EDMONTON — The value of Canada’s wetlands is receiving renewed consideration.
Many of these boggy spots have been drained or filled in for roads, farmland and urban development since the time of settlement.
Canada has experienced some of the highest rates of wetland loss in the world, said Irena Creed, the Canada research chair in watershed sciences at Western University in London, Ont. Most of the losses have been in Alberta, Saskatchewan Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec.
“Up to 90 percent of wetlands have been lost,” she told the Alberta Land Use Institute conference held in Edmonton May 4-6.
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The value of these areas, which cover 14 percent of Canada’s land base, is measured not in dollars but in the contribution to environmental stability. They provide wildlife habitat, stabilize water supplies, remove nutrients, control floods and droughts, retain sediments and provide recreation.
Wetland loss is linked to eutrophication of lakes and the explosion of blue green algae blooms.
Harmful blue green algae blooms are increasing each year, leaving behind toxins in the water and making it unfit for drinking and swimming. The problem cannot be cured, but it can be managed, she said. The answer is a science-based strategy for wetland restoration.
New technology allows researchers to focus on smaller watersheds to map fine features of the landscape to see where the wetlands once were and locate the drainage ditches.
For example, an examination of the Beaverhill sub-watershed in north-central Alberta revealed 466 ditch-drained wetlands. A study of the Nose Creek watershed, which drains into Calgary, found 2,831 ditch-drained wetlands covering about 90 acres.
These wetlands could be restored in co-operation with farmers and groups such as Ducks Unlimited.
“We are now looking to farmers who could reduce the risk of floods and pollution downstream,” she said. “We can now establish what used to be on the landscape.”
Research has shown that the network of wetlands is also connected to streams and groundwater.
“The majority of the functions are influenced by how these wetlands are connected to each other and downstream,” she said.
“Restorable wetlands is not a bad notion. Some of the restorable wetlands could be as good as some of the current ones.”
Natural sites offer more biodiversity, but restored ones can serve as good flood and drought control.
Restoring these areas to a natural state is part of Alberta’s wetland policy, which was released in 2013.
Farmers need an incentive to restore wetlands, said Shari Clare, an environmental consultant with Fiera Consulting Ltd. in Edmonton.
“Can we create an incentive for private landowners to restore wetlands on private property because the majority of our wetland losses in Alberta are occurring primarily on agriculture landscapes,” she said. “If we are going to use money to restore wetlands, how do we make sure we are getting a bang for the buck?”
Landowners have to be convinced that wetland restoration is worth doing, and money needs to be available to compensate them.
The Alberta Land Institute is interested in this work and wants to work with landowners to restore wetlands and then study the results.
More information on the Living Laboratory wetlands project may be seen at www.albertalandinstitute.ca/research/research-projects/project/wetlands.
