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

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 …

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 …

Sylvan Lake Level 2018

The Environment Canada real-time hydrometric sensor is online for 2018 and transmitting lake level measurements from the Sylvan Lake marina station 05CC003. This graph shows the change in lake level between May 1 and September 3, 2018. The historical median lake level on September 1 is about 936.78 metres above sea level. The lake level was …

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 …

Is There Evidence for Climate Change in the Sylvan Lake Watershed?

In his book “Landscapes and Cycles” Jim Steele, an authority on the ecosystems of the Sierra Nevada in California, makes a simple and obvious point about climate change: local climate variables, not global ones, drive locally observable climate change. See the Landscapes and Cycles website for case histories and examples of ecological change. So, what …