCM
, Go
A, T
reat
y 8
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Sele
ct o
n op
tion.
AAM
DC,
FCM
, Go
A, T
reat
y 8
LONG
TERM
Fund
and
impl
emen
t thr
ough
exis
ting
fede
ral a
nd p
rovi
ncia
l mun
icip
al
infr
astr
uctu
re p
rogr
ams.
AAM
DC,
FCM
, Go
A, T
reat
y 8
LONG
TERM
50 Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance
Out
com
esSt
rate
gic
Dir
ectio
nsAc
tions
Part
ners
Tim
efra
me
Cons
umpt
ive
use
of fr
esh
wat
er is
m
anag
ed su
stai
nabl
y an
d ec
onom
ical
ly.
Empo
wer
wat
er u
se m
anag
ers a
nd p
lann
ers t
o ac
hiev
e sh
ared
obj
ectiv
es fr
om a
n ag
reed
-to
wat
ersh
ed m
anag
emen
t pla
n.
Use
ince
ntiv
es a
nd c
ompl
ianc
e, in
the
right
bal
ance
.G
oA,
Mun
icip
aliti
es,
Indu
stry
, Firs
t N
atio
ns
LONG
TERM
Mon
itor a
nd a
sses
s (us
ing
perf
orm
ance
mea
sure
s) th
e ac
hiev
emen
t of
obje
ctiv
es.
GoA
, M
unic
ipal
ities
, In
dust
ry, F
irst
Nat
ions
LONG
TERM
Ensu
re in
stre
am fl
ow n
eeds
are
set o
n al
l wat
erbo
dies
with
allo
catio
ns
to g
uide
dec
ision
-mak
ing .
GoA
, M
unic
ipal
ities
, In
dust
ry, F
irst
Nat
ions
LONG
TERM
Set a
nd e
duca
te o
n a
com
mon
term
inol
ogy
(e.g
., was
te, u
nrefi
ned
prod
uct,
etc.
).G
oA,
Mun
icip
aliti
es,
Indu
stry
, Firs
t N
atio
ns
LONG
TERM
Crea
te a
foru
m fo
r tra
nspa
rent
disc
ussio
ns a
bout
trad
e-off
s.M
PWA,
All
stak
ehol
ders
LONG
TERM
Prom
ote
best
ava
ilabl
e te
chno
logy
, CEP
pla
nnin
g, w
ater
reus
e an
d re
cycl
ing
of so
urce
and
was
tew
ater
s (to
be
defin
ed).
GoA
, AB
Inno
vate
sME
DIUM
TERM
Unde
rsta
nd d
eman
d an
d tim
ing
of d
eman
d (in
stan
tane
ous a
nd a
nnua
l, an
d lo
ng-te
rm) a
s wel
l as l
ong-
term
supp
ly c
ycle
s and
tren
ds.
GoA
, Aca
dem
ia,
Mun
icip
ality
, In
dust
ry
LONG
TERM
Peac
e Ri
ver F
low
Reg
ime
Peop
le a
re a
war
e of
the
impo
rtan
ce o
f the
Pea
ce R
iver
flo
w re
gim
e, w
hat i
t mea
ns to
ba
sin re
siden
ts a
nd w
hat i
t pr
ovid
es.
Dev
elop
an
educ
atio
n an
d ou
trea
ch st
rate
gy to
raise
aw
aren
ess a
bout
the
impo
rtan
ce o
f hea
lthy
river
flo
w fr
om th
e he
adw
ater
s to
the
Del
ta (i
nclu
ding
a
focu
s on
how
the
mai
nste
m fl
ow in
tera
cts w
ith o
ther
w
ater
bodi
es su
ch a
s the
Low
er P
eace
wet
land
s and
Pe
ace-
Atha
basc
a D
elta
).
Dev
elop
the
stra
tegy
and
ass
ocia
ted
mat
eria
ls.M
PWA,
AEP
, PCA
, PA
DEM
P, M
RBB
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Dist
ribut
e m
ater
ials
at m
eetin
gs a
roun
d th
e ba
sin, o
r via
trad
e sh
ows,
new
spap
er a
rtic
les,
wor
ksho
ps, e
tc.
MPW
A, A
EP, P
CA,
PAD
EMP,
MRB
BME
DIUM
TERM
Integrated Watershed Management Plan | Peace and Slave Watersheds 51
Out
com
esSt
rate
gic
Dir
ectio
nsAc
tions
Part
ners
Tim
efra
me
The
curr
ent P
eace
Riv
er fl
ow
regi
me
and
its re
latio
nshi
p to
the
aqua
tic e
cosy
stem
hea
lth o
f oth
er
wat
erbo
dies
(e.
g., D
elta
lake
s, Lo
wer
Pea
ce a
nd D
elta
wet
land
s, gr
ound
wat
er, e
tc.)
is un
ders
tood
.
Colle
ct e
xistin
g te
chni
cal i
nfor
mat
ion
on th
e Pe
ace
Rive
r flow
regi
me
(incl
udin
g its
inte
ract
ions
with
as
soci
ated
lake
s, w
etla
nds,
pond
s, ch
anne
ls,
grou
ndw
ater
, etc
.), sy
nthe
size
key
lear
ning
s and
id
entif
y in
form
atio
n ga
ps. N
ote
that
the
UNES
CO
stra
tegi
c en
viro
nmen
tal a
sses
smen
t may
ach
ieve
so
me
of th
is fo
r WBN
P.
Asse
ss c
urre
nt m
ains
tem
and
oth
er w
ater
body
mon
itorin
g an
d de
term
ine
if ad
ditio
nal m
onito
ring,
map
ping
or m
odel
ling
is re
quire
d to
im
prov
e ou
r und
erst
andi
ng o
f flow
regi
me
rela
tions
hips
, par
ticul
arly
be
twee
n ov
erba
nk fl
oodi
ng a
nd in
tegr
ity o
f wet
land
s in
the
Low
er P
eace
an
d D
elta
.
AEP,
EC,
PCA
, PA
DEM
P, M
PWA,
N
orth
Pea
ce L
and
and
Wat
er, D
UC
SHOR
T TER
M
Org
anize
a te
chni
cal c
omm
ittee
to id
entif
y, pr
iorit
ize
and
fill d
ata
gaps
. (Bu
ild o
n ex
istin
g PA
DEM
P w
ork
but e
xten
d m
embe
rshi
p ou
tsid
e of
Del
ta.)
Unde
rtak
e a
liter
atur
e re
view
of n
atur
alize
d to
reco
rded
flow
co
mpa
rison
s. Th
en c
alcu
late
inst
ream
flow
nee
ds (v
ia m
odel
ling/
natu
raliz
ing
reco
rded
flow
s dat
aset
). Co
mpa
re to
cur
rent
flow
regi
me
and
iden
tify
any
issue
s.
AEP,
MRB
BSH
ORT T
ERM
Revi
ew a
nd u
pdat
e th
e 19
80s s
tudy
to e
valu
ate
the
effec
tiven
ess o
f the
w
eirs
con
stru
cted
in th
e D
elta
in th
e 19
70s.
This
shou
ld in
form
if a
) m
aint
enan
ce o
f the
se st
ruct
ures
is re
quire
d; b
) whe
ther
thes
e st
ruct
ures
wer
e/ar
e st
ill eff
ectiv
e; a
nd c
) if s
uch
stru
ctur
es m
ight
pr
ovid
e m
anag
emen
t opt
ions
for o
ther
are
as o
f the
Pea
ce a
nd S
lave
W
ater
shed
s.
AEP,
ECC
C, P
CA,
MRB
BME
DIUM
TERM
Cond
uct a
lite
ratu
re re
view
, and
pos
sibly
initi
ate
a st
udy,
to a
sses
s se
dim
ent t
rans
port
/silta
tion/
wat
er q
ualit
y iss
ues i
dent
ified
by
basin
re
siden
ts.
AEP,
ECC
C, P
CA,
MRB
BME
DIUM
TERM
Cond
uct a
stud
y to
iden
tify
the
feas
ibilit
y, op
timal
con
ditio
ns a
nd c
osts
of
doi
ng a
rele
ase
to a
ugm
ent fl
oodi
ng; a
s wel
l as t
he c
osts
of n
ot d
oing
an
ythi
ng.
AEP,
ECC
C, P
CA,
PAD
EMP
Cultu
ral,
soci
al, e
cono
mic
and
en
viro
nmen
tal i
ssue
s with
the
curr
ent fl
ow re
gim
e ar
e do
cum
ente
d, w
ell u
nder
stoo
d an
d co
mm
unic
ated
to d
ecisi
on-
mak
ers.
Usin
g IK
/TEK
and
loca
l kno
wle
dge,
com
pile
an
inve
ntor
y of
site
s whe
re p
eopl
e, M
unic
ipal
ities
, or
Indu
stry
exp
erie
nce
issue
s be
caus
e of
rive
r flow
re
gim
e (e
.g., u
nsta
ble
bank
s, tim
ing
of ic
e br
idge
s, w
ater
inta
ke p
lace
men
t, bo
atin
g/na
viga
tion,
fish
erie
s, st
rand
ed w
ildlif
e, d
ryin
g of
wet
land
s, et
c.).
Cond
uct a
lite
ratu
re se
arch
and
com
pile
a su
mm
ary
of e
xistin
g w
ork
(incl
ude
TEK
repo
rts,
EIA
cons
ulta
tion
proc
esse
s, in
tere
st d
ocum
ent
wor
k pr
evio
usly
don
e by
MRB
B, U
nive
rsiti
es, e
tc.).
MPW
A, A
borig
inal
Co
mm
uniti
esSH
ORT T
ERM
Cond
uct a
surv
ey a
nd/o
r do
inte
rvie
ws w
ith ri
ver u
sers
(fer
ry o
pera
tors
, tr
appe
rs, fi
sher
s, et
c.) a
nd c
omm
uniti
es a
long
the
river
; com
pile
and
pr
ovid
e re
sults
to A
EP.
MPW
A, ri
ver u
sers
et
c.SH
ORT T
ERM
Des
ired
Abor
igin
al, c
ultu
ral,
soci
al,
econ
omic
and
eco
logi
cal fl
ow
valu
es to
gui
de m
anag
emen
t of
the
Peac
e Ri
ver a
nd it
s trib
utar
ies
are
iden
tified
and
shar
ed b
y al
l.
Cont
inue
to id
entif
y co
mm
unity
flow
val
ues t
o gu
ide
wat
er a
nd la
nd m
anag
ers a
nd d
ecisi
on-m
aker
s.Se
e in
itial
dra
ft V
alue
s tab
le in
Rec
omm
enda
tions
.M
PWA,
Bas
in
resid
ents
SHOR
T TER
M
Shar
e flo
w v
alue
s with
oth
er b
asin
initi
ativ
es.
See
tabl
e of
con
curr
ent i
nitia
tives
in R
ecom
men
datio
ns.
MPW
A, o
ther
in
itiat
ives
LONG
TERM
Pote
ntia
l man
agem
ent o
ptio
ns
and
tool
s to
achi
eve
optim
al
com
mun
ity fl
ow v
alue
s are
in
vest
igat
ed.
Dev
elop
opt
ions
/scen
ario
s to
best
ach
ieve
opt
imal
co
mm
unity
flow
val
ues.
Hol
d a
tech
nica
l wor
ksho
p to
bra
inst
orm
and
ass
ess t
he fe
asib
ility
of a
ra
nge
of p
oten
tial m
anag
emen
t too
ls su
ch a
s flow
cha
nges
, wei
rs,
wet
land
rest
orat
ion,
land
man
agem
ent p
ract
ices
, etc
.
AEP,
ECC
C, P
CAME
DIUM
TERM
52 Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance
Out
com
esSt
rate
gic
Dir
ectio
nsAc
tions
Part
ners
Tim
efra
me
The
man
agem
ent o
ptio
n an
d/or
to
ols t
hat o
ptim
ize c
omm
unity
sh
ared
flow
val
ues i
s co
mm
unic
ated
to A
EP, a
s the
y ne
gotia
te a
nd m
anag
e tr
ansb
ound
ary
wat
er a
gree
men
ts
for t
he P
eace
, Sla
ve a
nd o
ther
tr
ansb
ound
ary
wat
erbo
dies
.
MPW
A bo
ard
reco
mm
ends
the
desir
ed
man
agem
ent
regi
me
to A
EP’s
tran
sbou
ndar
y un
it.M
PWA,
AEP
LONG
TERM
The
LUF
Uppe
r and
Low
er P
eace
re
gion
al p
lans
reco
gnize
the
impo
rtan
ce o
f, an
d co
ntrib
ute
to,
the
heal
th o
f the
Pea
ce R
iver
and
its
ass
ocia
ted
trib
utar
ies,
wet
land
s and
oth
er w
ater
bodi
es.
Com
plet
e th
e IW
MP
and
prov
ide
it to
the
LUF
Regi
onal
Pla
nnin
g st
aff fo
r con
sider
atio
n in
the
uppe
r and
low
er P
eace
regi
onal
pla
ns.
MPW
A, G
oASH
ORT T
ERM
Exam
ine
the
Wet
land
Pol
icy
in re
latio
n to
the
Low
er
Peac
e an
d de
term
ine
how
pol
icy
impl
emen
tatio
n (a
nd th
e po
licy
valu
atio
n fr
amew
ork)
will
affec
t w
etla
nds a
nd w
etla
nd v
alue
s with
in th
e Pe
ace
and
Slav
e W
ater
shed
s.
Ask
the
Wet
land
Pol
icy
Impl
emen
tatio
n offi
ce to
mak
e a
pres
enta
tion
to
the
MPW
A bo
ard
to a
ddre
ss th
is qu
estio
n.M
PWA,
AEP
SHOR
T TER
M
Wet
land
s an
d W
etla
nd L
oss
Base
line
info
rmat
ion
supp
orts
kn
owle
dge-
base
d de
cisio
n-m
akin
g an
d ad
aptiv
e m
anag
emen
t.
Dev
elop
goo
d ba
selin
e in
form
atio
n in
clud
ing
an
acce
ssib
le G
IS w
etla
nd in
vent
ory
with
bot
h su
rfac
e w
ater
del
inea
tion
and
sub-
surf
ace
flow
s (i.e
. gr
ound
wat
er c
onne
ctio
n).
Build
on
exist
ing
MPW
A, G
oA a
nd G
oC (W
BNP)
wet
land
inve
ntor
ies t
o de
velo
p co
mpl
ete
base
line
data
for t
he P
eace
and
Sla
ve W
ater
shed
s (a
nd p
ossib
ly th
e H
ay a
nd L
iard
wat
ersh
eds)
incl
udin
g in
form
atio
n on
W
BNP,
shal
low
ope
n w
ater
, cur
rent
and
hist
oric
al d
istrib
utio
n, ty
pe,
area
s of l
oss,
and
area
s for
rest
orat
ion.
Use
Alb
erta
Veg
etat
ive In
vent
ory,
Lida
r, TE
K, g
roun
d tr
uthi
ng, I
ndus
try
data
, etc
. to
impr
ove
map
s.
MPW
A, G
oA-A
EP,
GoC-
WBN
P, D
UC,
Indu
stry
, Bor
eal
Fore
st
Cons
erva
tion
Initi
ativ
e
LONG
TERM
Defi
ne a
nd m
onito
r wet
land
hea
lth a
nd p
erio
dica
lly
asse
ss th
e st
ate
of w
etla
nds.
Wor
k w
ith th
e Go
A-AE
P, G
oC-P
C an
d AE
MER
A-AB
MI t
o de
term
ine
crite
ria, p
roto
cols,
etc
. and
inco
rpor
ate
into
MPW
A st
ate
of re
port
ing .
MPW
A, G
oA-A
EP,
AEP,
ABM
ILO
NG TE
RM
Set b
ench
mar
ks a
nd d
eter
min
e m
anag
emen
t ob
ject
ives
to
guid
e fu
ture
wor
k in
an
itera
tive
and
adap
tive
proc
ess v
ia th
e IW
MP
proc
ess.
Det
erm
ine
appr
opri
ate
time
perio
d(s)
for b
ench
mar
ks (e
.g., c
urre
nt,
pre-
sett
lem
ent,
etc.
) dep
endi
ng o
n th
e qu
estio
ns th
at n
eed
answ
erin
g.
Star
t in
high
er im
pact
ed su
b-ba
sins i
nclu
ding
the
Uppe
r Pea
ce a
nd
Smok
y-W
apiti
.
AEP,
Firs
t Nat
ions
, AA
FSH
ORT T
ERM
Cont
inue
to e
xplo
re w
etla
nd m
anag
emen
t opt
ions
mea
ning
ful t
o st
akeh
olde
rs g
oing
forw
ard
perh
aps b
y m
odel
ling
futu
re d
istur
banc
e fo
otpr
int (
tem
pora
ry a
nd p
erm
anen
t los
s), c
limat
e ch
ange
, etc
.
MPW
A, a
ll se
ctor
sLO
NG TE
RM
Impr
ove
our u
nder
stan
ding
of t
he e
colo
gy o
f w
etla
nds i
n th
e w
ater
shed
incl
udin
g th
e go
ods a
nd
serv
ices
they
pro
vide
reco
gnizi
ng th
ese
mig
ht b
e aff
ecte
d by
cum
ulat
ive
effec
ts a
nd c
limat
e ch
ange
.
Det
erm
ine
rese
arch
prio
ritie
s (e.
g., im
pact
of w
etla
nd lo
ss o
n aq
uife
r re
char
ge o
r spe
cies
at r
isk; c
arry
ing
capa
city
, etc
.), p
artn
ers,
etc.
in a
re
sear
ch st
rate
gy. G
lean
lear
ning
s fro
m W
hite
Are
a w
etla
nd re
sear
ch
but e
ncou
rage
new
rese
arch
to fo
cus o
n th
e Gr
een
Area
(bor
eal)
wet
land
s.
MPW
A, A
B In
nova
tes,
acad
emia
, re
sear
cher
s, D
UC,
Indu
stry
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Dev
elop
a T
EK st
udy
of w
etla
nd u
ses a
nd im
port
ance
and
hist
oric
al
dist
ribut
ion.
Trib
al C
ounc
ils/
MPW
A, G
oA, G
oA-
Indi
geno
us
rela
tions
, AEP
, Go
C-PC
A
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Integrated Watershed Management Plan | Peace and Slave Watersheds 53
Out
com
esSt
rate
gic
Dir
ectio
nsAc
tions
Part
ners
Tim
efra
me
Ever
yone
in th
e w
ater
shed
is
know
ledg
eabl
e ab
out w
etla
nds
and
thei
r soc
ial,
econ
omic
and
en
viro
nmen
tal v
alue
.
Strik
e an
edu
catio
n co
mm
ittee
to d
evel
op a
nd
impl
emen
t a g
ener
al w
etla
nd e
duca
tion
and
outr
each
pla
n.
Mod
el th
is ed
ucat
ion
and
outr
each
pla
n on
the
Univ
ersit
y of
Sa
skat
chew
an D
elta
Dia
logu
e N
etw
ork:
an e
xam
ple
of k
now
ledg
e bu
ildin
g an
d sh
arin
g an
d kn
owle
dge
mob
ilizat
ion.
Tar
get m
unic
ipal
co
unci
ls, a
gric
ultu
re se
rvic
e bo
ards
, Ind
ustr
y, th
e pu
blic
, etc
. (ta
ke a
tr
iage
app
roac
h to
det
erm
inin
g se
ctor
prio
ritie
s.)
MPW
A, C
ows a
nd
Fish
, DUC
, ACA
, N
atur
e AB
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Prov
ide
inpu
t to
AEP
as th
ey re
view
and
rene
w th
e Al
bert
a Ed
ucat
ion
wet
land
cur
ricul
um (W
ebbe
d Fe
et N
ot R
equi
red)
to fo
cus m
ore
on
wet
land
man
agem
ent i
n a
nort
hern
con
text
. Ass
ist A
EP w
ith c
urric
ulum
de
liver
y an
d pr
omot
ion
thro
ugho
ut th
e Pe
ace.
MPW
A, A
EP
Educ
atio
n an
d O
utre
ach
Grou
p;
scho
ol d
istric
ts,
Gran
de P
rairi
e En
viro
nmen
tal
Scie
nces
Ed
ucat
ion
Soci
ety
and
othe
r for
est
educ
atio
n so
ciet
ies
LONG
TERM
Enga
ge p
ost-s
econ
dary
and
pro
fess
iona
l org
aniza
tions
in th
e Pe
ace
and
Slav
e W
ater
shed
s in
wet
land
edu
catio
n an
d ou
trea
ch.
MPW
A, N
AIT
Bore
al In
stitu
te,
etc.
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Com
mun
icat
e th
e st
ate
of w
etla
nds a
nd w
etla
nd
tren
ds.
Inte
grat
e w
etla
nd st
ate
of re
port
ing
into
the
MPW
A st
ate
of re
port
ing
proc
ess.
Incl
ude
wet
land
s in
MPW
A st
ate
of re
port
ing.
MPW
A, A
EP, A
BMI
LONG
TERM
Ensu
re w
etla
nd e
duca
tion
and
outr
each
pro
duct
s ar
e av
aila
ble.
MPW
A, D
UCSH
ORT T
ERM
Ever
yone
in th
e ba
sin is
aw
are
of
the
prov
ision
s of t
he W
ater
Act
, Pu
blic
Lan
ds A
ct a
nd th
e W
etla
nd
Polic
y an
d al
l oth
er le
gisla
tion
(e.g
., SAR
A) r
elat
ed to
man
agin
g hu
man
act
iviti
es a
roun
d w
etla
nds.
Dev
elop
a m
ore
spec
ific
awar
enes
s cam
paig
n ar
ound
th
e ne
w W
etla
nd P
olic
y an
d po
licy
impl
emen
tatio
n to
ols t
arge
ted
spec
ifica
lly a
t sec
tors
ope
ratin
g in
the
Peac
e an
d Sl
ave
Wat
ersh
eds.
Iden
tify
prio
rity
targ
et a
udie
nces
(e.g
., Mun
icip
aliti
es, p
eat m
inin
g, ro
ad
build
ing,
agr
icul
ture
and
Indu
stry
ass
ocia
tions
, etc
.), k
ey m
essa
ges a
nd
appr
opria
te c
omm
unic
atio
n to
ols (
e.g.
, fiel
d ex
tens
ion,
soci
al m
edia
, et
c). R
esou
rce
cam
paig
n im
plem
enta
tion
with
wet
land
offs
et d
olla
rs.
GoA
(AEP
, AAF
), M
unic
ipal
ities
, In
dust
ry,
prof
essio
nal
asso
ciat
ions
, co
nsul
tant
s, et
c.
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Ensu
re la
ndow
ners
and
land
use
rs o
pera
ting
in th
e w
ater
shed
are
kno
wle
dgea
ble
abou
t and
com
ply
with
le
gisla
tion.
Dev
elop
an
educ
atio
n, c
ompl
ianc
e an
d en
forc
emen
t pro
gram
.AE
P, A
ER, A
AF,
Agric
ultu
re,
Indu
stry
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Wor
k w
ith a
gric
ultu
re a
nd In
dust
ry to
set s
hare
d w
etla
nd o
bjec
tives
in
an IW
MP
that
they
can
ach
ieve
(car
rot r
athe
r tha
n th
e st
ick)
abo
ve th
e re
gula
tory
bac
ksto
p. E
nsur
e th
ere
is aw
aren
ess o
f exis
ting
and
new
in
cent
ive
prog
ram
s.
MPW
A, In
dust
ry
and
Agric
ultu
reME
DIUM
TERM
54 Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance
Out
com
esSt
rate
gic
Dir
ectio
nsAc
tions
Part
ners
Tim
efra
me
Land
owne
rs a
nd la
nd u
sers
are
in
cent
ed to
be
good
stew
ards
and
co
nser
ve w
etla
nds.
Prom
ote
stew
ards
hip
with
var
ious
use
r gro
ups.
Wor
k w
ith o
ff-ro
adin
g/al
l-ter
rain
veh
icle
use
rs to
pro
mot
e st
ewar
dshi
p.
See
Trea
d Li
ghtly
on
the
Tund
ra m
odel
.AE
P, W
PACs
, us
ers,
reta
ilers
, re
crea
tion
grou
ps
SHOR
T TER
M
Wor
k w
ith a
gric
ultu
re se
ctor
to im
prov
e un
ders
tand
ing
of th
e ec
onom
ic b
enefi
ts o
f wet
land
s and
the
ecol
ogic
al g
oods
and
serv
ices
th
ey p
rovi
de a
nd to
impl
emen
t BM
Ps.
AAF,
M
unic
ipal
ities
, Go
A (A
gric
ultu
re
grou
ps a
nd A
AAF
field
men
),
Cow
s and
Fish
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Wor
k w
ith In
dust
ry to
pro
mot
e st
ewar
dshi
p to
ols s
uch
as B
MPs
, Cod
es
of P
ract
ice,
bio
dive
rsity
and
con
serv
atio
n off
sets
, etc
.G
oA, W
PACs
, In
dust
ry, s
ee D
UC
BMP
wor
k
MEDI
UM TE
RM
In a
reas
of h
igh
wet
land
loss
or
degr
adat
ion,
wet
land
s are
re
stor
ed.
Unde
rsta
nd th
e re
latio
nshi
p be
twee
n th
e Pe
ace
mai
n st
em fl
ow re
gim
e, th
e he
alth
of w
etla
nds i
n th
e PA
D, a
nd th
e qu
ality
of l
ife o
f loc
al in
habi
tant
s and
pr
omot
e th
e op
erat
ion
of fl
ows t
o pr
eser
ve th
is re
latio
nshi
p.
Crea
te a
mul
ti-st
akeh
olde
r com
mitt
ee to
pro
vide
its p
ersp
ectiv
e an
d ad
vice
to th
e AB
-BC
Tran
sbou
ndar
y N
egot
iatio
n te
ams.
GoA
, GoC
(PCA
, EC
), M
PWA,
Firs
t N
atio
ns, A
B-BC
Tr
ansb
ound
ary
Neg
otia
ting
team
s
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Exam
ine
pre-
(nat
ural
), po
st-d
am a
nd c
urre
nt d
esire
d flo
w a
nd d
evel
op
pote
ntia
l opt
ions
/scen
ario
s to
man
age
the
flow
of t
he P
eace
for t
he
heal
th o
f peo
ple
and
wet
land
s in
the
PAD.
GoA
, GoC
(PCA
, EC
), M
RBB,
bi
late
ral
nego
tiato
rs, e
tc.
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Defi
ne w
hat i
s mea
nt b
y “a
reas
of h
igh
wet
land
loss
” in
the
Peac
e-Sl
ave
basin
con
text
and
map
the
occu
rren
ce o
f any
such
hig
h lo
ss a
reas
.
From
the
base
line
map
s dev
elop
ed in
Out
com
e 1,
look
at h
istor
ical
loss
. Us
ing
a tr
iage
app
roac
h, d
efine
and
map
are
as o
f hig
h lo
ss. T
he
defin
ition
cou
ld b
e nu
mbe
r of w
etla
nds,
area
l cov
er, lo
ss o
f fun
ctio
ns,
etc.
It c
ould
also
be
diffe
rent
in d
iffer
ent s
ub-b
asin
s, de
pend
ing
on th
e re
gion
al c
onte
xt. W
ork
shou
ld b
e st
arte
d in
the
sub-
basin
s with
the
high
est f
ootp
rint (
Uppe
r Pea
ce, S
mok
y W
apiti
).
DU
C, M
PWA
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Part
ner w
ith la
nd tr
usts
and
oth
er la
nd st
ewar
ds
(DUC
, TN
C, A
CA, P
arks
Can
ada,
Firs
t Nat
ions
, for
est
Indu
stry
, etc
.) to
con
serv
e w
etla
nds.
Stre
ngth
en c
omm
unic
atio
n be
twee
n fo
rest
ry a
nd F
N (r
e: o
pera
tiona
l pl
anni
ng).
Fore
stry
Sec
tor,
Firs
t Nat
ions
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Prom
ote
and
supp
ort l
and
trus
ts b
y en
cour
agin
g th
em to
ope
rate
in th
e Pe
ace
and
Slav
e W
ater
shed
s and
link
ing
them
to p
oten
tial d
onor
s.M
PWA,
MPW
A pa
rtne
rsSH
ORT T
ERM
Cond
uct a
regi
onal
stra
tegi
c en
viro
nmen
tal
asse
ssm
ent a
s a to
ol to
mod
el sc
enar
ios/
man
agem
ent o
ptio
ns to
ach
ieve
out
com
es.
Mod
ellin
g sc
enar
ios w
ill lik
ely
be a
par
t of t
he L
UF re
gion
al p
lann
ing
proc
esse
s, an
d ho
pefu
lly w
ill in
clud
e st
akeh
olde
r inp
ut in
to w
hat
are
cultu
rally
and
env
ironm
enta
lly si
gnifi
cant
are
as a
nd fe
atur
es in
the
Peac
e an
d Sl
ave
Wat
ersh
eds.
GoA
, EN
GOs a
nd
Indu
stry
, GoC
, M
unic
ipal
ities
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Expl
ore
a co
nser
vatio
n off
set s
trat
egy
(tie
car
bon
sequ
estr
atio
n, b
iodi
vers
ity, e
tc.)
Expl
ore
FN c
olla
bora
tive
invo
lvem
ent a
s ste
war
ds o
f offs
ets (
i.e.
exam
ine
the
optio
n of
man
agin
g la
nds c
ompl
emen
tary
to e
xistin
g te
nure
s for
con
serv
atio
n va
lues
whe
re w
e co
uld
fund
Firs
t Nat
ions
to
man
age
land
s for
bio
dive
rsity
and
oth
er c
onse
rvat
ion
valu
es).
GoA
, FN
, EN
GOs,
Indu
stry
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Dev
elop
a ru
noff/
non–
poin
t sou
rce
stra
tegy
to
miti
gate
the
impa
cts o
n re
ceiv
ing
wat
erbo
dies
in
clud
ing
wet
land
s.
Enco
urag
e th
e us
e of
tool
s lik
e rip
aria
n se
tbac
ks, e
nviro
nmen
tal
rese
rves
and
ince
ntiv
es a
s a m
eans
of m
anag
ing
eros
ion
and
surf
ace
wat
er ru
n-off
(NPS
P) fo
r the
pro
tect
ion
of so
urce
wat
er q
ualit
y an
d to
pr
otec
t hig
h va
lue
wet
land
s.
MPW
A, M
PWA
part
ners
, GoA
LONG
TERM
Integrated Watershed Management Plan | Peace and Slave Watersheds 55
Out
com
esSt
rate
gic
Dir
ectio
nsAc
tions
Part
ners
Tim
efra
me
Exce
ptio
nal w
etla
nds t
hat a
re
soci
ally,
eco
nom
ical
ly a
nd/o
r en
viro
nmen
tally
sign
ifica
nt a
re
prot
ecte
d.
Defi
ne w
hat i
s an
exce
ptio
nal w
etla
nd (d
evel
op
crite
ria) a
nd in
vent
ory
whe
re th
ey a
re in
clud
ing
delin
eatio
n an
d ow
ners
hip.
With
a g
roup
of s
take
hold
ers,
rese
arch
oth
er ju
risdi
ctio
ns to
see
if cr
iteria
alre
ady
exist
bef
ore
sett
ing
Peac
e-Sl
ave
spec
ific
crite
ria.
MPW
A, In
dust
ry,
FN, M
unic
ipal
ities
, EN
GOs
SHOR
T TER
M
Appl
y cr
iteria
to b
asel
ine
data
dev
elop
ed in
Out
com
e 1 t
o id
entif
y an
d m
ap e
xcep
tiona
l wet
land
s. Al
tern
ativ
ely,
expl
ore
a no
min
atio
n pr
oces
s ap
proa
ch si
mila
r to
Albe
rta’s
Spe
cial
Pla
ces 2
000
prog
ram
.
MPW
A, G
oA-A
EPME
DIUM
TERM
Wor
k w
ith g
over
nmen
ts, la
nd tr
usts
, land
owne
rs, e
tc.
to p
rote
ct e
xcep
tiona
l wet
land
s.Pr
ovid
e in
cent
ives
to la
ndow
ners
to p
rote
ct p
rivat
e la
nds a
roun
d de
signa
ted
exce
ptio
nal w
etla
nds p
ossib
ly th
roug
h pr
ogra
ms s
uch
as
ALUS
, tax
relie
f, co
nser
vatio
n ea
sem
ents
, Gro
win
g Fo
rwar
d II,
etc
.
DU
C, M
PWA,
AAF
, Co
nser
vatio
n ag
enci
es
LONG
TERM
Dur
ing
envi
ronm
enta
l im
pact
ass
essm
ents
of p
roje
ct p
ropo
sals
that
ha
ve p
oten
tial i
mpa
cts o
n ex
cept
iona
l wet
land
s, as
sess
pro
ject
spec
ific
and
cum
ulat
ive
impa
cts a
gain
st p
re-d
evel
opm
ent b
asel
ine
cond
ition
s.
AER,
GoC
, GoA
, In
dust
ryLO
NG TE
RM
Non
-Sal
ine
Gro
undw
ater
Gro
undw
ater
info
rmat
ion
requ
ired
for d
ecisi
on-m
akin
g is
avai
labl
e to
all.
Build
on
the
exist
ing
Coal
Bed
Met
hane
dat
abas
e to
de
velo
p a
singl
e, c
entr
ally
loca
ted,
acc
essib
le sh
ared
gr
ound
wat
er d
atab
ase.
Form
a p
artn
ersh
ip/w
orki
ng g
roup
.CA
PP, A
ER, A
GS,
AHS,
PFR
A (A
AFC)
, MPW
A
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Det
erm
ine
wha
t kin
ds o
f dat
a sh
ould
be
incl
uded
in th
e da
taba
se (e
.g.,
data
on
wat
er u
se, w
ater
leve
ls, w
ater
qua
lity,
etc.
).CA
PP, A
ER, A
GS,
AHS,
PFR
A (A
AFC)
, MPW
A
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Wor
k w
ith e
ach
part
ner a
genc
y to
loca
te a
nd re
view
exis
ting
data
, re
port
s, et
c. a
nd a
naly
ze fo
r rel
evan
ce, d
igiti
ze it
and
ent
er e
xistin
g da
ta
(e.g
. AH
S w
ell d
ata,
PFR
A in
vent
orie
s, lic
ensin
g, A
GS, G
OW
N, m
unic
ipal
, et
c.) i
nto
the
data
base
. (M
PWA
can
prom
ote
this
proj
ect i
n th
e no
rth)
.
CAPP
, AER
, AGS
, AH
S, P
FRA
(AAF
C), M
PWA
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Iden
tif y
data
gap
s on
subs
urfa
ce st
ruct
ure
and
grou
ndw
ater
inve
ntor
y an
d de
velo
p a
plan
to fi
ll ga
ps
with
new
dat
a an
d in
form
atio
n.
Cons
ider
citi
zen
scie
nce
as a
mea
ns o
f gro
undw
ater
flow
and
wel
l-wat
er
qual
ity d
ata
colle
ctio
n (S
ee R
ocky
Vie
w W
ell W
atch
pro
gram
)M
PWA,
AGS
, AEP
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Ensu
re p
roce
sses
(e.g
., lic
ensin
g, w
ater
use
, etc
.) ar
e de
signe
d su
ch th
at n
ew d
ata
are
auto
mat
ical
ly
ente
red
into
the
cent
ral s
hare
d da
taba
se (o
nus i
s on
the
appl
ican
t to
ente
r dat
a in
to th
e de
signa
ted
syst
em th
at a
ll us
ers c
an a
cces
s).
Impr
ove
man
dato
ry li
cens
ee W
URS
repo
rtin
g an
d m
ake
it a
subs
et o
f th
e ne
w p
ropo
sed
data
base
.AE
P, A
ERME
DIUM
TERM
To su
ppor
t AEP
s int
egra
ted
appl
icat
ion
syst
em, a
t the
app
licat
ion
stag
e,
requ
ire in
form
atio
n lik
e tr
ansm
issiv
ity, e
tc. t
o po
pula
te th
e da
taba
se.
AEP,
AER
, lice
nsee
SHOR
T TER
M
Unde
rtak
e w
ork
to b
ette
r und
erst
and
hou
seho
ld u
se, a
gric
ultu
ral
regi
stra
tions
, and
wat
er w
ell q
ualit
y fo
r sta
te o
f rep
ortin
g by
in
corp
orat
ing
this
info
rmat
ion
into
the
cent
ral d
atab
ase
(e.g
., num
ber o
f pr
ivat
e w
ells,
typi
cal c
onsu
mpt
ion,
etc
.).
AHS,
AEP
, AGS
, M
PWA
MEDI
UM TE
RM
56 Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance
Out
com
esSt
rate
gic
Dir
ectio
nsAc
tions
Part
ners
Tim
efra
me
The
grou
ndw
ater
reso
urce
is
bett
er u
nder
stoo
d by
the
gene
ral
publ
ic w
ith ti
me.
Impr
ove
gene
ral p
ublic
und
erst
andi
ng o
f gr
ound
wat
er re
sour
ces (
amou
nt, in
vent
ory,
regu
lato
ry p
roce
ss);
grou
ndw
ater
– su
rfac
e w
ater
in
tera
ctio
ns; t
he c
umul
ativ
e eff
ects
of l
and
cove
r/la
nd u
se o
n gr
ound
wat
er q
uant
ity a
nd q
ualit
y; an
d ho
w g
roun
dwat
er w
ill be
affe
cted
by
clim
ate
chan
ge.
Dev
elop
an
educ
atio
n pl
an th
at id
entifi
es a
ppro
pria
te p
ublic
aud
ienc
es,
mes
sage
s, co
mm
unic
atio
ns to
ols,
etc.
MPW
A, A
EP,
Insid
e Ed
ucat
ion
SHOR
T TER
M
Supp
ort t
he G
oA W
orki
ng W
ell p
rogr
am a
s a m
eans
to re
ach
land
owne
rs w
ith p
rivat
e w
ells.
The
MPW
A ca
n pr
omot
e la
ndow
ner w
ell
test
ing;
iden
tifica
tion
and
prop
er d
ecom
miss
ioni
ng o
f aba
ndon
ed w
ells.
AEP/
AHS,
MPW
AME
DIUM
TERM
In c
onju
nctio
n w
ith th
e ne
xt M
PWA
stat
e of
the
wat
ersh
ed re
port
, de
velo
p a
grou
ndw
ater
atla
s sim
ilar t
o th
e Ed
mon
ton-
Calg
ary
Corr
idor
at
las s
how
ing
yiel
d, sa
linity
, pos
sible
con
tam
inan
ts, e
tc.
MPW
A, A
EP, A
GSME
DIUM
TERM
Wor
k w
ith M
unic
ipal
ities
to d
istrib
ute
info
rmat
ion
to ra
te-p
ayer
s.M
PWA,
AEP
, AA
MD
CSH
ORT T
ERM
Supp
ort t
he A
B Sc
ienc
e N
etw
ork
and
get g
roun
dwat
er sp
eake
rs in
to
scho
ols a
nd o
ther
pub
lic v
enue
s.M
PWA,
AB
Educ
atio
nSH
ORT T
ERM
Gro
undw
ater
use
rs, d
ecisi
on-
mak
ers a
nd th
e pu
blic
rece
ive
cred
ible
info
rmat
ion
abou
t sec
tor
grou
ndw
ater
use
and
how
al
loca
tion
deci
sions
are
mad
e.
Shar
e se
ctor
info
rmat
ion
abou
t the
Wat
er A
lloca
tion
Syst
em a
nd s
peci
fic se
ctor
wat
er u
se (i
nclu
ding
lic
ence
requ
irem
ents
, ret
urn
flow
s, w
aste
wat
er
trea
tmen
t, et
c.) w
ith th
e pu
blic
and
oth
er a
udie
nces
vi
a M
PWA
stat
e of
repo
rtin
g, A
EP fa
ctsh
eets
, In
dust
ry fa
ctsh
eets
, etc
.
Prom
ote
exist
ing
sect
or in
form
atio
n by
link
ing
to re
leva
nt In
dust
ry
web
sites
or r
esou
rces
whe
re th
ey e
xist t
o m
ake
licen
sing
and
othe
r in
form
atio
n m
ore
visib
le.
MPW
A, B
oard
m
embe
r sec
tors
SHOR
T TER
M
Dev
elop
fact
shee
ts th
at fo
cus o
n In
dust
ry g
roun
dwat
er u
se a
nd
prac
tices
incl
udin
g ca
se st
udie
s of w
ater
shar
ing/
confl
ict r
esol
utio
n,
wat
er re
-use
bet
wee
n se
ctor
s and
oth
er in
nova
tions
.
MPW
A, B
oard
m
embe
r sec
tors
MEDI
UM TE
RM
The
Gro
undw
ater
Allo
catio
n sy
stem
is e
ffici
ent a
nd e
ffect
ive.
Prom
ote
grou
ndw
ater
BM
Ps a
nd C
onse
rvat
ion,
Effi
cien
cy a
nd P
rodu
ctiv
ity p
lann
ing
for e
ach
sect
or
thro
ugho
ut th
e w
ater
shed
.
Crea
te a
sect
or B
MP
expe
ctat
ion
agre
emen
t or c
hart
er a
nd p
rom
ote
thro
ugh
boar
d m
embe
r sec
tors
.M
PWA,
Boa
rd
mem
ber s
ecto
rsME
DIUM
TERM
Hav
e ea
ch w
ater
usin
g se
ctor
pre
sent
the
ir CE
P pl
an to
the
MPW
A bo
ard.
MPW
A, B
oard
m
embe
r sec
tors
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Enco
urag
e im
prov
ed A
EP/A
ER c
omm
unic
atio
ns a
nd
colla
bora
tion
in o
rder
to c
ontin
ue b
uild
ing
the
Inte
grat
ed A
ppro
vals
Proc
ess f
or n
ew a
pplic
atio
ns
that
inco
rpor
ates
con
tinuo
us im
prov
emen
t fro
m
polic
y to
on-
the-
grou
nd p
ract
ice.
Eval
uate
how
wel
l new
pol
icie
s ar
e ap
plie
d an
d ac
hiev
ed (e
.g., g
uide
to
grou
ndw
ater
aut
horiz
atio
ns, a
rea
base
d re
gula
tions
, etc
.).AE
P, A
ER,
Indu
stry
, M
unic
ipal
ities
LONG
TERM
Look
at
how
wel
l pol
icie
s and
regu
latio
ns a
re a
chie
ving
cum
ulat
ive
effec
ts m
anag
emen
t.AE
P, A
ER,
Indu
stry
, M
unic
ipal
ities
LONG
TERM
Look
at h
ow w
ell p
olic
ies a
nd re
gula
tions
are
forw
ard-
look
ing
and
able
to
add
ress
futu
re a
reas
of i
nter
est/h
ot-s
pots
(e.g
., Fox
Cre
ek).
AEP,
AER
, In
dust
ry,
Mun
icip
aliti
es
LONG
TERM
Gro
undw
ater
man
agem
ent i
s in
tegr
ated
and
ada
ptiv
e su
ch th
at
it ad
dres
ses c
umul
ativ
e eff
ects
an
d cl
imat
e ch
ange
and
is
sust
aina
ble,
now
and
in th
e fu
ture
.
Impr
ove
com
mun
icat
ion
proc
esse
s bet
wee
n gr
ound
wat
er st
akeh
olde
rs.
Shar
e gr
ound
wat
er le
arni
ngs b
etw
een
sect
ors b
y m
akin
g se
ctor
pr
esen
tatio
ns to
the
MPW
A bo
ard
or h
oldi
ng a
gro
undw
ater
foru
m.
MPW
A, A
EP, A
GS,
Indu
stry
, aca
dem
iaME
DIUM
TERM
Ensu
re c
olla
bora
tion
betw
een
mun
icip
al a
nd
prov
inci
al g
over
nmen
ts fo
r sus
tain
able
gro
undw
ater
m
anag
emen
t.
Faci
litat
e pe
riodi
c st
akeh
olde
r for
ums (
incl
udin
g Pe
ace
Regi
onal
Ec
onom
ic D
evel
opm
ent A
llianc
e, W
ater
Nor
th C
oalit
ion,
Agr
icul
ture
Se
rvic
e Bo
ards
, etc
.) to
shar
e iss
ues a
nd c
once
rns a
bout
sust
aina
ble
grou
ndw
ater
man
agem
ent.
MPW
A, A
EPME
DIUM
TERM
Integrated Watershed Management Plan | Peace and Slave Watersheds 57
Out
com
esSt
rate
gic
Dir
ectio
nsAc
tions
Part
ners
Tim
efra
me
A m
anag
emen
t sta
ndar
d fo
r pr
otec
ting
aqui
fers
is k
now
n an
d ut
ilize
d.
Dev
elop
a st
anda
rd fo
r aqu
ifer m
anag
emen
t tha
t id
entifi
es ro
les a
nd re
spon
sibilit
ies,
asse
sses
risk
s, pr
ovid
es a
pro
cess
for c
olla
bora
tive
man
agem
ent,
loca
l ste
war
dshi
p an
d co
nflic
t res
olut
ion
and
impl
emen
t it f
or a
quife
rs a
nd/o
r gro
undw
ater
are
as
of c
once
rn (e
.g., G
rimsh
aw G
rave
l, Fox
Cre
ek, e
tc.)
Use
the
Grim
shaw
Gra
vel A
quife
r as a
test
cas
e to
dev
elop
, impl
emen
t an
d te
st a
n aq
uife
r man
agem
ent p
lan
incl
udin
g so
urce
pro
tect
ion
and
best
man
agem
ent p
ract
ices
to b
e us
ed a
s a te
mpl
ate
for o
ther
aqu
ifers
.
GGAA
, MA,
MPW
AME
DIUM
TERM
Dev
elop
cas
e st
udie
s sho
wca
sing
colla
bora
tive
wat
er m
anag
emen
t in
Albe
rta.
AEP,
AER
, In
dust
ry, A
AMD
C,
etc.
MEDI
UM TE
RM
Be o
n th
e lo
ok o
ut fo
r em
ergi
ng is
sues
on
indi
vidu
al
aqui
fers
.Vi
a st
ate
of re
port
ing
and
writ
ing
and
impl
emen
ting
the
IWM
P,
docu
men
t gro
undw
ater
issu
es a
s the
y ar
e id
entifi
ed a
nd p
ass s
uch
info
rmat
ion
on to
dec
ision
-mak
ers.
MPW
A, A
EP, b
oard
m
embe
r sec
tors
LONG
TERM
58 Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance
Appendix C: List of Related Regulations, Legislation and Policies Reviewed During the IWMP Process
ɣ Canada National Parks Act (S.C. 2000, c. 32) – Parks Canada ɣ Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (R.S.A. 2000) – AEP ɣ Fisheries (Alberta) Act (R.S.A. 2000) – AEP ɣ Fisheries Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. F-14) – Department of Fisheries and Oceans ɣ Forests Act (R.S.A. 2000, c. F-22) – AEP ɣ Forest Reserves Act (R.S.A. 2000, c. F-20) – AEP ɣ Migratory Birds Convention Act (S.C. 1994, c. 22) – Environment and Climate Change Canada ɣ Municipal Government Act (R.S.A. 2000) – Alberta Municipal Affairs ɣ Navigation Protection Act (R.S. 1985, c. N-22, s. 1; 2012, c. 31, s. 316.) – Transport Canada ɣ Provincial Agricultural Operations Practices Act (RSA 2000 Chapter A-7) – Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development
ɣ Provincial Safety Codes Act (R.S.A. 2000, c. S-1) – Alberta Municipal Affairs ɣ Provincial Parks Act and Wilderness Areas, Ecological Reserves, Natural Areas and Heritage Rangelands Act – Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation
ɣ Provincial Wildlife Act (R.S.A. 2000, c. W-10) – AEP ɣ Public Lands Act (R.S.A.2000, c. P-40) – AEP ɣ Regional Health Authorities Act (R.S.A. 2000, c. R-10) – Alberta Health ɣ Soil Conservation Act (R.S.A. 2000, c. S-15) – Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development ɣ Species at Risk Act (S.C. 2002, c. 29) – Environment and Climate Change Canada ɣ Water Act (R.S.A. 2000, c. W-3) – AEP ɣ Willmore Wilderness Park Act (R.S.A. 2000, c. W-11) – AEP ɣ Athabasca Watershed Council ɣ Alberta Wetland Policy (2013) ɣ Land-use Framework (2008) ɣ Municipal Government Plans ɣ Wapiti Corridor Management Plan ɣ Water for Life: A Renewal (2008) ɣ Framework for Water Management Planning (n.d.) and Framework for Watershed Management Planning (2008)
ɣ Water Conservation Objectives ɣ Wapiti River Water Management Plan ɣ Heart River Watershed Management Plan ɣ The Mackenzie River Basin Transboundary Waters Master Agreement, 1997 ɣ Mackenzie River Basin Bilateral Water Management Agreement, 2015 ɣ Métis Elders Knowledge Gathering Workshop ɣ Constitution Act (1982); Section 35
Integrated Watershed Management Plan | Peace and Slave Watersheds 59
Appendix D: AbbreviationsAAF Alberta Agriculture and Forestry AAAF Association of Alberta Agricultural Fieldmen AAFC Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada AAMDC Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties ABMI Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute ACA Alberta Conservation Association AEMERA Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Agency AEP Alberta Environment and Parks AER Alberta Energy Regulator AGS Alberta Geological Survey AHS Alberta Health Services AI Alberta Innovates ARWQI Alberta River Water Quality Index ASVA Association of Summer Villages of Alberta AUMA Alberta Urban Municipalities Association BMP Best management practice CAPP Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers CEP Conservation, efficiency and productivity DUC Ducks Unlimited Canada ECCC Environment and Climate Change Canada EIA Environmental impact assessment EMEND Ecosystem Management Emulating Natural Disturbance Project ENGO Environmental non-governmental organization FCM Federation of Canadian Municipalities FN First Nation GGAMAA Grimshaw Gravels Aquifer Management Advisory Association GoA Government of Alberta GoC Government of Canada GOWN Groundwater Observation Well Network IK Indigenous knowledge IWM Integrated watershed management IWMP Integrated Watershed Management Plan LUF Land-use Framework MPWA Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance MRBB Mackenzie River Basin Board NAIT Northern Alberta Institute of Technology NPSP Non–point source pollution NRBS Northern River Basin Studies PAD Peace-Athabasca Delta PADEMP Peace-Athabasca Delta Ecological Monitoring Program PC Parks Canada PCA Parks Canada Agency PFRA Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration SoW State of the Watershed TEK Traditional ecological knowledge TNC The Nature Conservancy UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization WBNP Wood Buffalo National Park WPAC Watershed Planning and Advisory Council WRRP Watershed Resiliency and Restoration Program WURS Water Use Reporting System
60 Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance