Westlock County has taken steps to ensure it does a better job of preserving naturally sensitive areas, reeve Charles Navratil said.
Council passed a motion at the March 8 meeting to perform an environmental assessment for all road construction projects, as well as to pay $10,000 in compensation to Ducks Unlimited Canada for allowing a road to be constructed through a protected natural area in the county.
“It’s just something we didn’t realize was there when we gave the approval, and it’s something that’s come back to bite us a little bit, but it could have been a heck of a lot worse,” he said. “Any time there’s any disturbance done to any land like that, we will be getting ahold of (Alberta) Environment and all the people involved to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
The province contracts with Ducks Unlimited Canada to provide compensation for wetlands disturbed through construction and development activities. The organization takes the money and uses it to create protected wetland areas elsewhere within the same river basin.
Similar compensation has been made with respect to the raw water storage site that is part of the Westlock Regional Water Services Commission expansion.
The road in this case, which runs north of Township Road 602 along Range Road 242, goes right through an area known as the Clyde Fen Natural Area, which is designated as a Protected Notation area under the Public Lands Act and Land Titles Act. It is also recognized as a wetland under the Water Act.
The Alberta Native Plant Council is tasked with stewarding that particular natural area. Council president Kelly Ostermann said the area is home to several rare plant species in the region, including two types of orchids and a population of pitcher plants.
In a letter to Alberta Environment, she detailed issues the council had with the development. Specifically, the concern with the county was that “The municipal government does not understand the wetland policy,” and that “The municipal government did not take into consideration the notation on the land standing report, a step that would have identified stakeholders requiring consultation.”
The construction of the road has disturbed water flow and eroded sensitive soils, she added.
In the county’s defence, Navratil said they were not aware of the designated area, and that the road had been built within the county’s road allowance.
“It isn’t that these people built a road in the middle of nowhere, it was built on a proper surveyed road allowance. It’s just that the changes now, there’s more protection going now for different species,” he said. “I think very few residents out in the Clyde area knew these species of plants were out there to cause us a problem.”
He added the environmental assessments that will be required for future developments will help to ensure the county doesn’t run into this type of problem again.
“It’s one of these things where there has to be a little more research to be aware of these things,” he said.
