ALBERTA NAWMP PARTNERSHIP DECEMBER 2016 YOUR GUIDE TO Making Wetlands Work in Your Municipality A GUIDE TO MUNICIPAL WETLAND CONSERVATION IN ALBERTA Contents ABOUT THE ALBERTA NAWMP PARTNERSHIP 3 INTRODUCTION 4 Welcome! 4 Municipalities & Wetlands In Alberta 5 How To Use This Guide 5 Module 1. UNDERSTANDING WETLAND 7 DEFINITIONS & DESCRIPTIONS Module 2. UNDERSTANDING WETLAND 10 POLICY & LEGISLATION Module 3. UNDERSTANDING WETLANDS 13 IN THE WATERSHED Module 4. FINDING RESOURCES FOR 16 WETLAND CONSERVATION Module 5. COMMUNICATING & 18 COLLABORATING WITH OTHERS Module 6. IDENTIFYING WETLAND VALUES 24 & SETTING OBJECTIVES Module 7. INTEGRATING WETLANDS INTO 28 MUNICIPAL PLANNING Module 8. PROMOTING WETLAND 30 STEWARDSHIP & EDUCATION Module 9. THE ROLE OF MUNICIPALITES 33 IN PROVINCIAL WETLAND MITIGATION Module 10. THE IMPORTANCE OF 36 MEASURING PROGRESS CONCLUSION 38 ALBERTA NAWMP PARTNERSHIP 2016 About the Alberta Nawmp Partnership The North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) was established to protect wetland habitat and associated wildlife species across North America. Since 1986, the Alberta NAWMP Partnership has worked to conserve Alberta’s wetlands and associated upland habitat to help achieve the goals of the plan. The Alberta NAWMP Partnership is a collaboration of federal, provincial and municipal governments, non-governmental organizations, private companies and many individuals; all working towards achieving better wetland habitat for the benefit of waterfowl, wildlife and people. Core partners include: � Alberta Agriculture and Forestry � Alberta Environment and Parks � Ducks Unlimited Canada � Environment and Climate Change Canada � The Nature Conservancy of Canada The enduring success of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan in Alberta can be directly attributed to the commitment and support of the Alberta NAWMP partner organizations and their grassroots approach. For more than 25 years, the Alberta NAWMP Partnership has demonstrated unprecedented cooperation and sharing of knowledge, resources and programs and provided insight for stewardship practitioners, and demonstrated the potential of a durable collaborative approach. These partners and their coordinated conservation activities are essential to helping the Alberta NAWMP Partnership achieve the continental NAWMP goal of restoring waterfowl populations to the average levels of the 1970s. ACRONYMS AAF Alberta Agriculture & Forestry IDP Inter-municipal Development Plan AAMDC Alberta Association Municipal Districts and Counties LUB Land Use Bylaw AEP Alberta Environment and Parks MGA Municipal Governments Act AER Alberta Energy Regulator MDP Municipal Development Plan A S VA Alberta Summer Villages Association UDI Urban Development Institute AUMA Alberta Urban Municipalities Association WPAC Watershed Planning and Advisory Councils EPEA Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act WSG Watershed Stewardship Group 3 A GUIDE TO MUNICIPAL WETLAND CONSERVATION IN ALBERTA Introduction WELCOME! Welcome to the Alberta Municipal Wetland Conservation Guide. In 2013, the Government of Alberta (GOA) released the Alberta Wetland Policy. Although the GOA, as a legislator and regulator, plays a key role in its implementation, they recognize that they cannot achieve policy goals and outcomes without the support of Alberta’s municipalities. Hence, in 2015 the Alberta NAWMP Partnership struck a multi-sector Working Group to look at how to support municipalities in wetland conservation. The Group identified the need to outline the variety of ways a municipality can undertake wetland conservation, as well as the information, tools and support available for this work. Hence, this guide! In this document, you will find: � Ten modules covering different aspects of municipal wetland conservation � A number of case studies, examples, links, resources, contacts, etc. available to assist municipalities in this work. We hope this guide is helpful! We would love to hear your feedback on it or any other aspect of municipal wetland conservation. Please feel free to forward your comments to: MICHAEL BARR, Coordinator, Alberta NAWMP Partnership Camrose, Alberta 780.608.8104 | [email protected] www.abnawmp.ca i Up to 70% of wetlands have been lost in the settled areas of Alberta and loss continues to this day. The extent of loss in the unsettled (Boreal) areas is unknown. 4 ALBERTA NAWMP PARTNERSHIP 2016 MUNICIPALITIES & WETLANDS IN ALBERTA A municipality can influence how development occurs around a wetland through the use of bylaws, assessments, permitting processes, etc. In particular, local governments are often the first point of contact Municipalities in Alberta are busy! They have a lot on their plate and for urban and rural sub-division applicants, providing an opportunity may not be thinking specifically about wetland conservation. However, to inform these audiences about the benefits of retaining wetlands there are many areas of everyday municipal business where wetland on the landscape as well as their legal obligations when undertaking conservation may come into play. works near water. Municipalities are mandated through the Municipal Government Act Municipalities also play an important role in promoting wetland to oversee orderly development within their jurisdictional boundaries. conservation and other environmental values to their residents Thus, they can have a large impact on the landscape as they carry through public education and outreach programming. Finally, out their work. This can include visioning out what they want their wetlands may be a legal consideration when a municipality is a future to look like; developing and approving plans (at multiple scales proponent (under Alberta’s Water Act or Public Lands Act) when such as inter-municipal plans, municipal development plans, area building a road or other works that will affect a wetland. structure plans, sub-division plans, open space plans, environmentally significant areas plans, etc); and setting bylaws and using other tools Obviously, municipalities are a key player in wetland conservation (e.g. approvals, permits, reserves, etc) to help achieve plan objectives. in Alberta! Whether your municipality is specifically thinking about wetlands, or recognizes wetlands are a part of everyday business, we Municipalities also undertake a number of activities to support hope you find this guide useful in your work. communities including road-building, providing utility and other infrastructure, developing green spaces and other recreational HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE opportunities, etc. Municipalities are also often engaged in water management issues such as protecting source and treating drinking waters, treating and releasing wastewater, managing run-off and Please know that this guide is not an in-depth, comprehensive tome of stormwater, and mitigating floods and droughts. all things wetlands. Instead, it is intended to be a handy, one-window access point to information and resources available in more detail Wetlands can provide a number of benefits to a municipality, and elsewhere. Hence, each module presents a topic area, and then briefly municipalities can positively influence wetland conservation to describes what may be required, how a municipality might approach achieve these outcomes. For example, wetlands may be a part of the this work, and what information and resources are currently available solution when considering water quality issues and municipalities can to assist with this task. incorporate wetlands into their planning in order to have better source waters and healthier watersheds. By presenting the modules as we have, we seek to bring awareness and understanding of a variety of actions that municipalities can take Wetlands might also be a consideration when planning green and to improve and integrate wetland conservation efforts into everyday other open spaces, enhancing outdoor recreational opportunities, or business. Although a municipality can take a linear approach and just adding aesthetic value to a housing project. Many municipalities review each module in the order presented, please know that wetland also strive to protect environmentally significant areas as well as conservation is a journey and there are no hard, fast rules! Some the biodiversity they provide. Wetland conservation can help meet municipalities are brand new to wetland conservation – some are biodiversity and other environmental goals. old pros. Your municipality might be at a different stage of wetland conservation then your neighbor. Additionally, wetland conservation can be an iterative process where steps are revisited over time. Hence, it is up to each individual municipality to decide what actions are Did you know appropriate at any given time, and when to move forward. To help you do a quick self-assessment of where your municipality is at in its wetland conservation journey, and what modules might be of most interest to you, we provide the following table with a brief What do we mean by description of each module. After reviewing the table, simply go to the ‘wetland conservation’? module that best suits your needs today. Throughout this document, we use the term ‘wetland conservation’ in the broadest sense to include a variety of management actions including wetland protection, enhancement, mitigation (avoid, minimize, replace), restoration, etc. 5 A GUIDE TO MUNICIPAL WETLAND CONSERVATION IN ALBERTA UNDERSTANDING WETLAND A brief overview of the provincial definition of a wetland, a Module 1. DEFINITIONS description