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 …

Sylvan Lake Precipitation 2018

This graph shows the precipitation history recorded by the Alberta Agriculture weather station at Hespero, west of Sylvan Lake from Jan 1 to November 13, 2018. The shortfall is 170 mm (0.17 m) of precipitation compared to the long term average. We assume that those observations at Hespero are representative of those for our watershed …

Responsible Care of Watersheds

Dr. Judy Stewart, an expert on municipal law and the environment has recently published a paper that addresses her title question "Do recent amendments to Alberta's Municipal Government Act enable management of surface water resources and air quality?" The SLWSS has demonstrated how watershed management could be improved by adoption of the principles of the …

The Sylvan Lake Water Quality Sampling Campaign in 2018

We have sampled Sylvan Lake three times in 2018, once each in June, July and August in a joint research project with the Alberta Lake Management Society. A video and two photo albums for July 10 and August 14 show how instrumental measurements were made at the deep water station, ten water column samples were …

Sylvan Lake Sub-Basin Groundwater Modeling by the AER-AGS Top Gun Team

This graphic from a recent Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) analysis of the groundwater supply in the Sylvan Lake region shows that the Sylvan Lake watershed is in a rare Red zone signifying high risk to Safe Yield of water supply. Sylvan Lake is located roughly at 52oN, 114oW: The Alberta Geological Survey groundwater modeling team …

Tour of the NW End of Sylvan Lake to Check the State of Spring Runoff.

The eagle is back in its nest high in a tree on the south edge of the Sylvan Lake Natural Area. Here is a photo album of a driving tour of the Northwest Creek catchment including manure-rich feedlots, evidence of spring runoff, but no flow in the creek itself on May 13. The whole area …

Report on the Alberta Recreational Lakes Forum 2018 (ARL 2018) at Pigeon Lake

The goal of ARL 2018 was “To support networking, knowledge-sharing and collaboration for Alberta’s lake stewardship community.” The May 10, 2018 one-day conference attracted more than 65 experts from Alberta Environment and Parks, stewardship groups, and municipal officials to the Lakedell Agricultural Society hall at Pigeon Lake. Several presentations updated delegates on these stewardship topics: …

SLN Article: Fishing in Sylvan Lake: species in need of recovery this year

https://www.sylvanlakenews.com/news/fishing-in-sylvan-lake-species-at-risk-this-year/ With the ice deteriorating and the ice shacks removed, recreational fishing is closed until May 14. As anglers prepare for the coming spring and summer fishing season, Alberta Environment and Parks and the Fish and Wildlife Policy Branch took stock of the lake and made decisions on size limits. Senior Fisheries Biologist, Jason Cooper, …

Quiet Enjoyment Initiative Rejected by the Town of Sylvan Lake

The Sylvan Lake News reported on a decision of the Town of Sylvan Lake council on February 12 to decline a request for funding for the Quiet Enjoyment Initiative (QEI). The  QEI project of the SLWSS champions the rights of all Sylvan Lake shoreline populations to enjoy the watershed without disturbance by inconsiderate operators of …

Well Water Quality in the Sylvan Lake Watershed

The Alberta Health well water database is now accessible online. It contains records for 71,698 Alberta wells that were submitted for analysis since 2002 by private well owners. Click on this link to reach the homepage of the website. A tutorial is presented to coach viewers on its use. Following are some screen capture views of …