Birtle Transmission Project Environmental Assessment Report

5.0 Environmental and socio-economic setting 5.1 Overview This chapter provides an overview of the physical, ecological (aquatic and terrestrial), and socio-economic environment with respect to the Project. It begins with a summary of the regional setting that discusses historic, present and potential future conditions for the region. The physical environment section then provides information on the existing: • Atmospheric conditions(climate, noise and air quality); • Surface water; • Geology and hydrogeology; and • Terrain and soils. This is followed by a section on the existing ecological environment, which discusses: • Fish habitat and resources; • Vegetation; • Terrestrial invertebrates; • Reptiles; • Amphibians; • Mammals; and • Birds. The socio-economic environment section then provides information on: • Population; • Infrastructure and services; • Employment and economy; • Property and residential development; • Agriculture; • Other commercial resource use; • Recreation and tourism; • Health; 5-1 • Traditional land and resource use; and • Heritage resources. The information in this chapter provides the basis of this environmental assessment. Additional information regarding the existing physical and ecological environment is provided in Appendix D, and additional information regarding the socioeconomic environment is provided in Appendix E. 5.2 Regional setting summary 5.2.1 Historic conditions The Project is located in the Interior Plains Physiographic Region, which covers southwest Manitoba, southern Saskatchewan and most of Alberta (Weir 2012). The generally low relief and soils in the area were formed through retreating glaciers and Lake Agassiz, and are generally very fertile. Relief in the region is primarily as a result of large rivers such as the Assiniboine and its tributaries, which have eroded deep valleys and ravines in some areas. Historically, much of the area was covered with large open prairie grassland areas interspersed with aspen parkland, with elm, ash and Manitoba maple along watercourses, and oak on drier sites. The strategic location and varied geography of the region resulted in a rich history of Indigenous land use during the Precontact Period and well as after the first contact. The Precontact Period in Manitoba dates back to at least 10,000 Before Present with the earliest evidence of human occupation beginning in the southwest corner of the Province and expanding northwards, coinciding with the melting of the last glaciers and the draining of Glacial Lake Agassiz. After deglaciation, the first peoples in the region would likely have arrived after the local ecology emerged from under the meltwater and animal life reoccupied the area. The confluence of the Assiniboine and Qu’Appelle rivers, along with a number of smaller tributaries located within the study area would have acted as a central hub for the congregation of people, animals and resources. The region continued to be a place where the exchanging of ideas and trade would occur. For example, James Settee, an Indigenous schoolmaster was sent out in the winter of 1841 to determine the need for a school in the Fort Ellice area. Settee reported that “Fort Ellice is a very desirable locality for the establishment of a new station. The Missionary might have access to the Sioux, the Assiniboine, the Mandans, the Crees and the Chippeways” (Ledohowski 2009). The fur trade played a major role in this region from the late 1700s to late 1800s and while most major fur trade posts were located strategically on waterways, overland 5-2 access was just as important. This was manifested in an extensive network of cart trails and overland transportation routes that criss-crossed the southern Prairies, connecting various trade posts and communities. These trails typically followed early Indigenous travel and trade routes. One of the main trails was known as the Carleton Trail, an approximately 1,400 km long overland route which connected Fort Garry (now Winnipeg) and Fort Edmonton (Kermoal 2007). By the mid-1800s, a number of Metis freighters in Red River Carts would routinely travel long distances transporting goods and furs across the prairies. At this time, Fort Ellice was one of the major trade posts in the region. The post located at the on the upper plateau of the junction of Beaver Creek and Assiniboine River was in operation from 1831 to 1890. By the 1890s, the Carlton Trail stopped being used for transportation, a result of the Canadian Pacific railway expansion into the northwest. The first transcontinental railroad reached Birtle in 1886 (Bird 1961) and gradually replaced carts as a means of transportation. A large Metis population in the region dates back to these earliest days of the fur trade especially around the Fort Ellice area. Ste. Madeleine is one of several areas settled by Metis homesteaders in the late 1800s after being displaced from the Red River Settlement. In 1870, formal acquisition of lands governed by the Hudson Bay Company was granted to the Federal government, who implemented the Dominion Land Survey, parcelling thousands of acres into a grid system for homesteading, as well and the building of the transcontinental railway, causing a boom in settlement. This pioneer-settlement period from 1878 to 1914 attracted several different cultural groups who were drawn by agricultural incentives. The first wave of settlers included the dominant Anglo-Ontario group who were first to arrive and occupied the majority of the region. Smaller communities of Francophone, Romanian and Ukrainian settlers also established permanent settlements in the area. 5.2.2 Existing conditions The following information on the Ecozone is taken from Smith et al. (1998) unless otherwise noted. The Project is located primarily within the Aspen Parkland Ecoregion of the Prairies Ecozone, which occupies the southwestern corner of the province and a small area in the Riding and Duck Mountains. It forms part of the extensive parkland belt between the closed boreal forest cover to the north and northeast and the treeless grasslands to the west. A mosaic of trembling aspen, oak groves and rough fescue grasslands extends in a broad arc from south-western Manitoba northward through Saskatchewan to its northern apex in north-central Alberta. The Ecoregion slopes gently eastward and is drained by the Souris, Assiniboine, Qu’Appelle and Pembina rivers flowing in deeply incised broad valleys carved by glacial meltwaters. 5-3 The Prairies Ecozone has been heavily altered by human activity. Farmland dominates the Ecozone, covering nearly 94% of the land base. It contains the majority of the country's productive agricultural cropland, rangeland, and pasture. As a result of the export of grains, oilseeds, and animal products, the Ecozone is an important source of foreign exchange. Agriculture is the major agent of change in this Ecozone, influencing most native communities of plants and animals. Agricultural activities such as cropping, livestock operations and aerial spraying have been occurring in southern Manitoba for over a century, and will continue into the future. Loss of habitat is the most critical threat to the flora and fauna, with little of the natural vegetation remaining. Wetlands have been altered by agricultural practices and only half the pre-settlement wetland area remains. Today, the Prairies Ecozone and its native ecosystems contain some of the most endangered natural habitats in Canada and provides habitat for several threatened and endangered wildlife species. While agriculture is the dominant activity in the region, there are other activities and developments that have ongoing effects (both positive and negative) to the regional environment and economy. Residential subdivisions have and continue to be developed. The community of Russell is the largest urban center in the region, with smaller settlements including McAuley, Beulah and the Village of St. Lazare, and ongoing development around St. Lazare. Quarries, potash withdrawal and oil wells have been developed and are operating in the region. There are no active mines in the region, but mining activities are associated with 13 quarry leases, 22 casual quarry permits, 18 quarry withdrawals (either sand or gravel), 179 private quarry permits, one potash exploration permit and 19 potash withdrawals. There are also 439 oil wells in the region, with 26 in the Binscarth area, 129 near Prairie View, and 284 in the RM of Ellice Archie. As described further in section 5.5.8 hunting, fishing, trapping and other domestic resource use activities have been undertaken in southern Manitoba and will continue. Recreational activities in the region include all-terrain vehicle use, snowmobile use, multi-trail use and boating. The Project region also contains infrastructure such as roads, railways, and existing transmission and pipelines, with approximately three times as much on the east side of the Assiniboine River than the west. Section 5.5.3 contains a description of existing infrastructure, which is also mapped (Map 5-2). Roads include Provincial Trunk Highways (PTH), Provincial Roads (PR) and mile or half mile roads. The Project route crosses PTH 16 and PTH 41 and parallels PR 568 for 13 km in length. 5-4 In addition to roads there are rail and transmission lines that run through the region (Map 5-2). Railways include the Rocanville Subdivision, Rivers Subdivision and Bredenbury Subdivision. Transmission lines include a 230kV line from Birtle South Station south to Virden West Station, and a 230kV transmission

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