North Saskatchewan regional planning

The Capital Region Air Quality Management Framework presents a collaborative, shared vision for managing ambient air quality in the Edmonton metropolitan region. Supporting documents describe the framework and its development in more detail.

• Capital Region Air Quality Management Framework
• Capital Region - Managing Air Quality
• Technical Supporting Document for the Capital Region Air Quality Management

The water management framework for the Industrial Heartland (IH) and Capital Region is the result of a collaborative, cumulative effects management approach to protect the reach of the North Saskatchewan River, from Devon to Pakan, which is directly impacted by municipal and industrial effluent discharge. It also describes the implementation work completed during the first 5 years and reaffirms stakeholder commitment to future work.

• Water Management Framework for the Industrial Heartland and Capital Region
• Overview: Water Management Framework for the Industrial Heartland and Capital Region
• Five Years of Implementation: 2007-2012
• Five Years of Implementation: 2007-2012 – Overview for the Industrial Heartland and Capital Region

The following factsheet summarizes Project 2, an engineering study to evaluate 5 alternative scenarios for wastewater treatment and water supply management for all municipal and industrial entities in the Industrial Heartland and Edmonton region.

• Project 2 for the Industrial Heartland and Capital Region

The Effluent Characterization Program (ECP) is an important component of implementing cumulative effects management on the North Saskatchewan River, particularly in the Devon to Pakan reach (Industrial Heartland Reach). The program describes monitoring and reporting requirements for effluent directly entering the North Saskatchewan River, with the objective of providing economically and scientifically sound data for tools that are used to monitor, evaluate, and inform management decisions in this reach of the river. The results from this program will also be used to further develop maximum allowable loads and to support several other water quality management tools used by Alberta Environment and Protected Areas to manage water quality in the North Saskatchewan River.

• Water Management Framework for the Industrial Heartland and Capital Region: Effluent Characterization Program

The Capital Region Implementation Progress Report provides an update on the efforts to date by Alberta Environment and Protected Areas, and stakeholders in the Edmonton region on addressing air quality concerns and identifies upcoming implementation priorities.

• Capital Region Implementation Progress Report 2012-2015

The Ambient Air Quality Assessment Summary Reports assign an ambient air quality level to each monitoring station in the Edmonton region for the framework's 4 contaminants of concern (nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, fine particulate matter and ozone). The Backgrounder is to provide the context for the annual Assessment Summary Reports.

• Backgrounder – Ambient Air Quality Assessment Summary Reports
• 2015 Ambient Air Quality Assessment Summary Report
• 2014 Ambient Air Quality Assessment Summary Report
• 2013 Ambient Air Quality Assessment Summary Report
• 2012 Ambient Air Quality Assessment Summary Report
• 2011 Ambient Air Quality Assessment Summary Report

The Capital Region Fine Particulate Matter Response is the mandatory action plan to address the exceedance of the Canada-wide Standard for fine particulate matter in the Edmonton Region because of the 2011 and 2012 Ambient Air Quality Assessment Summary Report. The Response was developed collaboratively between municipalities, industry, non-governmental organizations, airsheds, and the federal and provincial governments. The goal is to reduce ambient fine particulate matter concentration and remain below Level 4 at all monitoring stations within the Edmonton region through 3 key objectives focusing on action, investigation, and engagement.

• Capital Region Fine Particulate Matter Response
• Capital Region Fine Particulate Matter Science Report

Supporting documents, such as the Capital Region Fine Particulate Matter Science Report were used in the development of the Response. The following documents provide the Response, explain particulate matter in the Edmonton area, and the process used to develop the Response.

• Fine Particulate Matter in the Capital Region – Capital Region Air Quality Management Framework Process Overview
• Fine Particulate Matter in the Capital Region – Response Overview
• Fine Particulate Matter in the Capital Region – Factsheet
• Capital Region and Red Deer Fine Particulate Matter Responses – Education and Outreach Opportunities

Photochemical air quality modelling is a useful scientific tool to understand the impacts of emission source sectors on ambient air quality. Two studies have been undertaken in the Edmonton region. The Capital Region Particulate Matter Air Modelling Assessment describes early parameterization of the Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) model for use in the Edmonton region. The Formation of Secondary PM_2.5 in the Capital Region Study further describes the process of improving CMAQ performance in the Edmonton region.

• Capital Region Particulate Matter Air Modelling Assessment Final Report
• Formation of Secondary PM_2.5 in the Capital Region Study Final Report

As part of the Capital Region Air Quality Management Framework implementation, the department conducted an air monitoring network assessment. The resulting report consolidated the network assessments conducted up to 2013, with some supplementary analyses, to provide an assessment of ambient air quality monitoring in the region.

• Network Assessment of the Edmonton Capital Region Final Report

The following framework sets out a vision, outcomes, principles, and presents 4 strategies to improve the management of elemental sulphur in the Industrial Heartland

• Elemental Sulphur Management Framework for the Industrial Heartland

The impacts of the 2005 CN Rail oil spill and subsequent treatment to vegetation in Wabamun Lake had not been assessed since 2007. Therefore, in 2017 Alberta Environment and Protected Areas completed an assessment of the ecosystem health of previously treated, contaminated, and unaffected lacustrine marshes of Wabamun Lake to provide a long-term prognosis for the viability of these marshes.

• Impacts of the CN Rail Oil Spill on Softstem Bulrush-Dominated Lacustrine Marshes in Wabamun Lake

This report documents the configuration, calibration and validation of the river water quality model for the mainstem of the North Saskatchewan River from Devon to the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. The model represents hydrodynamics, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, organic carbon, algal interactions and other parameters influences by tributaries, municipal wastewater treatment plants, industrial facilities, combined with sewer overflows and storm water. The model calibration period was from January 2000 through March 2008.

• North Saskatchewan River Water Quality Model: Alberta Environment Technical Report

This report presents the results of a field campaign to study the physical mixing of the ambient river water with the effluent from 2 wastewater treatment plants and an industrial facility on the North Saskatchewan River. The main objectives of this study were to determine the downstream distance required to achieve full mixing of the effluent and to measure spatially distributed tracer concentration and water velocity in the mixing zone such that dispersion patterns could be determined.

• Physical Mixing Patterns of Water and Contaminants in the North Saskatchewan River

This application of a dynamic water quality model represents the North Saskatchewan River reach, and how it can potentially be impacted by activities in the Edmonton region and IH. The department has developed a hydrodynamic and water quality model, based on the Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code (EFDC) platform for the river system. The use of this model application evaluates contaminant loadings, and their effect on river water quality under various management and engineering options in the IH area. Additionally, the dynamic water quality model is the basis for a larger integrated model of the NSR basin to support broader-scale watershed and regional planning.

• North Saskatchewan Hydrodynamic and Water Quality Model Calibration

This report details the configuration and calibration of the NSR EFDC model. This model provides a sound basis for conducting scenario simulations. Boundary conditions can be readily changed to evaluate effects on conditions throughout the system. The model can be further improved through refinement of tributary boundary conditions, perhaps through watershed model simulation.

• Hydrodynamic and Water Quality Model of the North Saskatchewan River

This report details the enhancements to a Loading Simulation Program in C++ (LSPC platform) watershed model for the NSR. The modelling objectives includes incorporating non-contributing areas into the model, configuring the model for sediment loading and transport, and delivering a fully functional model that is ready for performing scenario analysis.

• North Saskatchewan Integrated Water Quality Model Enhancement for Scenarios Analysis

These reports provide an overview of technical studies tracing the cumulative effects of natural and man-made stressors on a portion of the North Saskatchewan River, located between the Devon and Pakan long-term river network (LTRN) monitoring stations.

• Synthesis of Recent Knowledge on Water Quality, Sediment Quality and Non-fish Biota in the North Saskatchewan River
• North Saskatchewan River: Water Quality and Related Studies (2007-2012)
• North Saskatchewan River Quality for the Industrial Heartland and Capital Region

This report outlines water quality trends in the North Saskatchewan River in the Edmonton region, based upon analysis of data gathered from 4 monitoring sites located at:

• Devon, near Edmonton
• Pakan, near Edmonton
• Upstream of Rocky Mountain House
• Highway 17 near the Alberta-Saskatchewan border

• Investigations of Trends in Select Water Quality Variables at Long-Term Monitoring Sites on the North Saskatchewan River

To enable the goal of maintaining or improving water quality in the North Saskatchewan River, water quality objectives (WQOs) have been established for the Industrial Heartland reach, inclusive of the river mainstem from Devon downstream to Pakan. The WQOs apply specifically to the long-term river network (LTRN) monitoring sites at Devon and Pakan, and are based on ambient in-stream concentrations, except where ambient concentrations exceed the most stringent federal/provincial water quality guidelines. WQOs are the basis for calculating maximum allowable loads (MALs) and provide a measure against which long-term changes can be assessed.

• Pilot Water Quality Objectives and Allowable Contaminant Loads for the North Saskatchewan River
• Overview: Maximum Allowable Loads for the Devon to Pakan reach of the North Saskatchewan River

Reports to improve information and fill data gaps in the North Saskatchewan River include:

• Evaluation of Aquatic Plants and Controlling Factors in the North Saskatchewan River
• A Review of Literature on Cohesive Sediment Transport Processes, Methodological Frameworks and Management Strategies in Relation to the North Saskatchewan River
• Assessment of Sediment Quality and Sources in the North Saskatchewan River and its Tributaries
• An Assessment of Sediment Quality, Benthic Invertebrates and Epilithic Algae in the North Saskatchewan River. Based on 2007 and 2008 data. AEP, 2010