Syncrude Canada Ltd is committed to providing a biologically self-sustaining, geotechnically stable, and maintenance free lease-abandonment landscape that has a productive capability at or above the predisturbance level, and erodes in harmony with the regional landscape. A philosophy being used in the design is that of creating a robust, mature landscape, that is, one which closely mimics geomorphologically mature features of the regional landscape. Such a landscape will have slow, relatively controlled erosion, and an inherent landform stability. The most significant aspect to long-term stability is control of the fluvial geomorphology of the reclaimed landscape.
In providing designs to be stable for hundreds or thousands of years, new approaches are required. For instance, designs must incorporate information from the study of local and regional landforms and landscape features using natural analogs and assessment of natural erosion rates. As well, long-term riprap durability becomes a greater issue, the effects of wildlife (and in particular beaver dams) and climatic change on the landscape must be considered, and an integrated hydrological, geotechnical, geomorphological, and biological approach must be used.