By Shaun Penner

Wetlands Replacement Program

Pilot program looks to give County of Grande Prairie greater control over wetland replacement projects

Nov 15, 2020 | 8:51 AM

COUNTY OF GRANDE PRAIRIE, AB. — County of Grande Prairie Council has approved moving forward with establishing new wetlands at two locations within the County.

The establishment of these new wetlands will be through a new pilot program between the county and Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP), which will see new wetlands be established as others have been displaced by construction and development.

This is not necessarily a new process, as AEP already collects fees from developers who displace smaller wetlands through the Wetland Restoration and Replacement Fee Ministerial Order. AEP then utilizes those fees to establish new wetlands across the province, but not necessarily in the same jurisdiction where the fees were collected.

However, Reeve Leanne Beaupre says this pilot program would give the County more control of where County displacements are relocated.

“Basically, to have authority to allocate those funds to establish a wetland in a different location within the County of Grande Prairie,” said Beaupre. “So, funds that are captured from the County of Grande Prairie, we would like to see them continue to stay in the County of Grande Prairie.”

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AEP, the County, and two private property owners within the County, who are donating land to house these new wetlands have recently been in discussions to develop a Wetland Replacement Program. The program would be the first of its kind in Alberta, which would utilize County-contributed funds from wetland compensation to pay for the project.

Through the Wetland Replacement Program, the County would be responsible for administering these and future projects. However, the County will be required to send all project applications through AEP for approval.

Beaupre notes the wetlands that are typically displaced are quite small, and a program like this will allow the County and AEP to provide better wetlands for the local ecosystem.

“Typically, it would be like a depression area or an area that would collect seasonal water,” said Beaupre. “These are an opportunity to collect funds from development, to establish larger projects, that have a larger benefit than just the smaller wetland that has been displaced.”

The County will now engage with an Authenticating Wetland Professional to design and tender the projects. The County will also register caveats against the properties as it relates to these projects, as well as enter into a service contract with the provincial government.