lake management alberta water council’s project team central alberta recreational lakes forum...
TRANSCRIPT
LAKE MANAGEMENTAlberta Water Council’s Project Team
Central Alberta Recreational Lakes ForumMarie-Claire St-Jacques, Alberta Water CouncilMay 2015
Water for Life Partnerships
Watershed Planning
and Advisory Councils
Watershed Planning
Provincial-Scale
Advice
Alberta
Water
Council
Government Of Alberta Responsibili
ty and Accountability
Watershed Stewardship
GroupsLocal Projects
Water
for Life
The Alberta Water Council
24 Member organizations
Uses consensus decision-making to:▪ Steward the implementation of Water for
Life
▪ Provide a forum for discussion and resolution of water issues
▪ Provide valued policy advice
LAKE MANAGEMENT PROJECT TEAM
Background
Initiative brought forward to the Council by the Alberta Lake Management Society
Working group initiated in 2014 to further define scope of the project
Project team launched in February 2015
PURPOSE:To provide recommendations for improved lake management in Alberta to support achievement of Water for Life goals.
1) Ensuring there is sufficient information on any given lake’s ecological characteristics to effectively inform management
2) Defining clear management roles and responsibilities for lake watershed management
Major challenges to effective lake management
Project objectives
Document and assess the current state of lake management planning and governance in Alberta
Identify gaps, redundancies and opportunities for improvements in lake management
Develop recommendations towards effective lake management in Alberta, including roles and responsibilities
WHAT IS THE LAKE RESOURCE IN ALBERTA?
How many lakes and where?
Over 2000 named lakes in Alberta
810 fish-bearing lakes
~500 lakes and reservoirs monitored by Alberta Environment and now AEMERA
Lakes cover ~2.5% of the province land area
Green area59%
White area28%
Na-tional
parks
13%
Distribution of total lake area
How many lakes and where?
36%
14%11%
32%
3%2% 2%
% of lake area per region
Lower AthabascaUpper AthabascaNorth SaskatchewanLower PeaceUpper PeaceSouth SaskatchewanRed Deer
21%
16%
29%
9%
6%
14%
6%
% of named lakes per region
*Based on preliminary numbers from GIS analysis
CURRENT STATE OF LAKE MANAGEMENT
Lake governance
Statutory and non-statutory tools
Jurisdiction Legislation/Policy
Federal Fisheries ActNavigable Waters Protection Act
Provincial ALSAWater ActPublic Lands ActMunicipal Government ActEPEA
Municipal Municipal Development PlansLand Use BylawsArea Structure Plans
Lake watershed management planning
11 lake State of the Watershed reports completed
12 lake/lake watershed management plans
▪ 7 completed
▪ 5 in progress
Developed between 1996 and 2014
Variation in the scope of plans
Plan initiated by # of plans
GOA 2Watershed Stewardship Group
5
WPAC 1County/municipality
4
Other components of the current state
Lake Stewardship
Watershed Management Tools
Availability of data on lake health
In Summary: Where are we at?
Completed an inventory of stakeholders, policies, tools, programs, plans and educational resources related to lake management in Alberta
“State of lake management in Alberta” report underway, including gaps and opportunities for key components of lake management
Exploring current and desired roles and responsibilities in lake management
Drafting an approach to lake management
Some questions
What have been the outcomes of existing lake watershed management plans?
What have been the main challenges with implementation?
How have different mechanisms for accountability worked?
What are some success stories?
What next?
Half-day workshop in partnership with ALMS Annual Workshop▪ September 24-25, Stony Plain
Final report expected in June 2016
PROJECT TEAM MEMBERSAlf Durnie GOA (Municipal Affairs)Hugh Sanders Battle River Watershed AllianceJon Sweetman AI-EESMadison Kobryn GOA (Agriculture and Forestry)Mike Iwanyshyn NRCBPeter Aku Alberta Conservation AssociationPeter Pellatt AUMARichard Casey GOA (Environment and Parks)Robert Nygaard AAMDCRon McMullin Alberta Irrigation Projects AssociationRon Zurawell AEMERASharon McKinnon Crop Sector Working GroupSteph Neufeld ALMS