Red Deer County council approved its new municipal development plan unanimously at the Dec. 4 meeting with an eye to bolstering protection for agricultural vitality.But some Markerville residents are concerned recent amendments to the plan may skew legislation in favour of gravel pit developers.“We think the way it was written before they made the amendments was stronger,” said Adele McKechnie, one of a handful of Medicine Flats Aquifer Committee members who attended last week's final vote.“Is this going to damage water supply? They've made it a lot less clear as to who makes that decision.”The committee is worried removal of the gravel in the triangle of land where the Medicine and Red Deer Rivers join could disrupt the flow of water through the aquifer located there.“That's where most of us draw our water from,” she said. “They've weakened their protection.”At issue is a section of the MDP that deals with groundwater.Section 5.4.2 (b)(i) had read: “Sand and gravel operations shall be required to submit to Red Deer County and Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (ESRD), prior to an application being considered for approval, a hydrogeological assessment prepared by a qualified engineer to confirm the depth of the aquifer and identify mitigative measures that will be undertaken to ensure that the integrity of the Alluvial Aquifer will not be compromised by pit activities.”McKechnie had sent a public comment requesting a strengthening of the MDP to further outline action in the case of situations that could not be mitigated.Instead, the “mitigative measures” explanation wording was removed.As discussed during the public hearing that section was changed to read: “Red Deer County and Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (ESRD) shall work co-operatively on permitting processes for sand and gravel operations. While ESRD is primarily responsible for obtaining information to review water and groundwater aspects, and Red Deer County is responsible for obtaining and reviewing information on the location and land use aspects of these operations, the two will exchange information to ensure informed decision-making and efficient regulator processes.“In particular, environmental data the county has collected in relation to the Environmentally Significant Areas of the County shall be actively shared. The county shall also consider and record hydrogeological information that ESRD may collect.”Cynthia Cvik, director of planning and development, said the new language reflects the regulatory realities already in place and was a result of input given by “various stakeholders” about the document.“In some ways it's clarifying a process we already use,” said Cvik. “The one granting the power was incorrect. We, the county municipal government, are creatures of the province.”McKechnie says she's tired of their committee being bounced around between the province and the local government and challenges Red Deer County to prove it is a good steward of the environment.“If you take the best-case scenario then we could be fine,” said McKechnie. “They better show us that they can protect agriculture and protect our groundwater.”
