90% of Calgary s pre-settlement wetlands have been destroyed for urban development.

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1 90% of Calgary s pre-settlement wetlands have been destroyed for urban development. 64% of Alberta s pre-settlement wetland inventory have been destroyed to accommodate population growth and economic development activities.

2 Pembina Institute calculations of economic loss According to Pembina Institute, wetland loss in Alberta equates to an annual economic loss of $3,650 per hectare. The report gives Alberta s remaining wetlands a value between $5 billion and $30billion to Alberta s economy in 1999 values.

3 The Alberta Wetland Policy in fifteen minutes or less Judy Stewart, LL.M (PhD Candidate) Wetlands Integrity: Wetlands Governing Policy, Preservation and Restoration within the Elbow River Watershed Bragg Creek, Alberta October 14, 2015

4 Cochrane s Wetland 15 (Class III) in the Fireside development was destroyed in late 2014 under Alberta s new policy and existing regulatory framework.

5 Cochrane s Robinson Pond was illegally drained to develop a car dealership in the regulatory system in 2006 saved it.

6 Outline What is a wetland? Why are prairie potholes important? Laws that affect wetlands. The effect of SSRP. Alberta Wetland Policy. Municipal tools to conserve, manage and protect wetlands during land development. All photos were taken by me between

7 What is a wetland? Land saturated with water long enough to promote wetland or aquatic processes as indicated by the poorly drained soils, hydrophytic vegetation, and various kinds of biological activity that are adapted to a wet environment. Wetlands are land No mention of waterbody

8 distinct bed and shore hydrophytic vegetation poorly drained soils various kinds of biological activity

9 Alberta s prairie potholes Alberta sloughs and prairie potholes were left behind by receding glaciers (10,000 years ago) and are unique watershed systems immature drainage systems. Sometimes called knob and kettle formations, referred to as hummocky terrain, prairie ponds, etc.

10 Prairie potholes as nuisance lands Previous federal legislation encouraged the filling of wetlands to create more arable lands for agriculture. Wetlands were considered nuisance lands.

11 Alberta laws that affect wetlands Water Act Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act Public Lands Act Alberta Land Stewardship Act Municipal Government Act Survey Act Species at Risk Act and so on

12 Water Act Province owns the water in all wetlands. Defines water bodies. All wetlands are water bodies. Regulates and controls diversion and use of surface and groundwater (licensing). Regulates and controls activities that may disturb water (approvals). Activities are defined and include disturbing wetlands, and draining wetlands etc.

13 All wetlands are water bodies water body means any location where water flows or is present, whether or not the flow or the presence of water is continuous, intermittent or occurs only during a flood, and includes but is not limited to wetlands and aquifers (exceptions)

14 Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act Regulates and controls storm drainage collection and treatment facilities Regulates and controls what substances can be put into waterbodies Regulates and controls approved pollution

15 Surveys Act delineating natural boundaries Natural boundary 17(2) When surveying a natural boundary that is a body of water, the surveyor shall determine the position of the line where the bed and shore of the body of water cease and the line is to be referred to as the bank of the body of water.

16 Surveys Act - Bed and shore defined 17(3) For the purposes of this section, the bed and shore of a body of water shall be the land covered so long by water as to wrest it from vegetation or as to mark a distinct character on the vegetation where it extends into the water or on the soil itself.

17 Alberta Land Stewardship Act Regional plans contain polices that municipalities and Directors under provincial laws are expected to consider when deciding land use. The South Saskatchewan Regional Plan contains many policies affecting wetland conservation and management, including identification of significant water resources such as wetlands and riparian lands. Significant is not defined, but wetland policy makes it clear that not all wetlands are equal.

18 South Saskatchewan Regional Plan Pages Policies for Water and Watersheds Municipalities are expected to. In previous Alberta Land Use Policies, section 622 of the Municipal Government Act, municipalities were only encouraged to. ent_ pdf

19 SSRP requires MDP compliance with provincial water resources and water features management policies Policy 8.26 Municipalities are expected to identify and consider, based on available information including information from the Government of Alberta, the values of significant water resources and other water features, such as ravines, valleys, riparian lands, stream corridors, lakeshores, wetlands and unique environmentally significant landscapes, within their boundaries.

20 SSRP policies are important in this region Policy 8:30 Municipalities are expected to establish appropriate setbacks from waterbodies to maintain: water quality, flood water conveyance and storage, bank stability; and habitat.

21 Inappropriate minimum 6 metre setback

22 Public Lands Act section 3 Title to beds and shores, etc. 3(1) Subject to subsection (2) but notwithstanding any other law, the title to the beds and shores of (a) all permanent and naturally occurring (b) bodies of water, and all naturally occurring rivers, streams, watercourses and lakes, is vested in the Crown in right of Alberta and a grant or certificate of title made or issued before, on or after May 31, 1984 does not convey title to those beds or shores.

23 Is the bed and shore of the wetland public land? Three criteria imposed by AEP: Distinct bed and shore ( body of water ) Naturally occurring Permanent See: Guide for Assessing Permanence of Wetland Basins

24 Provincial ownership of peatlands on private lands in the White Zone? Not bodies of water? No defined bed and shore Land where water is present meets definition of wetland Meets definition of waterbody

25 Municipal Government Act Section 60, section 640 and section 644 and the Subdivision and Development Regulation are not limited to permanent and naturally occurring bodies of water. Water bodies 60(1) Subject to any other enactment, a municipality has the direction, control and management of the rivers, streams, watercourses, lakes and other natural bodies of water within the municipality, including the air space above and the ground below.

26 Subdivision and Development Regulation Application and Referrals Application (3) The applicant must submit the number of sketches or plans of the proposed subdivision that the subdivision authority requires, drawn to the scale that the subdivision authority requires, (d) showing the approximate location and boundaries of the bed and shore of any river, stream, watercourse, lake or other body of water that is contained within or bounds the proposed parcel of land

27 Referral of subdivision plan to AEP (e) the Deputy Minister of the Minister responsible for administration of the Public Lands Act if the proposed parcel (i) (ii) is adjacent to the bed and shore of a river, stream, watercourse, lake or other body of water, or contains, either wholly or partially, the bed and shore of a river, stream, watercourse, lake or other body of water

28 Alberta policies/plans that affect wetlands Water For Life: Alberta s Strategy for Sustainability Land Use Framework Alberta Wetland Policy Regional plans and so on

29 Complex, dynamic regulatory system Diagram from GOA - Working with Others A regulatory sub-system of Alberta s IRMS Integrated Resource Management System

30 Water For Life Alberta Wetland Policy About Alberta s Wetland Policy AlbertaWetlandPolicy-FS-Oct pdf

31 Policy Alberta s Wetland Policy Goal: to conserve, restore, protect, and manage Alberta s wetlands to sustain the benefits they provide to the environment, society, and economy.

32 Alberta Wetland Policy Provides the strategic direction and tools required to make informed wetland management decisions in the long-term interest of Albertans. (by AEP?) Minimizes the loss and degradation of wetlands, while allowing for continued growth and economic development in the province. (by AEP?) Welcome to the oxymoron!

33 Conserve, restore, protect, and manage? Policy only applies when a person makes an application to the Director under the Water Act to drain or disturb a wetland or engage in an activity that may adversely impact a wetland. If no application is made, the policy is irrelevant. Using permanent and naturally occurring wetlands for storm drainage collection and treatment opens up EPEA considerations.

34 No mention of municipalities and land-use management in the White Zone No mention of municipal land-use planning aspect. No direct dialogue between municipal planners and engineers and decision-makers at AEP. Policy in place for applicants who want to disturb a wetland.

35 Does the policy require municipalities to conserve, restore, protect or manage wetlands? Term Online definition of term Yes or No Conserve to keep (something) safe from being damaged or destroyed NO Restore to bring back to or put back into a former or original state: renew NO Protect to cover or shield from exposure, injury, damage, or destruction: guard NO Manage to treat with care: husband NO

36 Reference documents listed on provincial website Water Act Water (Ministerial) Regulation Water (Offences and Penalties) Regulation Public Lands Act Alberta Wetland Policy Water Act Regulatory Requirements Guide Alberta Wetland Identification and Delineation Directive Alberta Wetland Assessment and Impact Report Directive Alberta Wetland Mitigation Directive

37 Directives Alberta Wetland Identification and Delineation Directive ficationdelineationdirective-jun pdf Alberta Wetland Assessment and Impact Report Directive smentimpactdirective-jun pdf Alberta Wetland Mitigation Directive

38 Guidelines Guide for Assessing Permanence of Wetland Basins andbasins-jun pdf Water Act Regulatory Requirements Guide oryrequirementsguide-jun pdf

39 Tools Alberta Wetland Classification System ationsystem-jun pdf Alberta Wetland Rapid Evaluation Tool Actual (ABWRET-A) Guide aluationtool-jun pdf

40 Staged process to disturb a wetland Wetland Regulatory Process Diagram atoryprocessdiagramjun pdf Alberta Water Act Public Notices fault.aspx

41 Stage 1: Planning & Legislative Alignment Applicant 1. Preliminary wetland ownership, identification and delineation, and evaluation Regulatory Body E.g. Preliminary meeting* Action Avoid the wetland 2. Legislative alignment

42 Stage 2: Wetland Assessment Applicant Identification and Delineation Classification Relative Value Actual (ABWRET-A) Regulatory body E.g. Public Lands Act ownership assessment * Action Avoid the wetland Species surveys and other studies

43 Stage 3: Application Submission Applicant Regulatory Body Action 1. Wetland Assessment and Impact Report (WAIR) 2. Rationale for proposed impacts and evidence of Mitigation Hierarchy 3. Minimization Plan Review, analysis and supplementary information requests Avoid wetland Director s decision 4. Replacement Plan*

44 Stage 4: Restorative Replacement Applicant Regulatory body Action Replacement design and monitoring plans* Review, analysis and supplementary information requests Director s decision

45 Best AEP presentation on replacement on3b-replacement-24mar15.pdf Service area: geographically defined areas where impacts and replacements are reconciled based on Relative Wetland Value Assessment Unit (RWVAU) Corresponds to one or collection of RWVAU Impacts occurring within a given RWVAU must be replaced within that RWVAU, subject to replacement hierarchy and municipal boundary considerations

46 Wetland Management System Components Relative wetland value Wetland mitigation avoidance minimization replacement Knowledge and information systems Performance measures, monitoring and reporting Wetland stewardship in Alberta

47 Wetland management system components Classification High Low Tools QWSP A B C D Watershed restoration agents Strategic direction Certification Competing goals nested scales

48 Relative value Evaluation system Must be done by a certified QWSP (Qualified Wetland Science Practitioners) Five criteria to evaluate Four ratings A-D A - High value B - Moderate value C - Moderately low value D Low value

49 Wetland Value Criteria Biodiversity Water Quality Improvement Flood Reduction Abundance Human Value

50 Qualified Wetland Science Practitioners Interim Wetland Science Practitioners -Jun A.pdf

51 Qualified Wetland Science Practitioners 1. Classify using new classification system Alberta Wetland Classification System 2. Delineate boundary using new tool Alberta Wetland Delineation Protocol 3. Assess relative value using new tool Alberta Wetland Rapid Evaluation Tool Information collected forms part of application to regulatory agencies to disturb a wetland.

52 It s not always easy to delineate bed and shore and legal bank.

53 The bed and shore of this Class III wetland in Rolling Range Estates waxes and wanes depending on illegal diversion of wetland waters by upland landowners.

54 Types of wetlands Bog Fen Marsh Shallow open water Swamp Ephemeral water body Cochrane s Prairie Potholes

55 Class IV wetland along with three other wetlands in a complex in Cochrane s River Heights were destroyed in 2007.

56 Marshes and shallow open water classifications under system Wetland Zone Temporary (Class II) - wet meadow Seasonal (Class III) - shallow wetland Semi-permanent (Class IV) - deep wetland Permanent (Class V) - open water Intermittent (Class VI) - alkaline Classes correspond to Stewart and Kantrud 1971.

57 Mitigation Avoid Minimize Replace restorative Replacement payments can be made in-lieu of the wetland or to pay for wetland offset. non-restorative A variety of alternatives advancing state of wetland science

58 What actually happens to wetlands in the White Zone? Avoid - few Mitigate - sometimes Destroy almost all Municipalities sometimes require dedication of Class 3 and up wetlands as environmental reserve during subdivision

59 Dedication of title to municipalities as ER implies that the owner of land owns the bed and shore of the wetland If it is a permanent and naturally occurring body of water then it is public land owned by the Province. Cannot transfer title to land you do not own. If not permanent and naturally occurring body of water, then can transfer title because the bed and shore is not owned by the Province.

60 This permanent and naturally occurring body of water did not exist until the Jumping Pound Creek flooded in 2013 and created a new channel.

61 Knowledge and information systems Certification programs for QWSP and Wetland Restoration Agents Variety of new tools government approved Co-created through pilot projects

62 Performance measures, monitoring and reporting Periodic Evaluate whether wetland outcomes are being met. Not sure who monitors. No mention of AEMERA Alberta Environmental Monitoring Evaluation and Reporting Agency (AEMERA) has been set up to do regional and provincial scale monitoring, evaluation of monitoring data, and reporting to provincial decision-makers.

63 Natural ponds and urban storm drainage A natural pond with no outlet and into which urban storm drainage is directed will flood into riparian forest. Native plants die. Algae grows. Need appropriate building development setbacks

64 AEP Standard Recommendations to Municipal Subdivision Referrals StandardRecommendations-to-MunicipalSubdivisionReferrals-Sep-2007.pdf SRD s (AEP) goal is to have adequate riparian buffers established between a proposed development and a lake, river, watercourse, or wetland. SRD strongly supports the use of Environmental Reserve lands that support a reserve s protective functions. Activities such as clearing of vegetation, infilling, slope re-grading or excavation, drainage into or out of, discharge of effluents, or disposal of debris or other waste can impair those protective functions.

65 Wetland stewardship Under development to promote stewardship Not just Ducks Unlimited

66 Robinson Pond with newly planted willows in June Every spring the pond is cleaned of debris and invasive plants, and new plantings of willow and other native species done by volunteers.

67 While this new policy has been in place, this has occurred in Cochrane, Alberta

68 Recent land use application in Cochrane will destroy these wetlands

69 Municipal statutory plans and land use bylaw Municipal development plans and area structure plans can contain policies that wetlands will be protected or conserved and managed within municipal boundaries. Mapping of wetlands that the municipality wants to protect should be done by municipality up front. Under new SSRP policies and wetland policy, this could be done on a municipality-wide basis to determine which wetlands are of high relative value.

70 Municipal land use bylaw Section 640(4)(l)(ii) (4) Without restricting the generality of subsection (1), a land use bylaw may provide for one or more of the following matters, either generally or with respect to any district or part of a district established pursuant to subsection (2)(a): (l) the development of buildings (ii) on land adjacent to or within a specified distance of the bed and shore of any lake, river, stream or other body of water.

71 Land use bylaw Municipalities can use section 640(4)(l)(ii) to create building development setbacks from the bed and shore of wetlands of high relative value. The setbacks could be determined by the QWSP as necessary to protect the functional integrity and health of the wetland. Within those setback areas, no buildings, as defined in the Municipal Government Act would be considered.

72 Environmental reserves 664(1) Subject to section 663, a subdivision authority may require the owner of a parcel of land that is the subject of a proposed subdivision to provide part of that parcel of land as environmental reserve if it consists of (a) (b) a swamp, gully, ravine, coulee or natural drainage course, land that is subject to flooding or is, in the opinion of the subdivision authority, unstable, or (c)

73 The ER strip (c) a strip of land, not less than 6 metres in width, abutting the bed and shore of any lake, river, stream or other body of water for the purpose of (i) (ii) preventing pollution, or providing public access to and beside the bed and shore. The minimum 6 m. ER strip can be dedicated adjacent to a wetland in the associated riparian lands.

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75 Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers. Voltaire