Alberta Environment and Parks is made up of public servants working to protect our environment.
Find us online at: aep.alberta.ca
Alberta Environment and Protected Areas
Public servants working with Albertans to protect our environment.
Alberta Environment and Parks is made up of public servants working to protect our environment.
Find us online at: aep.alberta.ca
Alberta Environment and Protected Areas 
I have a question that I hope you can answer for me. Our 120′ deep water well west of Bentley may have gone dry (January 14, 2014), or, perhaps the pipes froze-we can’t be sure until spring. The pump works but doesn’t seem to be pumping anything-right at the source. The well is only nine years old. There have been a number of new homes built in this area and I am wondering if the aquifer could have been affected by the new water wells or even by oil wells. Our previous well went dry two weeks after an oil well was drilled across the road. Is that possible? Thank you, Heather Cookson-Hills, January 19, 2014
Hi Heather.
Thanks for getting in touch with us. I’m checking with our water folks on this and will share as soon as I have an answer.
Jackie
Hi Heather – I’ve checked into this for you. As I’m sure you know, water wells can go dry for a variety of reasons. If you think your well is being affected by other wells, you can call our toll-free, 24-hour environmental hotline at 1-800-222-6514. Our compliance staff will investigate for you and determine whether that’s the case.
If there’s something else causing your well to go dry, you may want to ask a water well driller to come take a look. Sometimes, issues that are not related to other wells can be fixed through rehabilitation of the well.
Please let me know if you have any more questions.
Jackie
Hi there,
I’m a high school teacher and would love to connect with you folks to do some hands-on stuff. Do you have an email address we can chat at?
Hi Matthew – thanks so much for getting in touch with us, and sorry about the late reply (I was on vacation). I’d love to chat – you can get in touch with me at jacalyn.ambler@gov.ab.ca. Cheers!
hi,,,i am looking to purchase an old building which is a restaurant now for 30 years.apparently back in the 1940’s it was a gas station.there were 2 tanks in ground,one has been removed and the other one crushed and filled with gravel.If i buy this place will I be able to open and am I on the hook for reclamation of the ground? cheers tim
Hi Tim – I will look into the reclamation process and get back to you as soon as I have answers for your questions. Thanks for getting in touch!
– Jackie
Hi again Tim – how your situation will be handled depends on which region you’re in and other specific details, so I’m afraid I can’t give you a full answer here. I would recommend copying and pasting what you wrote here into the Alberta Connects system, adding your location info. You can access the system here: http://alberta.ca/contact.cfm – this will automatically send your question to the folks best equipped to give you an answer, and you’ll hear back within 48 hours. If you want to speak to someone directly, you can call your nearest regional office – there is a list of office contact information here: http://bit.ly/1oySFT9
Please comment again if you have any other questions, and I’ll be happy to answer them.
– Jackie
Regarding Dore Lake (small lake NE of Fort Chipewyan, AB.
In the spring/summer of 2014 some new change rooms/washroom and signage were put up at this picnic/camping area. At the time there was somewhat of a grand opening, we had suits and ties from the RMWB and the Provincial Government attend. We were told some new fire pits were going to be installed and some sort of maintenance contract would be established to supply firewood and help with keeping the area clean. No new fire pits have been installed (some old pits are not useable), there is no firewood (people are cutting down random trees), and although not totally disgusting it could use some tidying up. Our local municipal crew has been keeping the road in useable shape and a bit of other maintenance but it is not in their budget to have people there on a daily type basis. I believe a two man maintenance crew, either employees from Alberta Parks or a contract, from mid-May til Mid-Sept. would make a great deal of difference in sustaining the beauty of this area. At one time the local Forestry Fire crews used to assist, also. But I do not believe they have any directive to do work there and if the fire season is bad they do not have the manpower either. Personally, I spend about an hour cleaning up around what ever site we use, whenever my family spends a day out there but that is starting to take away the enjoyment that I try to have. I know Bruce Inglis from the RMWB was the local guy who got things rolling, but when I asked him recently he told me to bring my concerns to Alberta Parks or AESRD. Can you assist me with any information as to what is going on with this area?
Hi Fredrick, while the area is not provincial land, it is slated to become part of the Alberta Parks system as part of the new Kazan Wildland Provincial Park. Alberta Parks has already started working with the Regional Municipality to maintain the site, and will continue to work with them on maintenance needs.
Hello, I’m interested to know where I can find more information on the wastewater systems in Alberta and how they are dealing with the more stringent effluent regulations? I know there are a lot of lagoon systems in Alberta which can struggle with ammonia removal.
Hi Jennifer, the following are links are where information regarding Alberta’s regulations and Standards related to municipal wastewater systems can be found:
Municipal Wastewater and Storm Water Management Program – http://aep.alberta.ca/water/programs-and-services/municipal-wastewater-and-storm-water-management-program/default.aspx
Standards and Guidelines – http://aep.alberta.ca/water/programs-and-services/drinking-water/legislation/standards-and-guidelines.aspx
Wastewater Systems Standards for Performance and Design – http://aep.alberta.ca/water/programs-and-services/drinking-water/legislation/documents/Part3-WastewaterSystemsStandards-2013.pdf
Wastewater Systems Guidelines for Design, Operating and Monitoring – http://aep.alberta.ca/water/programs-and-services/drinking-water/legislation/documents/Part4-WastewaterSystemsGuidelines-2013.pdf
Hope this is helpful.
Hi, I just wanted to point out spelling error on this page; https://albertaep.wordpress.com/2016/09/22/navigating-the-paperwork/. It currently reads ‘Educated yourself on Wildlife Management’. I believe ‘Educated’ should be ‘Educate’. 🙂
Thanks Katie,
The word is supposed to be “educated” because it is part of the “Now that you have:” list. We appreciate you reaching out to us and hope you have found the blog helpful. Thank you.
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Re. Alberta’s Six UNESCO World Heritage Sites by Katie Sowden, Alberta Environment and Parks, Posted on August 28, 2022
In response to Katie’s recent article, in addition to having six UNESCO Heritage Sites, Alberta is also home to two incredible landscapes that have been designated as UNESCO biospheres.
• Beaver Hills Biosphere (designated 2016)
• Waterton Biosphere Reserve (designated
Canada has a total of 19 UNESCO biospheres that are part of the international network of 738 in 134 countries. Biospheres are intended to be model regions for researching and demonstrating successful approaches to protection and sustainable development at a regional level. Essentially, they are learning places for sustainable development – people living and working in harmony with nature.
It would be great to see an article on Alberta’s two biospheres as well. If you’d like more information, we’d be happy to chat.
Thank you,
Kristina Dembinski
Beaver Hills Biosphere
A UNESCO Biosphere
beaverhills.ca