Edmonton/Strathcona County Footbridge

This new bridge over the North Saskatchewan River will connect the City of Edmonton and Strathcona County. Associated Engineering was engaged to undertake the concept planning, feasibility, preliminary design, detailed design, construction, and post-construction services, including all environmental assessments and permits.

Sarina Loots, Specialist, Regulatory Advisor, explains, “We knew the project would require major federal, provincial and municipal environmental permits. Thus, we took a proactive approach and started on the assessments, reporting, and communications with regulatory agencies two years before construction began.”

A large fish habitat offsetting area was required (three times the berm footprint, a 3:10 compensation). The in-river berms required a temporary footprint of 7,000 square metres; therefore, the project was required to offset (plant/enhance/build/develop) an area of over 20,000 square metres.

This was due to increased requirements under the Fisheries Act from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), and the future expectation that Lake Sturgeon would be listed as threatened or endangered under the Species At Risk Act.

Suitable on-site habitat restoration areas were not available on the scale required. We partnered with Trout Unlimited (now Freshwater Conservation Canada) on offsetting planning and selected a site over 200 metres away from Edmonton.

Habitat within the restoration areas lack woody debris and consisted of simplified homogenous habitat, due to floodplain constriction at road crossings and channel incising. The area was selected due to the anticipated positive impact to bull trout.

“The offsetting included livestock/horse exclusion and several low-tech process-based restoration (LTPBR) treatments to increase the diversity of habitat types.”

The work included the installation of exclusion fence and 40 LTPBR structures, comprised of post-assisted log structures (PALs) and beaver dam analogues (BDAs).

LPTBR work sites are chosen due to the likelihood of the area supporting beavers in the future. The LPTBR techniques are used to promote beaver activity in the affected streams.

PALs and BDAs are hand built, nature-based, beaver mimicry techniques that can restore eroded streams. PALs mimic log jams in the channel and following high-flow events, result in more meandering channels. BDAs mimic beaver dams and result in a pool upstream of the BDA.

DFO was keen on this creative and innovative approach for fish habitat offsetting for a municipal infrastructure project. Edmonton/Strathcona County municipalities received a high-value, cost-effective and efficient offsetting project to fund.

The BDAs and PALs were constructed in summer 2024, and beavers have already moved into the newly installed habitat (BDAs) at Radiant Creek! The hope is that the beaver family will colonize the area and further improve the natural assets that will contribute to build resilience for drought and climate change.

Calgary Stormwater Ponds: Beaver Management Plan

The City of Calgary manages 171 wet stormwater ponds. Associated is frequently involved in pond design, upgrades, and maintenance inspection projects and our environmental specialists directly advise on mitigating environmental risks on storm pond maintenance projects administered by the City’s key maintenance contractor, KBL.

The City asked our environmental team to investigate all possible “coexistence” options for addressing beaver lodge conflicts at storm ponds and deliver a feasibility report to be used for decision support.

Sarina shares, “There is a growing desire to maintain storm ponds and preserve the infrastructure and downstream receiving environment. At the same time, being respectful of regional values around beaver welfare and making scientifically-defensible and informed decisions for beaver management at storm ponds.”

The team gathered information through a facilitated workshop with public interest groups and nearby municipalities, literature reviews, and collaborations and engagement with NGOs. Several options emerged that will be considered in future adaptive management at storm ponds with beaver lodges, two new coexistence options were selected for testing at two ponds planned for maintenance in 2025.

“We are providing ongoing decision support to The City, reporting on the feasibility of key solutions, and developing (adaptive) best management practices that will be tested and validated during upcoming pond maintenance projects.”

Today, many creative solutions are available that typically rely on intentional collaboration between biologists, hydrologists, engineers, and NGO partners. Projects with beaver conflicts should consider the full context of the issue and potential coexistence options for long-term sustainability.

The option of beaver relocation is also being actively studied and advocated by others in Alberta. Beaver relocation projects in Alberta are currently subject to some regulatory challenges and compliance inconsistencies. NGOs and beaver thought-leaders in the province are advocating for this option to be standardized, due to the restoration benefits that beavers provide.

Sarina tells us, “A hypothetical future might involve City of Calgary beavers relocated to a creek to support habitat restoration or a compensation project. If beavers colonize areas with establishedBDAs, they can continue to create ecological value, long after the manual human-maintenance schedule of installed structures.”

Our key personnel on the Edmonton-Strathcona project and environmental tasks are Chris Pyra, Sarina Loots, Erica Graham, Dean Foster, Richard Simpson, Christine Head, Deanna Joly, Jessica Eaton, Krish Purohit, Robert Mitchell, Wallace La, Akinbola George, Arlette Fernandez, and Michael Paulsen.

On the Beaver Management Plan for the City of Calgary, our key personnel are Sarina Loots, Stephanie Findlay, Cole Burns, Keenan Rudichuk, Richard Simpson, Terri France, Krish Purohit, Robert Mitchell, Twyla Kowalczyk, and Anne Godlewski.

The post Collaboration and creative solutions address environmental requirements first appeared on Associated Engineering.

In this two-part webinar series, Associated Environmental Consultants staff journey through a fictitious linear project in northern Alberta. Our team of experts will walks through all the things that can go wrong and demonstrates how to set a project up for success.

Part 1: To Apply or not to Apply – That is the Question: A Perspective on Environmental and Regulatory Planning

You’ve heard it before, and we will say it again! Engage your environmental consulting team early in your project planning. But what does that even mean? Is there such thing as too early? (Hint: the answer is no). In this introductory webinar, we will walk you through a fictitious project example through the lens of environmental planner including a discussion around project schedule and how it relates to the potential regulatory permitting requirements. This project has it all! Wetland impacts, watercourse crossings, vegetation impacts, contaminated sites, and more! This webinar will set the stage for sessions two (Environmental Site Assessments) and three (Pre-construction wildlife surveys).

Part 2: Environmental Site Assessments – What Environmental Impacts Are In Your Project Area?

This webinar will go over the purpose of Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs) and why you should know what lies beneath the surface of your project area. We will walk you through the basics of ESAs and how we assess the potential for contamination on your project. Through this process, we can set you and your project up for success from beginning to end. These steps mitigate the possibility of running into unknown contamination during a project which could cause project delays, contractor scope changes, and cost overruns. Through our case study, we will show you what we look for during the feasibility, planning, and design stages, and common problems that arise during construction related to soil contamination. Join us as we talk about the mystical world of contaminated sites.  

The post Your Project Environmental Needs: How to go from Planning to Construction first appeared on Associated Engineering.

Associated Environmental Consultants is pleased to present a three-part webinar series for government project managers, planners, operators, and administrators who have projects planned around water. The series outlines how to get your project “shovel-ready”, including what environmental approvals are needed before starting construction, sustainable techniques for erosion and sediment control, and unlocking the mystery around environmental flow needs. Each webinar is presented by a Provincially recognized industry leader followed by a Q&A to answer project-specific questions. Marta, Heather, Carrie, and Drew all look forward to connecting with you.

The webinars were recorded live in June 2020. You can watch the recordings below, and you can still reach out to us with any questions, we’d be happy to hear from you.

Part 1: Navigating changes to the Environmental Regulations for construction around water: Fisheries Act, BC RAPR, and BC Water Sustainability Act

Learn about environmental regulations for projects in or around a watercourse (ephemeral streams, wetlands, and lakes). Regulations evolve, and it can be hard to keep up! Learn about recent regulation changes and updates, and get some tips, tricks, and timelines for navigating permitting requirements in different regions of the province. Topics include:

• 2019 changes to the Federal Fisheries Act
• 2019 changes to the BC Riparian Areas Protection Regulation
• An overview of the BC Water Sustainability Act

Heather will also touch on changes to the Canadian Navigable Waters Act and Impact Assessment Act. Understanding regulations will help plan your project to deliver projects on time.

Part 2: Bioengineering and wetland creation to improve community resilience to flood and drought

Learn how constructed wetlands and riparian restoration can help communities prepare, adapt, and mitigate climate change effects.   

Climate change brings fluctuations in water availability and increased flooding, which can cause wide-spread infrastructure and property damage. Natural watercourses and wetlands help provide resiliency to mitigate these effects and protect properties and infrastructure. Bioengineering is a technique used to stabilize slopes using live materials. It is a collaboration between biologists and engineers to address slope stability, restore natural ecological function, and improve watershed health and resiliency. Wetland construction is also a collaboration and requires buy-in from local governments and developers. Bioengineering and wetland creation can be a win-win scenario. 

Learn how to identify project sites, plan, design, obtain BC permits, and restore areas using constructed wetland and bioengineering techniques. This insight will help you get your projects shovel ready.

Part 3: Unlocking the mystery of environmental flow needs and how they fit in your surface water withdrawal or groundwater dewatering project 

Learn about the BC Water Sustainability Act, and how environmental flow needs (EFNs) must be considered when planning current or future surface and/or groundwater withdrawals. Municipal governments and project planners need to understand how environmental flow needs affect their applications for surface and groundwater licences. EFNs are the volume and timing of water flow required for the proper functioning of the aquatic ecosystem of a stream.

The post How to Get your Project “Shovel Ready” first appeared on Associated Engineering.