As defined within the Alberta Water Act, “water body” means any location where water flows or is present, whether or not the flow or the presence of water is continuous, intermittent or occurs only during a flood, and includes but is not limited to wetlands and aquifers. Wetland distribution in the Boreal region including the Alberta oil sands region ranges between 25% to > 55%. Hydrological processes are driven by shallow ground water flow (unconfined aquifers) and to a lesser extent surficial flow. Primary development within this area focusses upon extraction of oil resources and it’s supporting infrastructure needs. The presentation will review the physical and functional disturbance challenges, best management practices (BMP), BMP enhancements and development opportunities centered on project planning/design, construction, operation and infrastructure decommissioning.