One of the claims made in the Alberta government's new wetland policy is that it will, for the first time, cover all types of wetlands in the province.
Unveiled to the public on Sept. 10, the policy aims to “provide a strategic framework for conserving, restoring and protecting” wetlands through a value-based system not only in settled parts of the province, but now on Crown lands as well.
At the same time, the province pledges the policy will “provide regulatory certainty, clarity and predictability to proponents and regulators” when it comes to making decisions that could affect wetlands.
Tracy Scott, Ducks Unlimited Alberta's head of industry and government relations, said his organization, which is one of the world's largest wetland conservation groups, is glad to see a “comprehensive wetlands policy that covers the whole province.”
He added his organization will work alongside the province to implement the policy.
Yet despite the wide net the province states it is casting to protect Alberta's wetlands, Scott said Ducks Unlimited would have liked to see a “no net loss” provision in the new policy.
Such a provision is generally accepted in other jurisdictions such as the U.S., he said, and it basically means that if wetlands in one place are lost, wetlands in another place could be restored or built from scratch to make up for the loss.
“The principle behind no net loss is that it still allows sufficient flexibility to acknowledge that in some places wetland loss might be unavoidable,” Scott said. “However, the intent is that the net coverage area and numbers of wetlands in the province will not change over time.”
Ducks Unlimited, he added, will work with the government during the implementation phase to “accomplish something that is akin to no net loss.”
The new strategy replaces a 20-year-old interim policy that only focused on wetlands in settled areas.
The three mechanisms included in the plan to manage provincial wetlands include the avoidance of loss or damage to wetlands, minimizing loss or damage or replacing lost or damaged wetlands.
The replacement mechanism could include “in lieu fee payment” where money collected could be used for wetland restoration.
Which mechanism is used will depend on a “value approach” where the importance of a wetland to water quality, biodiversity, human uses and hydrology are measured.
“A wetland management system based on relative value will help ensure that land use planners, land managers and land developers are better informed and able to consider the broader ramifications of their decisions at early stages in the planning process,” the policy states.
The province also stated it intends to create a “relative wetland value map” to help this process.
Scott said he has no problem with the government determining the relative value of any given wetland since Ducks Unlimited's assistance in the policy's implementation will ensure “good science” is used in measuring such value and people's attitudes towards wetlands are changing.
“In the past we did not fully value wetlands. Now we do. We're beginning to understand the role and function of wetlands in flood attenuation, in groundwater recharge, the removal of excess nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen.”
The policy also includes a “replacement ratio” that will determine how many hectares of wetland will be replaced for every hectare of lost wetland based on the same relative value system.
Many of the aims of the provincial wetland policy cover some of the draft goals for Central Alberta wetlands scientists with the Red Deer River Watershed Alliance included in a technical report released in February on riparian areas, wetlands and land use.
These goals include protecting and restoring the functions of wetlands, having governments, landowners and other groups act as stewards of wetlands and improving knowledge of Alberta's wetlands.
These goals will end up in the alliance's final watershed management plan.
