Alberta Watercourse Crossing Collaborative

AWC3 is a not-for-profit society comprised of public members, roadway WCC practitioners, tenured roadway owners, regulators, First Nations and Metis communities, scientists, municipalities, academics, ecologists and others who are responsible for and interested in restoring fish passage and habitat quality to watercourse crossing sites that are fragmented from improper crossing installation and poor maintenance.

Restoring Connectivity in Alberta’s Waterways

Fragmented Waterways

The impacts of outdated crossings

Natural resource development in the Province has progressed at a pace determined by approved exploration and roaded access development. Historical watercourse crossing construction has not adequately considered fish passage and habitat connectivity. Over time watercourse crossings degrade and become barriers to passage upstream isolating extended reaches of usable habitat, these same crossings become point source inputs of sediment damaging the stream reaches downstream.

A Province-Wide Risk

Why action is urgent and collaborative

Alberta has over 150,000km of resource roads, approximately 30% of these watercourse crossings will fail the current inspection protocol. It is projected that within 8-10 years, several of Alberta’s native salmonid species will be extirpated from many productive watersheds. This is a problem that is tangible, it is fixable, and it requires a collaborative approach. The solution is to address the issue at a landscape level that crosses over watershed and tenure owner boundaries and works with the restoration of key species and watersheds in a dynamic and progressive manner.

Restoration Through Information

Accessible Data for Better Outcomes

Having clear information (spatial, temporal, and instructive) on the status of the problem, methods of appropriate repair and the rate of restoration underway will drive a trend towards the recruitment of lost habitat and recovery of the individual species. Managers without information on a problem they are required to solve will struggle to find a solution. AWC3 will address this problem by collecting and organizing information in a usable manner to roadway owners and practitioners who help.

AWC3 Objectives

INFORMATION TRANSFER

A web-based spatial platform advising on problem status and restoration progress. Active monitoring and reporting on successes will help drive the restoration trend.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Provide information on watercourse crossing management, including regulatory approvals, maintenance, inspections, construction BMP’s, and final habitat restoration.

SUPPORT AEP REGULATORY INITIATIVES

Alberta Environment and Parks updated the Roadway Watercourse Crossing Remediation Directive in July 2019, outlining the purpose and the pace of restoration required.

SUPPORT EVIDENCE-BASED MANAGEMENT

Support applied research initiatives including; inventory, modeling, and operational works to manage restoration efforts in an adaptive manner.

Partners

Board Members

Michael Bender Hydrotechnical Engineer	Angela Bowditch Provincial Regulator	Shona Derlukewich Federal Regulator
Jody Foster Watercourse and Regulatory Practitioner	Mike Hunka Provincial Regulator	Bruce Nielsen Consulting Practitioner
Ben Poltorak Consulting Practitioner	Jamie Rich Construction Practitioner	Michael Wagner Provincial Watercourse Crossing Coordinator