| Call for Nominations for AWC Project Team |
ALMS serves on the Alberta Water Council as the representative for the Lake Environment Conservation sector. ALMS' aim is to ensure that lake protection and conservation, and the ecological processes that sustain them, is considered during policy development.
We are currently requesting nominations for ALMS members to sit on the Riparian Land Management and Conservation Project Team. The purpose of this initiative is to enhance knowledge and provide recommendations for effective conservation and management of riparian lands in support of Water for Life goals. The Project Team will work to gain an understanding of the current state of riparian lands, management, and stewardship in Alberta and the riparian management and stewardship "best practices" of other jurisdictions. In addition, the project will also evaluate the current state of riparian lands, management, and stewardship against the needs of all relevant sectors and propose recommendations to improve riparian land conservation and management in Alberta. For further information on requirements of this position please visit the ALMS website. Letters of interest can be submitted to info@alms.ca by July 31, 2001. For more information on the AWC, and our board representative Jay White, check out their most recent newsletter. |
| Profile on a WPAC |  Congratulations to the the Bow River Basin Council for winning an Emerald Award for their progress on implementing their watershed management plan. They were also awarded an ASN Grassroots Stewardship Award for their support of Watershed Stewardship Groups in the Bow Basin. You can read all about it in their The BRBC annual report here. They have also recently revamped their website and it is full of great information and a web-based state of the watershed tool. Visit www.brbc.ab.ca |
| NALMS Disscussion Forum |
NALMS has started a new Lake Management Discussion Group to provide a forum for a technical discussion of limnology. To subscribe to this new group, click here . Subscribers to the group will be able to post questions and respond directly to the group. |
| GoA news and press releases | |
Buffalo Lake Integrated Shoreline Management Plan (BLISMP) released, July 15, 2011. Buffalo Lake, located about 40 kilometres northeast of Red Deer, is unique. It's a managed water body where water levels are maintained within a specified range to minimize water level fluctuations. A strip of public land surrounds the lake so that Alberta Environment can undertake water stabilization work.
More visitors, lake residents and developers are discovering the many recreational opportunities at Buffalo Lake, placing pressure on the sensitive shorelands within the strip of public land. There is now a plan to ensure lake users tread lightly on Buffalo Lake's shorelands.
 | | Buffalo Lake, photo: AB SRD |
The Buffalo Lake Integrated Shoreland Management Plan will maintain biodiversity and help safeguard shorelands within the strip of public land surrounding the lake. The plan puts aside some shorelands for recreation while other shorelands will be undisturbed. Landowners, residents, lake users, municipalities and other stakeholders will then have certainty on what activities can and cannot occur on the public land and within the first 100 metres of the lake.
For more information and to view the plan, visit: Buffalo Lake Management Team
Environmental monitoring panel submits report: Includes 20 recommendations for improved monitoring system, July 5, 2011. The independent panel tasked with providing recommendations to the Government of Alberta on how to build an improved environmental monitoring system has submitted its report.
The panel's recommendations include the creation of an arm's-length monitoring commission, which would act as a science-driven, independent organization with internationally-recognized experts to design and maintain the system, beginning in the Lower Athabasca Region. Additionally, the panel placed emphasis on the importance of Alberta's leadership role when working with federal counterparts to ensure there is no duplication of effort as it relates to monitoring activities. Other recommendations include the creation of a publicly-accessible system for monitoring data and reporting, and increased Aboriginal input into the monitoring system design. The government will now review the report and decide how to implement the panel's recommendations.
The full report is available online at http://environment.alberta.ca/03289.html
|
| Upcoming Conferences |
ALMS Urban Lakes and Wetlands Workshop, September 30 to October 1, Chestermere. Click here for information and to register The National Water Quality Monitoring Council's (NWQMC) 8th National Monitoring Conference - Water: One Resource - Shared Effort - Common Future will be held in Portland, Oregon from April 30 - May 4, 2012. They are currently taking submissions of abstracts visit http://acwi.gov/monitoring/conference/2012/index.html for details. |
|
|
| Urban Lakes and Wetlands Workshop | |
Sept 30 to Oct 1
Chestermere
Early bird registration closes August 31
|
| Lakewatch Wildlife | | |
Check out the wildlife our technicians have seen on lakes this summer!
If you would like to see more of their photos visit us on facebook. 
|
|
|
