| Volunteer of the Year | |
 The LakeWatch program could not function without the dedication of numerous volunteers. Thus, each year ALMS recognizes a volunteer who has shown outstanding dedication and enthusiasm in their involvement with the LakeWatch program. In 2012, we recognized Terry Noble, our Lac Sante volunteer, and in 2013, we recognize Garry Kissel, our longtime volunteer at Minnie Lake. Check out a short interview with Garry here.
A big thank-you to all of our 2013 LakeWatch volunteers - these people prove that ecological apathy can be overcome and give us hope that our water resources will not be the limiting factor in the health of our environment. If you would like to be involved in the LakeWatch program in 2014, contact Brad at 780-415-9785 or [email protected].
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| Defining a "Lake" in Alberta | 
Recently, I have had several conversations about Alberta's technical definition of a "lake," and realized that a precise technical definition to distinguish lakes, ponds and wetlands does not exist in Alberta. So I asked four biologists and a lawyer if they could define a "lake", and here are their responses:
Lawyer 1: Lakes are included in the definition of water bodies in the Water Act. As water bodies, lakes are "locations where water flows or is present, whether or not the flow or presence of water is continuous, intermittent or occurs only during a flood." Wetlands are also considered water bodies. While lakes and wetlands are both water bodies, what is the difference between a lake and a wetland? This question was put before the Court of Queen's Bench in Alberta in 1983 in the case of Alberta v. Very, 1983 CanLII 1065 ABQB. At the time, Mr. Justice Egbert explained as follows: "Anyone who has grown up in the prairie provinces of Canada has a preconceived notion of what is a lake and what is a slough. A lake, to that person, is a body of water of considerable depth surrounded by a well-defined beach or bank and with a reasonably permanent nature where one can swim if the water is not too cold. On the other hand, a slough is a shallow body of dirty water usually full of weeds and insects or aquatic life where one would not consider swimming. Sometimes there is water present in the slough and sometimes there is not." (Alberta v. Very, at para. 41). Mr. Justice Egbert relied on the expert evidence provided by Mr. Peiluck, who, at that time held "a B.Sc. in micro-biology and geomorphology from the University of Manitoba and an M.A. in resource and recreation planning from the University of Saskatchewan." According to Mr. Justice Egbert, Peiluck "compared a lake with a slough in the following manner: (i) Lakes tend to have well-defined shorelines whereas sloughs have poorly-defined shorelines. (ii) Water levels tend to be more stable in lakes than in sloughs. (iii) Open water is more common in lakes while vegetation is more dominant in sloughs. (iv) The depths of lakes vary greatly while sloughs tend to be shallow. (v) Lakes tend to be less sensitive to natural and man-made changes." (Alberta v. Very at paragraph 24.) READ MORE...
Biologist 1: We don't use depth per se but rather consider the surface area and percent vegetation cover. Frankly, it is open for interpretation.
Biologist 2: I don't think there is one generally accepted definition. I couldn't find a lake definition in basic references on lakes like Wetzel (Limnology), and the Cooke et al (Restoration and Management of Lakes and Reservoirs). NALMS current guidance manual defines a lake as: "a considerable inland body of standing water; either naturally formed or built by humans". Something like that is rather subjective, but about as good as any I've seen. The problem with the NALMS definition is that it doesn't provide a numerical boundary between a lake and a wetland or pond. Sometimes you hear 2 m used as the boundary between a wetland and a lake (not sure about the source), and there are other boundaries of 2 or 5 ha based on size to discriminate between a pond and a lake (see Wikipedia for references). But again those boundaries are not used everywhere, and lots of tiny community ponds are called lakes. Perhaps there is a definition used when lakes names are officially accepted in AB (gazetted), but I haven't seen one.
Biologist 3: You'll know it when you see it... It is really hard to pinpoint a definition of a lake. I've seen a lot of disagreement amongst public and academics alike. I haven't heard of a surface area definitions. There are a lot of sloughs and wetlands out there with surface areas larger than what you'd recognize as an actual lake.
Biologist 4: I get this question all the time, and the answer is...it depends. It depends which definition you are using. The Water Act defines Water and Water Bodies. Cowardin recognizes lakes as wetlands (but deeper than 2m). Stewart and Kantrud recognizes lakes as wetlands (Class V wetlands (Permanent Ponds and Lakes)). The Canadian Wetland Classification system does NOT recognize lakes as wetlands. So, I recommend using the Stewart and Kantrud definition.
So, after those answers which definition do you think I should go with? Why not the Oxford English Reference Dictionary definition: "a lake is a large body of water surrounded by land."? According to lawyers, terms that are not defined in legislation ought to be interpreted in layman's terms. Perhaps, rather than defining a lake from the perspective of its waters, a technical definition of a lake might consider the nature of its bed and shores: how lake basins originate and function to hold a relatively stable water level that is relatively still within relatively well-defined shores seems to distinguish a lake from a wetland where water is in a continual state of flux dependant upon precipitation and storm drainage. Ask one question and many more follow.
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| Book Review: The Beaver Manifesto | 
Review by: Brianne Lovstrom
Glynnis Hood introduces our nation's icon from an ecological, agricultural, and societal perspective in her short well-written work, The Beaver Manifesto. Through her multi-perspective approach and experiences, Hood bridges the gap between traditional ecology and agricultural land-use conflicts. For myself, as an environmental scientist furthering my career in the realm of agriculture, I personally found Hood's shared-knowledge an exciting breakthrough. Adding to my excitement, regarding the content, was Hood's style of writing. The Beaver Manifesto not only appeals to academics and people working in the field of water resources, environmental management, and ecology; but Hood tells the story of beavers as our environmental engineers, which any Canadian should be able to relate to and understand.
If ALMS will allow me to rate this publication, I give The Beaver Manifesto 4/5 stars. The work is not meant to replace years of peer-reviewed and governmental research publications regarding beavers, the fur trade, and Canada's water resources; however, The Beaver Manifesto is a much needed bridge for Canadians to access and enjoy the information bound-up in our universities' research.
The Beaver Manifesto is available as an ebook and as a hard cover from its publisher Rocky Mountain Books. Also, thanks to RMB we have a copy to give away to one of our members! Just send us a note on either email,  , or  and we will draw from the entries.
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| ALMS Board of Directors | | ALMS has recently elected several new directors and has had a change in executive positions.
President
Steph Neufeld
Vice-President
Glenn Isaac
Treasurer
Juanna Thompson
Secretary
Amanada Doyle
Directors
Al Sosiak
George Bloom
Laura Edwards
Rolf Vinebrooke
Phil Sutton
Heidi Swanson
Margaret Glasford
Judy Stewart
Lyndon Gyurek
Erin Rodger
AB Water Council Director for the Lake Conservation Sector
Jay White
A sincere thank you to outgoing board member Sheldon Helbert for his many contributions to ALMS over the years.
To learn more about our board of directors visit www.alms.ca |
| News & Newsletters |
Bow River Basin Council
Beaver River Watershed Alliance Fall 2103 Newsletter | |
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| Season's Greetings! | |
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Merry Christmas from all of us at ALMS and very best wishes for a happy New Year!
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