WATER and LAND
MANAGEMENT IN ALBERTA

Don’t miss this 5th annual conference where you will hear from a distinguished faculty of government, industry, environmental and aboriginal presenters.

Presentation highlights include:

• Important new trends in the Sustainable Infrastructure for Future Communities:
  Blue Print for Change panel
• How major projects impact environmental, social and economic considerations for the province and a ‘Cumulative Management’ case study
• See various land impact computerized simulations based on ‘what if’ scenarios
• Hear the latest on water trading and transfers – a first in Canada
• Learn what modelling tools and techniques are being used to assist with the analysis of potential cumulative effects of future policy alternatives in Southern Alberta
• See a computerized simulation of how the Oilsands are impacting the environment of Northeast Alberta through bitumen extraction
• Hear from an Aboriginal panel on water and land management challenges and potential solutions
• Learn the latest case law on inter provincial water regulation, jurisdiction and disputes
• Learn about the use of conservation auctions in the South Western foothills of Alberta

PROGRAM CO-CHAIRS

Bill Berzins, M.A.Sc. P.Eng.
President, Fossil Water
Advisory Board, Alberta Water Research Institute
Past Chair, Bow River Basin Council

Clifford G. Proudfoot
Partner, Lawson Lundell LLP

KEYNOTE

Land Use Framework: A Bold New Approach for Alberta

Morris Seiferling
Assistant Deputy Minister, Land Use Secretariat

MARKETING PARTNERS

• From Oil and Gas, Energy and Other Resource Sectors:
  
• Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Directors and Managers of:
  • Sustainable Development
  • Regulatory and Government Affairs
  • Environments, Health and Safety
  • Land Use and Planning
  • Risk Management
  • Business Development
  • Project Development
• 
  And
• Land Use Planners
• Developers and Land Owners
• Environmental Consultants

• Hydrologists/Hydrogeologists
• Environmental Lawyers
• ADR Specialists
• Corporate Counsel
• Regional and Municipal Planners
• Municipal, Provincial and
  Federal Regulators
• Policy Analysts
• Urban Planners and Land Developers
• Aboriginal Group Representatives
• Watershed Planning and
  Advisory Council members
• Academics and Researchers

Dear Colleague,

2009 has seen the culmination of years of stakeholder engagement with the launch of Alberta’s Land Use Framework, the Calgary Metropolitan Plan and the Capital Region Growth Plan. New planning efforts are underway for the Lower Athabasca and other regions – these efforts place new emphasis on the integration of water, land and ecological values into a sustainable development framework. Insight Information’s 5th Annual WATER and LAND Conference brings together many of the experts that are playing an important role in charting this new future including provincial, regional, municipal and industrial decision makers active throughout the province.

At the provincial level, you’ll learn about the activities within the new Land Use Framework and the role of Regional Advisory Councils. In addition, you’ll hear more about the evolution of a water marketplace and the role of conservation tools to preserve important features on the landscape. We’ve also added an important panel discussion about the challenges and opportunities related to respecting and protecting Treaty and Aboriginal Rights.

At the regional level, you will hear about how cumulative effects modeling tools are providing important insights into the impacts of policy decisions and how these impacts are considered in regional plans. You’ll have the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the tools being applied and understanding their results.

At the local level, you will hear from project proponents and planners as they explain how the new planning framework affects the design of new projects and communities. You’ll also learn about some of the innovative approaches to sustainable infrastructure and sustainable communities that draw upon international experience applied in a local context.

It’s safe to say that a new era of planning in Alberta has arrived. The 2009 Water and Land Conference brings together many of the architects of this new era in an informative and engaging setting.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Bill Berzins, M.A.Sc. P.Eng.
President, Fossil Water
Advisory Board
Alberta Water Research Institute
Past Chair, Bow River Basin Council

Clifford G. Proudfoot
Partner
Lawson Lundell LLP

MONDAY | DECEMBER 7, 2009

8:00 | 9:00

Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:00 | 9:10

Welcome and Opening Remarks from the Co-Chair

Bill Berzins, M.A.Sc. P.Eng.
President, Fossil Water
Advisory Board, Alberta Water Research Institute
Past Chair, Bow River Basin Council

9:10 | 10:00

Land Use Framework: A Bold New Approach for Alberta

Morris Seiferling
Assistant Deputy Minister
Land Use Secretariat

10:00 | 10:45

Cumulative ‘Management’: Industry’s Response Through Planning Strategy

Calvin Duane, P.Ag., R.P.F. 
Manager, Regulatory and Environment
Horizon Oil Sands Project
Canadian Natural Resources Limited

Cumulative management is required by proponents of major projects and includes environmental, social and economic considerations.

This presentation will explore:

• How a project balances the trade-offs for these values
• How impacts are avoided, mitigated or compensated
• The offsets in context to project impacts
• Regional impacts, government, stakeholder and Aboriginal Peoples involvement and how decisions are made for project development
• How a project proponent incorporates these viewpoints into project design and operation
• Case Study of the cumulative management of the Lower Athabasca including water, land and air management frameworks that have been developed for this region

10:45 | 11:00

Networking Coffee Break

11:00 | 12:30

The ALCES Landscape Simulator for the Alberta Landuse Framework

Brad Stelfox
Principal and Founder, Forem Consulting Ltd.
The ALCES Group

This 90 minute workshop will review the basic landuse (forestry, energy, agriculture, residential) and natural disturbance (fire, insect, climate change) engines within ALCES III. Participants will learn how spatially stratified landscape data is entered into ALCES and how alternative what-if scenarios are run to explore alternative landuse practices.

The workshop will also review modules within ALCES that deal with meteorology, hydrology, plant community dynamics, wildlife habitat models, and thresholds. A series of simulation outputs will be shown.

12:30 | 1:45

Networking Luncheon

1:45 | 2:30

Strategic Cumulative Effects Modelling for Southern Alberta

Barry Wilson, R. P.F.
Manager, Environmental Planning and Analysis
Silvatech Consulting Ltd.

This presentation will focus on the various modelling tools and techniques being used to assist with the analysis of potential cumulative effects of future policy alternatives in Southern Alberta. Although the scenario modelling is still a ‘work in progress,’ you will hear how assessments of social, economic and environmental aspects of the region including population growth, water supply and demand, conservation of valued landscapes, agriculture and rural development, energy, forestry, recreation and tourism, etc. are being incorporated into decision making supporting Alberta’s Land Use Framework.

2:30 | 2:45

Networking Refreshment Break

2:45 | 3:30

Simulating the Effects of The Oilsand Industry on the Environment Of
Northeast Alberta

Brad Stelfox
Principal and Founder, Forem Consulting Ltd.
The ALCES Group

This presentation will document the pace and tempo of bitumen extraction in northeast Alberta and describe the profound societal benefits and environmental risk that accompany this industrial trajectory. Work completed to date using the ALCES model (Cumulative Effects Management Association and Alberta Landuse Management Framework) has revealed anticipated rates of expansion of seismic lines, wellsites, access roads, pipelines, surface mines, settling ponds and endpit lakes. Sensitivity work in ALCES has demonstrated the benefits arising from best practice options that minimize rate of footprint construction and maximize rate of footprint reclamation.

Although industrial best practices are fundamentally important toward minimizing ecological risk, they must be accompanied by a wider suite of management tools to build a regional plan that effectively extracts resources while maintaining ecological indicators at desired levels. This wider suite of management tools includes: best practices, landscape and biota threshold targets, access management, conservation zoning, and altered harvesting/angling regimes.

3:30 | 4:30

Aboriginal Water and Land Management Challenges and Potential Solutions

This panel will discuss some of the ongoing challenges and recommended solutions concerning Treaty and Aboriginal Rights with respect to water:

• Seasonal Rate of Flow (quantity)
• Water quality
• Impacts of the Land Use Framework and the Alberta Water Council

Moderator: Ron Maurice
Senior Partner
Maurice Law Barristers and Solicitors (Calgary)

Darryel R. Sowan
Director of Livelihood – Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta

Jim Webb
North Peace Tribal Council

4:30

Day One Concludes

TUESDAY | DECEMBER 8, 2009

8:15 | 9:00

Continental Breakfast

9:00 | 9:15

Opening Remarks from the Co-Chair

Clifford G. Proudfoot 
Partner
Lawson Lundell LLP

9:15 | 10:15

Conservation Auctions and Ecosystem Value

Alan Gardner
Executive Director
Southern Alberta Land Trust

The Southern Foothills Study has shown that we are losing the Natural Capital of the Eastern Slopes in southern Alberta at a slow but steady rate. The cumulative effects from acreages, forestry, oil and gas development, off-highway vehicle use, random camping and other land uses is leading to a future which the local people do not want but which appears inevitable. The capture and supply of water to the South Saskatchewan river is a critical role for this headwaters area, yet there is no effective system of incentives to encourage landowners to protect this ecosystem, or to reward those who already do.

The Southern Alberta Land Trust Society partnered with the Manning Centre for Building Democracy to investigate possible pilot projects to harness market-based instruments to conservation of our ecosystem assets. One potential pilot under investigation to protect the headwaters area is a form of Conservation Easement agreement using the Conservation Auction tool. In order to utilize this tool we need a good methodology for establishing the conservation value of land.

This presentation will discuss the potential use of conservation auctions in the south western Alberta foothills and the current work in establishing a model and methodology for determining conservation value.

10:15 | 11:00

Inter Provincial Water Regulation, Jurisdiction and Disputes

Clifford G. Proudfoot
Partner
Lawson Lundell LLP

• Legislation and jurisdiction
• Case law and disputes
• Dispute resolution mechanisms

11:00 | 11:15

Networking Coffee Break

11:15 | 12:45

Sustainable Infrastructure for Future Communities: Blue Print for Change

Bill Berzins, M.A.Sc. P.Eng.
President, Fossil Water
Advisory Board, Alberta Water Research Institute
Past Chair, Bow River Basin Council

Steve Shawcross
Director
IBI Group

Colleen Shepherd
Manager, Calgary Metropolitan Plan
Calgary Regional Partnership

Increasing demands for water in a changing climate are requiring new approaches to water infrastructure for growing communities. Planners and designers are creating new communities that strike a balance between ecological infrastructure and the built environment with an emphasis on sustainability. The panel will discuss important new trends including:

• How the new Calgary Metropolitan Plan accommodates approaches for regional ecological and water values
• Recent developments in water management around the world
• Integrating water, stormwater and wastewater systems
• Research into sustainable water infrastructure
• Opportunities and obstacles

12:45 | 2:00

Networking Luncheon

2:00 | 3:15

Alberta’s Water Market: Water Trading and Transfers

David R. Percy, Q.C.
Professor and Former Dean, Faculty of Law
University of Alberta

Water trading is a new phenomenon in Western Canada. Water users that do not have enough allocated water to conduct their day-to-day activities are purchasing water allocations from licensees who are willing to trade.

This presentation will:

• Set out the rules to deal with the assignment and transfer of water allocations in Alberta
• Discuss the remaining obstacles to transfers
• Provide directions for the future of the transfer system
• Incorporate lessons from other jurisdictions

3:15 | 3:30

Networking Refreshment Break

3:30 | 4:30

Water and Land Base Inventories: Delivering Better Information

Robert Albricht, M.Sc.
Manager, Resource Inventories and Remote Sensing
Silvatech Consulting Ltd.

Water and land resource planners require timely, accurate and complete land-base information. This presentation will outline how high resolution imagery, lidar and semi-automated data analysis can contribute to producing better information in a timely manner as a basis for land use planning. The presentation will briefly cover the concepts of lidar and digital aerial photography and then focus on examples of outputs contrasted with some current base inventory information.

4:30

Register 3 delegates for the main conference at regular price at the same time and you’re entitled to register a fourth person from your organization at no charge. For other group discounts, please call 1-888-777-1707. All discounts must be redeemed when booking, discounts will not be valid or applied after this time.