"In the delta, water is boss, change is the only constant, and creation and destruction exist side by side." The Peace-Athabasca Delta in northern Alberta is a globally significant wetland that lies within one of the largest unfragmented landscapes in North America. Arguably the world's largest boreal inland delta, it is renowned for its biological productivity and is a central feature of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Yet the delta and its indigenous cultures lie downstream of Alberta's bitumen sands, whose exploitation comprises one of the largest industrial projects in the world. Kevin Timoney provides an authoritative synthesis of the science and history of the delta, describing its ecology, unraveling its millennia-long history, and addressing its uncertain future. Scientists, students, leaders in the energy sector, government officials and policy makers, and conscientious citizens everywhere should read this lively work.
Construction of the Bennett Dam in British Columbia altered natural fluctuations of downstream flows in the Peace River in Alberta, with major implications for the ecosystem of the Peace-Athabasca Delta. In later years, downstream weirs were constructed to restore the water level regime in the Delta. This report presents the results of a modelling exercise undertaken in an attempt to assess the effect of the weirs and the dam on the Delta water levels during 1985-90, at which time Lake Athabasca water levels were low and it was not clear whether the weirs were functioning properly or if the low water levels were caused by low flows coming from the upper Peace and Athabasca river basins. The methodology uses a one-dimensional hydrodynamic model, suitably modified and calibrated. The appendices include numerous plots of water levels indicating the effects of the weirs and dam on natural conditions.
This book presents a comprehensive overview of the first longitudinal study of the downstream response of a major river to the establishment of a large hydropower facility and dams. Peace River, a northward flowing boreal river in northwestern Canada was dammed in 1967 and the book describes the morphological response of the 1200 km downstream channel and the response of riparian vegetation to the change in flow regime over the first forty years of regulated flows. Beginning with a description of the effect of regulation on the flow and sediment regimes of the river, the book proceeds to study changes in downstream channel geometry on the main stem, on the lowermost course of tributaries, and on the hydraulic geometry, the overall morphology of the channel, and riparian vegetation succession. The river is subject to annual freeze-up and break-up, so a chapter is devoted to the ice regime of the river. A chapter compares the effects of two extraordinary post-regulation flood events. The penultimate chapter presents a prediction of the ultimate equilibrium form of the regulated river based on rational regime theory. An online database of all the main observations will provide invaluable material for advanced students of river hydraulics and geomorphology. This book carefully brings together a range of studies that have been previously inaccessible providing a rare and comprehensive analysis of the effects of a big dam on a river, a river that itself represents an example of the kind of system that is likely to receive considerable attention in the future from dam engineers and environmentalists. • An invaluable reference to river scientists, hydroelectric power developers, engineers and environmentalists • Focus on a northward flowing boreal river, a type that holds most of the remaining hydroelectric power potential in the Northern Hemisphere • Exceptional separation of water and sediment sources, permitting study of the isolated effect of manipulating one of the two major governing conditions of river processes and form • Unique example of water regulation and both natural and engineered flood flows • Detailed study of both morphological changes of the channel and of the riparian vegetation • Online data supplement including major data tables and numerous maps. Details of the main observations and provides material for problem study by advanced students of river hydraulics and geomorphology are provided
This compilation of data on 100 lakes in Alberta (outside the mountain areas) covers physical characteristics, water quality, wildlife, recreational opportunities and access for each lake, and includes maps, photographs, diagrams and statistical tables.
The NTBS was designed to address the ecological concerns about pulp mill expansion, and to increase scientific knowledge about environmental conditions [ecology, ecosystem sustainability, water pollution and control, habitat, effect on fish and fishing, etc.] in the major river systems of the north. The study's objectives were to gather and interpret sound scientific information about the basins, develop appropriate recommendations for basin management, and communicate effectively with the public. The government response report confirms the governments' commitment to ecosystem sustainability and to pollution control in northern rivers. First Nations and Metis aboriginal [native] peoples contributed significantly to the NRBS.
The purpose of this report is to identify potential ecological indicators that could be used in future monitoring programs assessing the health and integrity of the aquatic environment of the Peace-Athabasca delta, with a focus on the large, persistent delta lakes and channels. The identified indicators were developed from historical data and from a 1994 limnological survey of Mamawi and Claire lakes. The main criteria for selecting the indicators were: relevance to the public, cost of collecting data, and linkages with the food web which includes the people of the Fort Chipewyan area. The indicators include three physical/chemical and four structural indicators (species abundance and structure, fish harvest).
Concerns about the effects of global climate change have focused attention on the vulnerability of circumpolar regions. This book offers a synthesis of the spectrum of techniques available for generating long-term environmental records from circumpolar lakes.
