On December 3, 2008 the Government of Alberta released the long-awaited final Land-use Framework (LUF) for Alberta. The LUF lays the policy groundwork for legislation and regional planning across Alberta. The final framework acknowledges that rapid growth and development in many parts of Alberta cannot continue at the same pace in the future. To adequately protect water resources, spatial and density thresholds for development within critical watershed protection areas (e.g., source water supply zones) will be needed. Consequently, there are now opportunities to promote source water protection strategies for key areas in Alberta including the southeastern slopes.

For more information, analysis and commentary about the Land-use Framework, see the AlbertaByDesign website. Based on rounds of public consultation since May 2006 and feedback on the Draft Land-use Framework in May 2008, the final version will direct regional land-use planning for the foreseeable future. The LUF includes a number of key components:

• Seven regional plans will be developed for the province: South Saskatchewan, Red Deer, North Saskatchewan, Upper Athabasca, Lower Athabasca, Upper Peace, and Lower Peace. The first regional plans to be developed by 2010 are the South Saskatchewan and Lower Athabasca Regional Plans.
• Creation of multi-stakeholder Regional Advisory Councils (RAC) to develop land-use plans for every region. The announcement of RAC membership for the first two plans is anticipated for December 2008 or January 2009.

• A Land-use Secretariat will be established to support LUF implementation and communication among government departments and Regional Advisory Councils.
• Cumulative effects management will be the key approach to manage the combined effects of new and existing uses of the land.

Immediate opportunities to protect water resources on the Eastern Slopes

The Land-use Framework could address source water protection issues in the South Saskatchewan and Red Deer regional plans where portions of the eastern slopes are known to provide important watershed functions such as regional water storage and release for downstream users like the City of Calgary.

The southeastern slopes of the Rockies are a major source of water for all three Prairie provinces, providing up to 80% of southern Alberta's water. This region, largely covered by forest, collects and stores rain and snow and releases it downstream to communities in Alberta. Forests also cycle water from precipitation to groundwater to stream flow and also back to the atmosphere. Forests store water as snow or in soil for drier times of the year and they are important for maintaining a more temperate climate than would be otherwise. Yet multiple activities fragment this water-supply system.

The 1977 Policy for Resource Management of the Eastern Slopes set out a framework to make land-use decisions that prioritize watershed integrity and recreation above other uses. However, many argue the policy has not been fully implemented and has therefore resulted in fragmentation and damage for this region over the decades.

Our Place in the Headwaters conference

A recent conference gave some clues on how we might actively protect the southeastern slopes, the source of southern Alberta's water. The Our Place in the Headwaters conference was organized in partnership by the Alberta Wilderness Association, Bow River Basin Council, and Water Matters. The conference, held in early November, highlighted some of the key minds concerned about the Eastern Slopes and allowed informed dialogue among political leaders, representatives of municipalities, environmental organizations, and citizens.

Links to all the presentations can be found on the Speakers page of Our Place in the Headwaters conference website.

Dr. Henry Vaux, Chair of the Rosenberg Forum on Water Policy and expert on global water issues, was the evening keynote speaker at the conference. He outlined five key principles for water management:

1. Develop good data about water quantity and quality
2. Acknowledge the principles of hydrology
   
   • Water quantities cannot be treated separately from water quality
   • Groundwater and surface water hydrologically connected
   • Extractions of water cannot exceed recharge to be sustainable.
3. Acknowledge that water is scarce
4. Maintain ecosystem services
5. Use existing science and invest in new science and do a better job of communicating it

John Pomeroy, Canada Research Chair in Water Resources and Climate Change at University of Saskatchewan's Centre for Hydrology, discussed how the water cycle functions in mountain systems, including the impacts of changing forest cover and climate.

Uldis Silins, with the Department of Renewal Resources at University of Alberta, discussed the impacts of forestry land use and natural disturbance, including climate change, for watershed hydrology in the Eastern Slopes.

Cathy Ryan, with the University of Calgary, provided valuable information about alluvial aquifer dynamics and discussed the impacts of development on the alluvial aquifer upstream of Calgary in the Elbow River Watershed. She highlighted the disconnection between land-use decisions and river-groundwater protection.

Brad Stelfox, with Forem Technologies and a professor at the University of Alberta, visually and eloquently described the cumulative impact of the many ways we use the land, in the past, over time, and into the future if trends continue as "business as usual". Based on the results of ALCES modelling of cumulative impacts, Stelfox offered a number of best practice and policy recommendations to overcome current trends. For example, Stelfox recommended priority land-use zoning as a way to organize our activities on the landscape while protecting the values we have for the landscape.

Dave Sauchyn, Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative, and Bob Sandford, Western Watersheds Climate Research Collaborative, discussed the impacts of climate change on the Eastern Slopes — temperature, impacts to forest cover and other ecosystems, and water supply — and what some of the options are for addressing those impacts.

Honourable Ted Morton, Minister of Sustainable Resource Development, and Brian Pincott, Alderman at City of Calgary, addressed the current political context of Alberta with respect to the Eastern Slopes and use of water. As a part of a panel with Henry Vaux, they initiated discussion of what's happening in Alberta and what the future might look like for Alberta and the southeastern slopes.

Copies of the presentations are available on the Our Place in the Headwaters website.