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NSWA Technical Bulletin Gravel Operations in the Sturgeon River

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NSWA Technical Bulletin Gravel Operations in the Sturgeon River November 2018 www.nswa.ab.ca NSWA Technical Bulletin Gravel Operations in the Sturgeon River Watershed Introduction Two major gravel deposits occur within the for Pits. As well, other Provincial legislation, Sturgeon River watershed: particularly the Water Act, may apply to some aspects or circumstances of a specific gravel Calahoo-Villeneuve in Sturgeon County, operation. Certain Federal legislation may also which extends along the south side of the apply, again depending on the specific situation. Sturgeon River from NW of St Albert toward However, it is the municipalities that have the the Hamlet of Calahoo. Gravel mining in this authority to plan and regulate land use within area has been ongoing for over thirty years. their boundaries and issue development permits. Kilini Creek in Lac St. Anne County, which lies They therefore decide whether gravel can be between the Town of Onoway and Highway mined in a particular area or a specific land parcel 16, from Kilini Creek west to Highway 43. and under what additional conditions other than Gravel mining in this area has been ongoing those imposed Provincially or Federally. These since the 1950’s. can be surface water and groundwater concerns but also issues such as noise, dust, buffers, hours These deposits are currently being mined and will of operation, haul routes, road maintenance, continue to be mined due to their economic traffic, and safety. This is well described in the value, which derives from their quality and AAMDC publication “A Municipal Guide to Sand proximity to the large Edmonton region market. and Gravel Operations in Alberta”. Overviews of Only small portions of the Sturgeon River Federal, Provincial and municipal legislation are watershed’s 3300 square kilometer area contain also contained in the Sturgeon County report economically viable gravel deposits as discussed “Calahoo-Villeneuve Sand and Gravel Extraction below. However, gravel is a non-renewable Area Structure Plan” and the Lac Ste. Anne County resource, so these deposits will eventually be report “Understanding and Managing Cumulative mined out, or made uneconomic or inaccessible Effects of Aggregate Projects on Water Resources due to development restrictions. Over time in Lac Ste. Anne County, AB”. operations will migrate to more remote deposits outside this watershed. Gravel mining in the Sturgeon River watershed is a sequential, multi-year process of selectively The development, operation, and reclamation of removing and stockpiling topsoil and overburden, gravel pits on private land is primarily regulated dewatering the gravel if necessary, excavating it, by the Province under the Environmental then replacing, contouring, and revegetating the Protection and Enhancement Act and its overburden and topsoil in the mined-out area as regulations, including the Conservation and shown below. In the Sturgeon River watershed, Reclamation Regulation and the Code of Practice November 2018 www.nswa.ab.ca land use prior to mining and after reclamation is existing surface water drainage patterns. These almost entirely agricultural. are only partially restored after reclamation as the land surface is lowered by removal of the gravel From a water perspective, gravel operations are layer. The last area to be mined is generally left as concentrated on a specific portion of the an end pit lake. Past practice was to make these watershed, changing the surface and subsurface lakes small and deep to maximize the useable which can affect both surface water and surface area. More recently larger, shallower groundwater characteristics. Some changes are lakes are being created to increase their temporary but others are permanent, most environmental value as wetlands. notably lowering of the land surface and forming end pit waterbodies. The Code of Practice for Pits Some gravel operations may also divert and use requires pit operations not divert, block or (in the sense of reducing the quantity) surface impound the natural surface or subsurface water or groundwater in several ways including drainage during both operation and reclamation. off-site dewatering, storage, dust control, and Gravel mining operations temporarily disrupt gravel washing. November 2018 www.nswa.ab.ca Calahoo-Villeneuve Gravel Deposit Characteristics demand and other factors. Two multinational construction materials companies, Lehigh Hanson This deposit extends about 20 km mostly to the and LafargeHolcim, have the largest operations in south side of the Sturgeon River from NW of St this area. There are also several smaller, more Albert to the Hamlet of Calahoo, with a small local operators. Mining has generally progressed outlier SW of the Villeneuve Airport. It overlies from east to west. A large portion has been mined bedrock in a buried pre-glacial river channel, out and is in the process of, or has been, varies from 0-15m thick, and is covered by 7-10 m reclaimed for agricultural uses. Recent pit of low permeability glacial clay till and lake permitting and development is occurring west of sediments. The terrain is gently rolling with most Range Road 222. This area has been designated in of the area having soils rated as high quality Sturgeon County’s Calahoo-Villeneuve Area agricultural. Structure Plan as higher priority for new gravel Area and Utilization pits, which must be planned and operated to reduce impacts on adjacent land owners. The total area of this gravel deposit is estimated to be 50 km2, about 1.5% of the total watershed The areas mined out and reclaimed for area. Most of this land was or is being used for agriculture; currently in development, in agriculture. However, only a portion of the area is operation, or undergoing reclamation; and available for mining due to other land uses, remaining to be developed in future are setback requirements, and local variations in the presented below. The Reclaimed category only depths of overburden and gravel. Production has includes parcels that have a reclamation averaged about 2.9 million tonnes per year over certificate but reclamation is essentially complete the past decade and is expected to continue at for a significant portion of the Open category as this rate for another 20 years, depending on well. Calahoo-Villeneuve Gravel Area (quarter sections or major portion of) Lehigh Hanson Lafarge Yellowhead Canadian Aggregates Verbeck Sturgeon County TOTAL 0 10 20 30 40 Reclaimed Open Future November 2018 www.nswa.ab.ca November 2018 www.nswa.ab.ca Surface Water no actual use information has been recorded in the AEP Water Use Reporting System database. Any change in surface water quantity during According to the pit owner, since 2012 no mining is minimal and there are no current Water groundwater has been moved off-site and very Act surface water licences for gravel mining little on-site as the pit is nearly worked out and purposes in this area. activity has been limited. There is a wash plant on Groundwater the site which operates a maximum of three months per year using about 2200 m3 per month. The gravel layer in this area is saturated with Also, this license expires in 2020. groundwater. The overlying glacial lake sediments and tills are highly impermeable and confine the There are also two groundwater drainage licences gravel aquifer. After removal of the overburden, allowing 362,000 m³ discharge to the Sturgeon groundwater in the gravel layer is drained into River annually but neither have done so for at peripheral trenches and pumped to deep ponds least 10 years according to AEP records. One of elsewhere in the pit. These ponds are these is for the closed washing operation noted hydraulically connected to the groundwater table above. and this water infiltrates back into the aquifer Since late 2001, Sturgeon County’s Calahoo- with only minor losses from surface evaporation. Villeneuve Sand and Gravel Extraction Area This does not require a Water Act licence but does Structure Plan has required an independent require an approval to move groundwater within the site. Wells close to the area being dewatered hydrologist to install, maintain, and operate a may be affected if they are completed in the regional groundwater monitoring system on gravel layer. However, water levels generally behalf of the pit operators. An annual return to previous levels after reclamation. groundwater level and quality monitoring report, Hydraulic continuity of the aquifer is restored including recommended remedial action if during reclamation by placing at least one metre required, is submitted to the County and Alberta of sand on the bottom of the pit. Environment and Parks, and made publicly available. The most recent report states: “The Some groundwater is used for gravel washing and water level monitoring results in 2017 indicated not returned to the aquifer. There are currently five active groundwater licences for this purpose that groundwater levels are consistent with totalling 1.2 million m³ per year, which is about historical observations and predicted localized 30% of the total groundwater allocations in the pressures from the mining operations.” and “The Sturgeon River Watershed. In the past five years 2017 results suggest that the mining operations is two of these licences reported total annual use of not overstressing or permanently dewatering the 33,000 m³ and two reported 0 use, one of which is shallow sand and gravel aquifer.”. Some a closed gravel washing location (although it could groundwater monitoring is also done by the potentially reopen in future). The largest licence, operators where required to meet specific licence for 900,000 m³ per year, was issued in 2010 but conditions or operational purposes. November 2018 www.nswa.ab.ca Kilini Creek Gravel Deposit Characteristics Area and Utilization This deposit extends westward from the Kilini A large portion of this deposit has been mined out Creek valley to Highway 43, south of the Town of and reclaimed for agriculture. The estimated Onoway and north of Highway 16, with minor original area of minable deposit is 17 km², about outliers east of the creek.
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