SARS-CoV-2 in Wastewater and Sewage

Researchers have found that monitoring community wastewater streams for evidence of SARS-CoV-2 (aka COVID-19) can provide a quick way to detect the presence of viral debris shed by the population and consolidated in its effluent. This environmental monitoring approach has been useful to sense changes in COVID-19 infection rate. See this preliminary library of scientific …

Sylvan Lake Precipitation and Lake Level in 2020

Data to July 4, 2020 Precipitation measured at the Alberta Agriculture weather station at Hespero Lake level on Jul 4 was 936.85 metres above sea level.

A Century of Sylvan Lake Level Data

Here is 100 years of Sylvan Lake water level data: Most of the data up to 2014 are in the Environment Canada HYDAT database that can now only be accessed offline with great difficulty. The whole HYDAT database must be downloaded then searched using Microsoft Access as a viewer. The 2010-2019 data are from other …

Spring Runoff 2020

The two main Sylvan Lake tributaries are flowing and carrying the early-season load of water and nutrients into the lake. Here is the video evidence: Golf Course Creek 2020 Spring Runoff on 2020-04-21 From the SLG&CC irrigation pond to Marina Bay. Flow at the Marina Bay Culverts on 2020-04-20 Northwest Creek, west of Sunbreaker Cove, …

The Temperatures of Sylvan Lake

Lake users are chillier than usual this year. How can you tell? https://www.sylvanlakenews.com/community/sylvan-lake-temperature-in-summer-and-winter/ Open water lake temperatures are not monitored regularly. Data are only collected by ALMS lake technicians when the water quality is sampled during campaigns about every second year. This article uses a full set of data from  Alberta Environment archives from 1996 …

Sylvan Lake Weather and Lake Level in 2019

The Alberta Agriculture weather station at Hespero west of Sylvan Lake reports these data for precipitation and temperature between January 1 and May 21: The lake level on 2018-11-01 was 936.550 metres above sea level (masl). On 2019-05-21 the lake level was 936.705 masl. Data are available at this Environment Canada website https://wateroffice.ec.gc.ca/.   Accumulated precipitation …

IDP 2020 – Geographic Information System Graphics

The land area within the scope of the proposed Intermunicipal Development Plan due by 2020 links small parts of the Blindman River and Medicine River watersheds to the core Sylvan Lake watershed. The regional topography keeps separate those watershed areas shown in the following gallery of maps. The peripheral land outside the red line perimeter …

IDP 2020-Environment

This set of graphics includes historical data on the environment of the Sylvan Lake watershed and surrounding Central Alberta. The quality and quantity of water in the watershed are critical factors that determine watershed value. Dissolved and suspended minerals and organics from the land are transported in surface and underground water into the lake and …

IDP 2020-Water Balance, Water Quantity and Water Quality Data

Dredging the Marina Bay Channel

The excavated channel from the yacht and powerboat harbour had gradually silted in over the last two decades. Suspended solids from the principle lake tributary Golf Course Creek that flows under Highway 11A, and those that migrate around the lake in the water column driven by wind and wave action, reduced the depth so that …