Lesser Slave Basins Water Management Plan Water Conservation Objectives

The Lesser Slave Basins Water Management Plan, Phase 1, will make recommendations concerning water conservation objectives for the Lesser Slave River.

What are water conservation objectives?
Water conservation objectives identify the quality and quantity of water to be left in the river for various needs. These include: protection of the aquatic environment including management of fish and wildlife, water for tourism, recreation, transportation, or waste assimilation uses.

Objectives may also include water necessary for the rate of flow of water, or water level requirements as in lakes.

What role will the objectives play in the Lesser Slave River?
The objectives that are established will be part of the strategy to balance water use and environmental protection. They will help Alberta Environment make water resource management decisions for meeting environmental, economic and social needs in the entire Lesser Slave Basin.

Under the Water Act (Section 15), Alberta Environment may establish water conservation objectives after appropriate public consultation. In setting objectives for the Lesser Slave River, citizens, communities, industries and government agencies will work together to strike a balance between ecological, economic and social values.

How are water conservation objectives being established?
Information needed to develop water conservation objectives includes technical data such as:

• hydrology of the basins, including the timing of water withdrawals, the effect of the weir at the lake outlet and the river cut offs (the LSL Regulation Project)
• the status of the aquatic environment
• the status of water use in the river basin

Social and economic input by stakeholders/public will be collected at meetings to define the desires for water management of the river basin for the foreseeable future.

Defining a water conservation objective includes assessing the water volume required for human use (including existing consumptive and non-consumptive uses) and determining the river flow and quality needed to protect the aquatic environment.

Protecting the aquatic environment can be achieved by protecting the natural flow regime, the flow variability that characterizes naturally flowing water bodies annually, and from year to year.

The natural flow regime of a water body is the flow and quality needed to sustain riverine processes and associated ecosystems.

These needs can be understood by determining the in-stream flow needs for water quality, biology, geomorphology, hydrology and connectivity. The in stream flow needs of the Lesser Slave River must be determined prior to developing water conservation objectives.

Who is involved in this planning process?
The planning process is a combined effort of the Lesser Slave Basins Watershed Committee and the Government Coordinating Committee.

Contacts:
For more information contact Rod Burr at (780) 624-6567. Dial 310-0000 for toll-free connection in Alberta.

Information

Terms Of Reference
Basin Hydrology
Water Conservation Objectives

Basin Advisory Committees

• Watershed Committee
• Meeting Minutes
• Government Coordinating Committee

Background Studies

click on the map for a larger view of the planning area.

Related Websites

South Saskatchewan River Basins Management Plan

Cold Lake - Beaver River Water Management Plan

(Note: The following links are not Alberta Environment websites)
Big Lake Country Tourism
Town of High Prairie
Town of Slave Lake
M.D. of Big Lakes
M.D. of Lesser Slave River
Watersheds of Alberta