Goals and Objectives

• It is proposed that selected landowners be provided with incentives to provide water storage while enhancing waterfowl habitat on their lands. The main focus of this demonstration project would involve the conservation, creation or restoration of key wetlands, and related grassland habitat. These wetlands and grass uplands would retard spring runoff and provide water-holding capability during spring run-off and high precipitation events. By holding excess water in these areas, flooding of residential and commercial urban properties as well as high value cropland will be reduced or eliminated. Significant cost savings associated with flood damage and cropland loss will be prevented.
• In addition, initiatives will be undertaken to further wildlife production and biodiversity from these wetlands and to promote long term economic gain from such activities as eco-tourism and hunting. Such increases in economic and biological diversities are seen as critical to the adoption of wetland preservation in the Big Gully area.

Activities

• Delta Waterfowl Foundation (DWF) will secure funding for the Alternate Land Use Services (ALUS) component of this initiative in partnership with the County of Vermilion River CVR).
• A Project Management Team (PMT) will be created to work with CVR staff to develop and implement a Wetland Conservation Program.
• A detail wetland inventory will be conducted and integrated into the CVR GIS database from which “ALUS eligible” lands will be determined and identified using GPS and remote sensing tools.
• A number of areas where upland grass cover can be established (cultivation and seeding up front costs) for nesting ducks and other wildlife will be identified in addition, in association with wetland basins.
• Private land owners of ALUS land will be offered a financial incentive to rent land to the CVR for a three-year contract period. The PMT working with participating landowners, will then clearly identify and mark the boundaries between ALUS and other lands and ALUS land will then be incorporated into the Wetland Conservation Program for protection and future wildlife development. These identified areas will then be either converted or restored as wetlands.
• The PMT will also provide for audit/land use verification and other administration functions throughout the duration of the project.
• CVR will concurrently, undertake to implement the recommended engineering works required for remediation of ALUS lands for wetland use.

Specific Habitat Products/Results to be Supported by WHC’s Contributions

• WHC’s contributions will support the restoration or creation of wetlands that have been incorporated into the Wetland Conservation Program based on the identification of private landowners’ ALUS lands.

Benefits to Wildlife

• The value of wetlands in terms of the protection of water quality has been extensively studied. As detailed in Alberta’s “Water for Life” strategy, water quality is becoming an increasingly important issue in the Province. Mallin et al., 2001 examined the relationship between wetland conservation and water quality in North Carolina and concluded that, “In the rural watersheds we examined, watersheds with 13.8% wetlands coverage or greater appeared to be buffered against excessive turbidity and fecal coliform runoff after rain events.”
• As was detailed in the 2006 Waterfowl Report (Lungle, 2006), this region is an important waterfowl breeding area and provides habitat for many other species as well. The following is extracted from Lunge, 2006:

  Stratum 26 (Vegreville to Red Deer) “* stratum 26 includes the Big Gully area”

  • Mallards up 8% from last year, down 14% from 10-year, down 40% from long term
  • Pintails up 17% from last year, up 173% from 10-year, down 18% from long term
  • Dabbling ducks up 18% from last year, up 35% from 10-year, down 3% from long term
  • Diving ducks up 85% from last year, up 16% from 10-year, down 3% from long term
  • Total ducks up 27% from last year, up 30% from 10-year, down 3% from long term
  • Ponds same as last year, up 34% from 10-year, up 25% from long term
  • Canada geese down 12% from last year, down 12% from 10-year, up 184% from long term.
• Wetlands are also of substantial financial benefit to the area in the form of tourism, as hunters and bird watchers are but a few of the urban population to commonly utilize wetlands. Beyond the immediate scope of this project and assuming successful restoration and creation of wetlands and grass uplands in the area, we believe significant economic benefits will follow. For example, as wetlands become more productive, activities such as bird watching and hunting will lead to eco-tourism and important rural economic development for the area through the provision of such services as guiding and accommodation. This economic driver may be expected to last indefinitely and as the local community becomes more adept at this diversification, may extend well beyond the scope of eco-tourism as described here.

Relevance to Habitat Planning, Decision Making and/or Management

• A combination of a municipal wetland restoration project for flood control with an ecological goods and services project for conserving/enhancing environmental benefits such as water quality and supply, habitat for wetland and associated upland species among others, provides a unique opportunity to test an ecological services delivery model (ALUS) in an area of intensive and competing land use. The convergence of increasing agricultural, industrial and municipal land uses in the County of Vermillion River is representative of the greater land use challenges throughout Alberta and in other jurisdictions. Added to this mix is a growing public awareness and demand for sustainable environmental solutions for landscapes in the face of increasing development pressures.
• The results of this project will be of direct interest to land use planning in Alberta and other jurisdictions seeking environmental solutions that are also sustainable from a social and economic perspective. Municipalities in Alberta and beyond will watch carefully as the project is implemented, as will provincial and federal governments with obligations to achieve land use policy solutions in complex social, economic and environmental circumstances.
• The results of this study will inform habitat planning and decision-making by all levels of government and conservation organizations with wildlife/ biodiversity conservation mandates.
• The results will also inform the ongoing development of ecological goods and services policy at provincial and federal levels of government, and provide insights to those who seek new solutions for conserving natural capital and enhancing environmental benefits from private farmland.

Project Location
The drainage area known as “Big Gully” is located in the County of Vermilion River in proximity to the City of Lloydminster, predominantly in the townships of 50-1, 50-2 and 51-1 W4. The area is bounded by Hwy 17 to the East, (along the Saskatchewan/Alberta border) and Hwy 16 (Yellowhead) to the South. The City of Lloydminster is one of Alberta’s most rapidly growing municipalities with substantial development incurring into the Big Gully area.

The area is rich in wetlands and is located in a region known for its importance to waterfowl production. At the same time, this area is predominantly agricultural i.e. mainly crop and livestock production. Most of the land in this region is privately owned agricultural land; a factor of crucial importance in the development of an effective water management strategy and other resources.

Please click here to view the project location map (pdf file).

Project Contact
For more information on this project, please contact Robert Sopuck, Vice President – Policy (Prairie Canada), Delta Waterfowl Foundation, Winnipeg, Manitoba, or Dr. Robert Bailey, Vice President, Policy for Canada, Delta Waterfowl Foundation.