The province has put a stop to excavation in a wetland west of Okotoks along Highway 549 near the Sandstone Coulee.
Environment and Parks spokesperson Kyle Ferguson said they investigated a complaint about unauthorized work in a wetland.
“The site was inspected and the landowner was advised to cease work in the watercourse,” Ferguson said. “The landowner has complied with our request and we have directed the landowner towards steps to bring him into compliance with the province’s Water Act and continue to work to bring this issue to resolution.”
Maureen Schnirer owns the home and property to the east of the wetland. She lived in the home for about eight years, but has since moved to Westlock. During the Canada Day long weekend she was in Okotoks visiting and saw work being done in a wetland around a dugout.
“They brought in a trackhoe and a bulldozer and they were draining it,” she said.
Schnirer immediately called the Town of Okotoks and the MD of Foothills.
She received an email back from the Town of Okotoks giving her contact information for the MD of Foothills, where the work was happening, and the Minister of Environment and Parks, who has jurisdiction and enforcement of water issues in the Province.
Schnirer said MD of Foothills staff advised her that an infraction had occurred and the Province was looking into it.
However, a stop work order was not issued for a week and when Schnirer returned the dugout was drained and parts of the wetland were dug up.
“It’s a very slow moving process and because of that a natural wetland has been destroyed,” Schnirer said.
The destruction of the surrounding wetland will affect birds and wildlife in the area and how the water flows through the coulee, she said.
“The natural riparian zone and the distinct ecosystem that this wetland provides is invaluable,” Schnirer said. “At the base of sandstone coulee, this wetland is the strongest defense against flooding and acts as a natural water filtration system for the aquifer.”
Her property and others to the east of this wetland could be affected by changed water flow and could be more prone to flooding, she said.
It could also affect the flow rate into the Sheep River, which runs east into Okotoks, she said.
Schnirer said the process left her feeling helpless.
“It’s completely gone,” she said. “There’s no more water there. There’s nothing I can do about it.”
Local governments and the Province should work together to protect the environment and wetlands, she said.
“I feel it wasn’t a collective effort,” she said.
Ron Chase is the MD councilor for the area. He was not contacted about the draining of the pond and said wetland destruction is concerning to him and he would have acted if he had been notified.
“I’m very saddened when a situation like this occurs,” he said. “Our wetlands are disappearing due to development. Unfortunately, it could have been could have been resolved in a quicker and better fashion.”
Chase said he never received a call from any other neighbours in the area about this wetland being damaged, or any other calls about wetland destruction in his corner of the MD.
“If anyone asks me about wetlands, I advise them not to touch them,” he said. “We need them.”
MD of Foothills municipal manager Harry Riva Cambrin said the Province legislates water and has stronger enforcement capabilities and experts in the field to deal with water issues, but at times cannot act quickly to deal with potential problems.
He said the MD agrees with the provincial water act that says individuals can’t increase or decrease the amount of water going onto their neighbour’s property and alerts the Province if there is a possible infraction.
“We have a duty to report it,” Riva Cambrin said. “If we become aware of anyone altering drainage we have to report it under the environmental protection act.”
The landowner was not identified.
