0 State of the Environment Report 2012
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STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 2012 Parkland County, Alberta 53109A HWY 779 T7Z 1R1 Approved May 28, 2013 780-968-8888 0 0 State of the Environment Report 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 3 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 5 Report Structure .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Condition of Parkland County’s Air ............................................................................................................................................................... 7 Condition of Parkland County’s SurFace Water: Rivers ........................................................................................................................ 9 Pressures Facing Parkland County’s SurFace Water: Rivers ............................................................................................................ 10 Condition of Parkland County’s SurFace Water: Lakes ....................................................................................................................... 12 Condition of Parkland County’s Groundwater ....................................................................................................................................... 15 Pressures Facing Parkland County’s Groundwater ............................................................................................................................. 17 Condition of Parkland County’s Land ......................................................................................................................................................... 19 Pressures Facing Parkland County’s Land ............................................................................................................................................... 21 Responses to the Pressures Facing Parkland County’s Land .......................................................................................................... 22 Condition of Parkland County’s Biodiversity .......................................................................................................................................... 24 Pressures Facing Parkland County’s Biodiversity ................................................................................................................................ 27 ReFerences .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 29 1 State of the Environment Report 2012 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Figures: Figure 1: Alberta AQHI .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 7 Figure 2: Alberta AQHI Annual Snapshot 2009 .................................................................................................................................................. 8 Figure 3: Water Allocations: Volume-Based Method .................................................................................................................................... 11 Figure 4: Water Allocations: Percentage-Based Method ............................................................................................................................. 11 Figure 5: Water Allocations in Alberta since 1900 ........................................................................................................................................ 12 Figure 6: Eutrophication oF Parkland County Lakes in 2011 .................................................................................................................... 14 Figure 7: Groundwater Levels ................................................................................................................................................................................. 16 Figure 8: Water Well density ................................................................................................................................................................................... 18 Figure 9: Recommended Extraction Rate .......................................................................................................................................................... 18 Figure 10: Land Use Districts in Parkland County ......................................................................................................................................... 19 Figure 11: Land Use Districts in Parkland County - Map ............................................................................................................................ 20 Figure 12: Land Use Districts in Parkland County - Percentage .............................................................................................................. 21 Figure 13: Ecozones oF the Canadian Prairies .................................................................................................................................................. 24 Figure 14: Wildlife Manaement Units oF Parkland County ......................................................................................................................... 26 Tables: Table 1: AQHI Annual Averages .................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Table 2: Annual Average Pollutant Levels ................................................................................................................................................ 8 Table 3: Alberta River Flow Quantity Index ............................................................................................................................................. 9 Table 4: Alberta River Quality Index ......................................................................................................................................................... 10 Table 5: Status oF Alberta Lake Levels ...................................................................................................................................................... 13 Table 6: Level oF Eutrophication and Lake Characteristics ............................................................................................................. 13 Table 7: Eutrophication oF Parkland County Lakes 1996-2009 .................................................................................................... 14 Table 8: Eutrophication oF Parkland County Lakes 1996-2009 .................................................................................................... 15 Table 9: Per Capita Waste Disposal Rate ................................................................................................................................................. 22 Table 10: 2010 Waste Diversion ................................................................................................................................................................. 22 Table 11: 2011 Waste Diversion ................................................................................................................................................................. 23 Table 12: 2012 Waste Diversion ................................................................................................................................................................. 23 Table 13: ALberta's Endangered Species ................................................................................................................................................ 25 Table 14: WMU 336 Aerial Survey Results ............................................................................................................................................. 26 Table 15: Big Game Hunting Tags .............................................................................................................................................................. 27 Table 16: Prohibited Noxious PLants in Parkland County .............................................................................................................. 28 Table 17: Noxious Plants in Parkland County ....................................................................................................................................... 28 2 State of the Environment Report 2012 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY DISCLAIMER Parkland County’s inaugural State oF the Environment Report provides an Published June 2013 assessment of the condition of Parkland County’s environment, the nature of the pressures upon it and responses to those pressures. SpeciFically, the Report This report is based assesses the State of Parkland County’s air, land, groundwater, surFace water, on inFormation and biodiversity. Key Findings are summarized below: provided by Parkland County business units Parkland County’s Air and external sources. Every eFFort has been Parkland County’s air was assessed using the Province