Drought Watch 2024: Wetlands & Drought Management in Alberta

29 Feb Drought Watch 2024: Wetlands & Drought Management in Alberta

“This winter, snowpack is below average, rivers are at record low levels and multiple reservoirs remain well below capacity.”[1] This is the stark introduction to a Government of Alberta announcement on drought management and the water sharing agreements to come this year and serves to highlight 2024 as a year of major water concerns.

For more context, since August, communities in the southwest of the province have been relying on water trucks to get access to water that would normally come from the Oldman Reservoir; however, due to ongoing severe drought conditions the reservoir is not enough.[2] Unfortunately, it looks like this is just the beginning. As of February, 51 water shortage advisories have been issued across the province and Minister Schulz, Minister of Environment and Protected Areas has announced that the Drought Command Team will begin negotiating water sharing agreements for the Red Deer River, Bow River and Old Man River basins in anticipation of even worse conditions.[3] As a province, Alberta is currently classified as being in “stage 4 out of 5 in its water shortage management response plan” which is defined as a large scale water shortage.[4] The next, and final, step is the declaration of an emergency.[5]

In light of this ongoing concern, we will be publishing a series of blogs on drought management. For the next three months, we will be looking closely at the predictions for an upcoming spring and summer drought across the province and how the protection of our wetlands, forests, and grasslands may be a solution to help prevent even worse drought conditions in the future. To begin, and in celebration of World Wetland Day on February 2, we begin with wetlands.

Wetlands in Alberta

Wetlands are vibrant ecosystems which “include bogs, peatlands, marshes, rivers, lakes, deltas, floodplains, and flooded forests” and, in fact, a quarter of the world’s wetlands are found in Canada.[6] However, in southern Canada approximately 70% of wetlands have been lost and Alberta is not an outlier in this regard.[7]

10 years ago, the Alberta Wetland Policy was implemented to manage our wetlands. At the time, the province had 20% wetland coverage and the Policy was envisioned as a high-quality tool for wetland management and protection. However, today, with a decade of policy implementation under our belt, wetland coverage still only represents 21.7% of the province. So, what has 10 years of the Policy and 10 years of World Wetlands Day really done for wetlands in Alberta?

The stated goal of the Alberta Wetland Policy is to “conserve, restore, protect, and manage Alberta’s wetlands to sustain the benefits they provide to the environment, society, and economy.”[8] The Legislative basis for the policy’s implementation are the requirements under the Alberta Water Act, which demands regulatory approvals for changes to or drainage of wetlands in the province.  The Policy applies across the province and includes all natural wetlands including bogs, fens, swamps, marshes, and shallow open water and all restored natural wetlands, as well as wetlands constructed for the purposes of wetland replacement.[9] However, what is clearly missing from this and which ELC has been highlighting since the Policy’s inception is that it does not purport to advocate for ‘no net loss.’[10] Instead, it focuses on four overarching outcomes:[11]

1. 1. wetlands of the highest value are protected for the long-term benefit of all Albertans;
   2. wetlands and their benefits are conserved and restored in areas where losses have been high;
   3. wetlands are managed by avoiding and minimizing negative impacts, and, where necessary, replacing lost wetland value; and
   4. wetland management considers regional context.

In our 2013 blog, we highlighted a number of issues present in the policy none of which have been addressed as the Policy document has not been updated in the past decade. Many of these were echoed in a 2021 report from the Alberta Water Council reviewing the Policy’s implementation.[12] Some of the main issues flagged include the following:

• • The Policy does away with an overarching goal of no net loss and of maintaining overall wetland area. This is distinct from the federal Wetland Policy which cites ‘no net loss’ as the second goal of wetland conservation;
  • Relies on “relative wetland value” to assign a numerical value to different wetlands based on certain criteria including biodiversity; water quality improvement; flood reduction; human value; and abundance. One of the most notable issues is the focus on ‘abundance’ as a criterion, as this suggests that more abundant wetlands can be impacted without decreasing their value, which does not appear to be scientifically justified. In fact, it begs the question of whether high abundance cannot correlate with high productivity, high carbon storage, or similar. This may be particularly an issue as small wetlands have been found to have high productivity, high impacts on nutrient storage, and high impacts on drought and flood prevention but may fall lower on the relative wetland value hierarchy due to abundance. Further, a “mixture of wetland types results in higher diversity at the landscape level;”[13]
  • The Alberta Water Council also highlights the issue of transparency with regard to the ranking of wetland value and notes that the Alberta Wetland Rapid Evaluation Tool which is used to determine wetland value is opaque in its use;[14]
  • A reliance on the mitigation hierarchy. The mitigation hierarchy enables a three step process beginning with avoidance of impacts on wetlands, moving to a minimization of impacts, and finally to wetland replacement in the event that avoidance or minimization are not practicable or feasible. This is a concern because avoidance measures are often bypassed and with the option for replacement, wetlands may be drained so long as the economic benefit of draining the wetland outweighs the cost of replacement; and
  • The use of compensation for programs other than direct wetland restoration. This means that if a project proponent or landowner chooses to drain a wetland and pay into a restoration fund, this money may be used for activities other than direct wetland restoration.

The protection of wetlands across the province is of major importance for a variety of reasons including species at risk protection, biodiversity, water quality, and more; however, in the next section we focus on wetlands for drought prevention and protection, a clear focus for the upcoming spring and summer seasons.

Wetlands & Drought Prevention

There is evidence that the existence of wetlands on the landscape can help manage drought “by storing water in the landscape, thus supporting deceleration formation and acceleration recovery, and reducing the duration and severity of drought events.”[15] Similarly, they help to manage the impacts of floods, which while hard to imagine during a time of drought, represents the other side of the same coin. Specifically, if well managed, wetlands hold water which is provided to nearby rivers and streams based on instream flow needs and “have the potential to moderate extreme drought and flood conditions and while sustaining base flows instream.”[16]

Well managed wetlands also help to cool and humidify the surrounding atmosphere which may be a benefit to heat stressed crops, particularly during an ongoing drought.[17] However, to be beneficial, wetlands need to be maintained on agricultural lands. Overall, “wetlands play a vital role in water, nutrient and pollutant fluxes.”[18]

Wetlands may also help to manage and prevent further effects of climate change, including future droughts. While peatlands are “the most important wetland carbon stores both within Canada and globally” the conversion of wetlands generally does have an impact on the release and storage of carbon emissions.[19] Wetlands are an important carbon sink in part due to slow decomposition particularly in comparison with the rate of organic carbon production and interestingly, restored wetlands “seem to be particularly proficient at sequestering carbon.”[20] Smaller wetlands also seem to “do a disproportionately better job of processing nutrients” and are more productive which also poses an option for the restoration of small wetlands to have a major impact.[21] Alberta, in conjunction with Ducks Unlimited, does have a program for wetland restoration which is described briefly below.

Ducks Unlimited Wetland Restoration Lease Program

In 2020, Ducks Unlimited started the Wetland Restoration Lease Program. This program involves a lease agreement between Ducks Unlimited and a landowner. In exchange for a fair market value lease, the landowner leases their wetland to Ducks Unlimited for a period of 10 years. During this time period, Ducks Unlimited takes steps to restore the wetland.

Funding is available through wetland replacement fees paid under the Alberta Wetland Policy. These are fees paid by landowners or project proponents who choose to drain a wetland and in exchange must pay into a wetland restoration fund. This is discussed in more depth in our section on the Alberta Wetland Policy. Ducks Unlimited pays 50% of the fee up front and 50% in a series of annual payments over the 10 year lease agreement. Notably, payment is based on current use and not potential loss of production from hypothetical future use.

Restrictions are also placed on the land including no drainage, no tillage and no infilling of wetlands.

The Alberta Water Council reported that in its first year, this program replaced “158 hectares of wetlands using more than $3.7 million from the wetland restoration funding.”

In light of this ongoing drought, a two-pronged approach with a focus on no net loss of further wetlands in the province alongside a focus on restoration of wetlands that had previously been drained will need to be a focus. It may have limited effects on the drought this summer but with future climate change impacts, may be a major contributing factor in the future.

Written by Rebecca Kauffman for the Environmental Law Centre.

[1] Government of Alberta, “Water-sharing negotiations start on Feb. 1” (31 Jan 2024) News Release online: https://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=89676C2D28FE9-E839-18D3-DB74EE219C47A707.

[2] Jason Markusoff, “A societal issue: Drought-plagued Alberta braces for even worse conditions” (1 Feb 2024) CBC News online: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/drought-alberta-rebecca-schulz-pincher-creek-1.7101179.

[3] Government of Alberta, “Alberta River Basins Map” online: https://rivers.alberta.ca/; Government of Alberta, “Water-sharing negotiations start on Feb. 1” (31 Jan 2024) News Release online: https://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=89676C2D28FE9-E839-18D3-DB74EE219C47A707.

[4] Government of Alberta, “Water Shortage Management Stages” (Aug 2023) Fact Sheet online: https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/fa34c6e0-14e2-4eb4-b553-8c6e13bf122a/resource/488e9eef-0c58-4527-91c7-1be7680368f5/download/epa-water-shortage-management-stages-2023-08.pdf; Government of Alberta, “Drought – current conditions” online: https://www.alberta.ca/drought-current-conditions.

[5] Government of Alberta, “Water Shortage Management Stages” (Aug 2023) Fact Sheet online: https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/fa34c6e0-14e2-4eb4-b553-8c6e13bf122a/resource/488e9eef-0c58-4527-91c7-1be7680368f5/download/epa-water-shortage-management-stages-2023-08.pdf.

[6] Nature Conservancy Canada, “Reflecting on World Wetlands Day 2024” online: https://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/feature-stories/world-wetlands-day-2024.html.

[7] Nature Conservancy Canada, “Reflecting on World Wetlands Day 2024” online: https://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/feature-stories/world-wetlands-day-2024.html.

[8] Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, “Alberta Wetland Policy” (September 2013) at 2 online: https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/5250f98b-2e1e-43e7-947f-62c14747e3b3/resource/43677a60-3503-4509-acfd-6918e8b8ec0a/download/6249018-2013-alberta-wetland-policy-2013-09.pdf.

[9] Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, “Alberta Wetland Policy” (September 2013) at 7 online: https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/5250f98b-2e1e-43e7-947f-62c14747e3b3/resource/43677a60-3503-4509-acfd-6918e8b8ec0a/download/6249018-2013-alberta-wetland-policy-2013-09.pdf.

[10] Jason Unger, “Alberta’s new wetland policy: baby steps in an adult world” (11 Sep 2013) Environmental Law Centre online: https://elc.ab.ca/albertas-new-wetland-policy-baby-steps-in-an-adult-world/.

[11] Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, “Alberta Wetland Policy” (September 2013) at 8 online: https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/5250f98b-2e1e-43e7-947f-62c14747e3b3/resource/43677a60-3503-4509-acfd-6918e8b8ec0a/download/6249018-2013-alberta-wetland-policy-2013-09.pdf.

[12] Alberta Water Council, “Alberta Wetland Policy: Implementation Review Perspectives Report” (June 2021) online: https://www.awchome.ca/uploads/source/AWC_AB_Wetland_Policy_Review_Final.pdf.

[13] P.A. Hamback et al., “Tradeoffs and synergies in wetland multifunctionality: A scaling issue” (2023) Science of the Total Environment 862:160756 at 6.

[14] Alberta Water Council, “Alberta Wetland Policy: Implementation Review Perspectives Report” (June 2021) at 27 online: https://www.awchome.ca/uploads/source/AWC_AB_Wetland_Policy_Review_Final.pdf.

[15] Carla S. S. Ferreira et al., “Wetlands as nature-based solutions for water management in different environments” (2023) Current Opinion in Environmental Science & Health 33:100476 at 5.

[16] Raechel Wastesicoot, “All about wetlands” (21 Mar 2018) Land Lines The Nature Conservancy of Canada Blog online: https://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/blog/archive/all-about-wetlands.html; Pascal Badiou, “The Importance of Freshwater Mineral Soil Wetlands in the Global Carbon Cycle” (March 2017) Ducks Unlimited Canada at 9 online: https://abnawmp.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/The-Importance-of-Freshwater-Mineral-Soil-Wetlands-in-the-Global-Carbon-Cycle_FINAL_web.pdf.

[17] Trevor Herriot, “Prairie potholes could be climate solutions – if we stop destroying them” (2 Feb 2024) The Narwhal online: https://thenarwhal.ca/opinion-prairies-world-wetland-day/.

[18] P.A. Hamback et al., “Tradeoffs and synergies in wetland multifunctionality: A scaling issue” (2023) Science of the Total Environment 862:160756 at 6.

[19] Pascal Badiou, “The Importance of Freshwater Mineral Soil Wetlands in the Global Carbon Cycle” (March 2017) Ducks Unlimited Canada at 1 online: https://abnawmp.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/The-Importance-of-Freshwater-Mineral-Soil-Wetlands-in-the-Global-Carbon-Cycle_FINAL_web.pdf.

[20] Pascal Badiou, “The Importance of Freshwater Mineral Soil Wetlands in the Global Carbon Cycle” (March 2017) Ducks Unlimited Canada at 1-2 online: https://abnawmp.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/The-Importance-of-Freshwater-Mineral-Soil-Wetlands-in-the-Global-Carbon-Cycle_FINAL_web.pdf.

[21] Trevor Herriot, “Prairie potholes could be climate solutions – if we stop destroying them” (2 Feb 2024) The Narwhal online: https://thenarwhal.ca/opinion-prairies-world-wetland-day/.

Cover Photo by James Park on Unsplash

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