Wetland authenticating professionals

Wetland authenticating professionals can identify, classify and determine potential wetland boundaries in accordance with the Alberta Wetland Identification and Delineation Directive and the Alberta Wetland Classification System, and recommend how wetland avoidance, minimization or replacement can be achieved in the planning and design stages of a proposed activity. Where avoidance and minimization efforts are not feasible, wetland replacement is required. Proponents, including landowners, can undertake their own replacement project.

Wetland authenticating professionals can conduct a review of regulatory requirements for a planned activity, including acts, regulations, policies and plans.

If you are considering conducting an activity in a wetland as defined in the Alberta Wetland Policy, a wetland authenticating professional is required to support your application. Examples of activities under the act include, but are not limited to:

• draining a wetland
• infilling a wetland
• consolidating a wetland (for example, combining multiple wetlands into one larger wetland)
• removing or disturbing ground or vegetation in a wetland
• constructing a dugout in a wetland

Authentication of regulatory documents submitted as part of an application under the Water Act and the Alberta Wetland Policy is required for the following:

1. Wetland Assessment and Impact Report (WAIR)
   For most activities that may impact a wetland, a WAIR must be prepared in accordance with the Alberta Wetland Assessment and Impact Report Directive. Wetland Authenticating Professionals must authenticate the WAIR as part of the regulatory submission to Environment and Protected Areas or the Alberta Energy Regulator under the Water Act.
2. Wetland Assessment and Impact Form (WAIF)
   The WAIF is used to support low risk activities regulated by Environment and Protected Areas or the Alberta Energy Regulator. For eligible activities, the form is to be used in place of a WAIR. Wetland practitioners must authenticate the WAIF as part of the regulatory submission to Environment and Protected Areas under the Water Act.
3. Alberta Wetland Rapid Evaluation Tool (ABWRET) Assessments
   Relative wetland value is determined using one of two models, the Alberta Wetland Rapid Evaluation Tool – Actual (ABWRET-A), or the Alberta Wetland Rapid Evaluation Tool – Desktop (ABWRET-D). Wetland authenticating professionals will complete the required assessment for submission to Environment and Protected Areas to determine a wetlands relative value (A, B, C or D).
4. Design and Specifications Plan for a Wetland Replacement Project
   This is a plan outlining the restoration of a wetland that had previously been drained, enhancement of an existing degraded wetland, or construction of a wetland where one previously did not exist. A Design and Specifications Plan completed by a wetland authenticating professional is required if an applicant is proposing to undertake their own wetland replacement.
5. Validation of a Wetland Replacement Project
   Validation requires a conclusion about the success of the construction of a wetland replacement project after it is completed. The objectives are based on the Design and Specifications Plan for a wetland replacement project.
6. Verification of a Wetland Replacement Project 
   Verification typically occurs five years after construction of a wetland replacement project is complete. Verification is an assessment of the overall functionality of the wetland, and the wetland replacement project is considered complete once authenticated.
7. Wetland Reclamation Proposals
   Where lands and activities are under the authority of the Public Lands Act and/or the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, an applicant can propose to mitigate wetland loss by undertaking wetland reclamation Wetland reclamation is where the wetland is returned to the same location and state it was in prior to the activity. Applicants must provide a Wetland Reclamation Proposal completed by a wetland authenticating professional as part of a WAIR or WAIF submitted with a Water Act.
8. Compliance Wetland Assessment Report (CWAR)
   A report may be required if an unauthorized Activity under the Water Act has occurred in a wetland.

If you are considering conducting any of the following activities, wetland authentication may not be required:

• Where an activity in the Alberta Wetland Assessment and Impact Form (WAIF) is listed under Table 1 or 2 as having “no WAIR of WAIF requirements”;
• Vegetation removal (for example, brushing, cutting hay) in frozen or dry conditions in and around a wetland, provided no soil is disturbed and all vegetation roots remain intact and undisturbed;
• Cutting aquatic vegetation within four metres surrounding a private floating platform, seasonal pier, boat launch or dock in or adjacent to a wetland;
• Diverting surface water from a wetland (for example, household purposes or alternative watering systems for livestock);
• Installation of a water supply line in, around or underneath a wetland if a Water Act licence is not required for the diversion of water and no fish are present;
• Installation of a portable pump, portable aeration line or portable water supply line in or around a wetland if there is no significant alteration or disturbance of soil or vegetation;
• Placing, constructing, installing, maintaining or replacing a fence in or near a wetland;
• Removal of a beaver dam or debris from a wetland if the person doing the removal owns or occupies the land neighbouring the wetland; or,
• Installation, maintenance, replacement or removal a watercourse crossing when:
  • there is no fish present in the wetland;
  • the water levels of the wetland are not altered or affected;
  • any culverts associated with the crossing have a diameter of 1.5 metres or less; and,
  • there is no diversion of water from the wetland.

This is not a complete list of activities which may not require a wetland authenticating professional. See the Water (Ministerial) Regulation (Schedules 1, 2 and 3) for more information. It is the responsibility of the individual conducting the activity to review and understand the requirements of the Water Act.

In addition to the responsibilities of being a regulated member of a Professional Regulatory Organization, wetland authenticating professionals also

• determine the scope and complexity of the project and assemble an appropriate professional team.
• delegate portions of the work to other professionals when required, and accept responsibility for that work when authenticating the regulatory documents for submission.
• apply professional and responsible judgement in interpreting and accepting the work of contributing professionals.
• carry professional errors and omissions insurance either individually or through a group plan, as may be required by clients and regulators, including, but not limited to, the standard terms of their profession.
• assume liability for the regulatory submission in its entirety.

Professional Regulatory Organizations can provide information about the practice standard and the designation of an authenticating wetland professional.

Explore their member rosters to contact a wetland authenticating professional.

• Alberta Association of Landscape Architects (AALA)
• Alberta Institute of Agrologists (AIA)
• Alberta Land Surveyors’ Association (ALSA)
• Alberta Professional Planners Institute (APPI)
• Alberta Society of Professional Biologists (ASPB)
• Association of Alberta Forest Management Professionals (AAFMP)
• Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA)
• Association of Science & Engineering Technology Professionals of Alberta (ASET)
• Association of the Chemical Profession of Alberta (ACPA)