Candace Vanin describes the watershed planning process for the Vermilion River, a tributary in central Alberta to the North Saskatchewan River. As a prairie river, the Vermilion River has had widely varying flows, both flood and drought. From a water supply study in 2008, the North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance began the Vermilion River watershed plan as its first effort in subwatershed planning.
Much of the Vermilion River watershed is non-contributing; water is retained on-site in temporary and permanent wetlands although the actual land area in wetlands is quite small (6%). The Vermilion River watershed plan focuses on improving water storage in natural wetlands and constructed water storage, focusing BMP's on non-point source pollution and protecting groundwater quality.
Candace Vanin is a Land Use Specialist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Edmonton, Alberta.
From March 12-14th, 2013, people involved in water issues in Alberta met in Red Deer to discuss ideas and plans for managing water resources. The conference, jointly hosted by the Canadian Water Resources Association (CWRA) Alberta Chapter and Alberta Watershed Planning & Advisory Councils (WPACs), emphasized the integrated planning that is necessary for water management in the future.
The Alberta Land-use Knowledge Network was able to record many of the keynote speakers and conference presentations.