Optimized Regulatory Workflows for Watercourse Crossings

In 2014, the Government of Alberta instated the Roadway Watercourse Crossings Remediation Directive (RWCRD) to address the issue of declining fish populations. Since then, many natural resource companies were unaware of the existence of the RWCRD until watercourse crossings under their tenure were inspected and the company penalized for non-compliance. These opaque regulatory changes, both provincially and federally, to watercourse crossing managements that are then enforced without industry knowledge, lead to unexpected fines which then impact the environmental budgets of resource road operators. Therefore, to clarify the process, workflow, and considerations to be made regarding watercourse crossings, Woodlands North Inc. presents an optimized regulatory workflow tool for watercourse crossings to simplify the regulatory framework surrounding these projects. Provincially, the RWCRD, Water Act, Public Lands Act, Fisheries (Alberta) Act, and Code of Practice for Watercourse Crossings all require consideration when addressing watercourse crossings. Federally, the Fisheries Act and Species at Risk Act also require consideration when remediating crossings.

Yet, despite industry needing to remediate approximately 16,000 non-compliant fluvial watercourse crossings within the green zone of Alberta, neither government body has outlined a procedural framework that streamlines the regulatory framework required to remediate a watercourse crossing. First, the optimized regulatory workflow will address the requirements of resource road operators under the RWCRD. Next, using its Stream Crossing and Aquatic Resource Inventory (SCARI) program, Woodlands North will overview how to determine the compliance of a watercourse crossing. Using examples from previous watercourse crossing remediation projects, the optimized workflow will then go through a step-by-step process to understand which legislation applies, where to find the information to determine if the legislation applies, and finally overview the workflow used to determine which regulatory permits are required for each respective project. In summary, Woodlands will provide a succinct regulatory permitting tool outlining the criteria and decision-making used to determine the permits required for watercourse crossing remediation works. Not only will this provide clarity for resource road operators, but it will reduce the time spent by industry members attempting to understand what regulations apply to them. Ultimately, this should help reduce the time spent on making regulatory determinations, in turn reducing project budgets associated with watercourse crossing remediation's, allowing for more remediation's to occur.

Speaker Bio: Iain Sharp, Restoration Ecologist, Woodlands North Inc.

Iain Sharp is a recent masters graduate from the University of Alberta, Center for Earth Observation science where he worked on the validation of biophysical satellite products. Now, Iain has been working at Woodlands North Inc. working with their Stream Crossing and Aquatic Resource Inventory Program assisting the industry with their non-compliant watercourse crossings.

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