LAKE MANAGEMENT Alberta Water Council’s Project Team Central Alberta Recreational Lakes Forum Marie-Claire St-Jacques, Alberta Water Council May 2015

Water for Life Partnerships Watershed Planning and Advisory Councils Watershed Planning Provincial-Scale Advice Alberta Water Council Government Of Alberta Responsibility and Accountability Watershed Stewardship Groups Local 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

How many lakes and where? *Based on preliminary numbers from GIS analysis

CURRENT STATE OF LAKE MANAGEMENT

Lake governance  Statutory and non-statutory tools JurisdictionLegislation/Policy FederalFisheries Act Navigable Waters Protection Act ProvincialALSA Water Act Public Lands Act Municipal Government Act EPEA MunicipalMunicipal Development Plans Land Use Bylaws Area 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 GOA2 Watershed Stewardship Group 5 WPAC1 County/municipality4

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 MEMBERS Alf DurnieGOA (Municipal Affairs) Hugh SandersBattle River Watershed Alliance Jon SweetmanAI-EES Madison KobrynGOA (Agriculture and Forestry) Mike IwanyshynNRCB Peter AkuAlberta Conservation Association Peter PellattAUMA Richard CaseyGOA (Environment and Parks) Robert NygaardAAMDC Ron McMullinAlberta Irrigation Projects Association Ron ZurawellAEMERA Sharon McKinnonCrop Sector Working Group Steph NeufeldALMS Thank you