Prairie Wetland Restoration
By Lindsay Worden and Sarah Mastromonaco
Keywords: Prairie Pothole Region, wetlands, wastewater treatment, migratory birds, restoration
Summary
The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR), spanning across the interior prairies of the USA and Canada, is a highly productive ecosystem with unparalleled importance of breeding for wetland dependent species (R. R. Johnson et al., 2008). Prairie potholes provide diverse functions including hydrological, biochemical, and biodiversity support (Baulch et al., 2021).
This case study will explore the Frank Lake Plain subregion of the fescue Prairie Ecoregion located within the wider PPR. It is located roughly 60 km south of Calgary, Alberta at 50°33’N; 113°42’W (Figure 1). Frank Lake is a 1246 ha shallow basin marsh that is a combination of seasonal potholes, upland, wetland and human-modified habitats (White & Bayley, 1999). Human-led agricultural disturbance of the Frank Lake subregion has been linked to the reduction of biodiversity from the loss of wetland habitat and elimination of several native plant and animal populations such as waterfowl (White and Bayley, 1999). As the principal waterfowl production area of North America (Crissey 1969 as cited by White & Bayley, 1999), Frank Lake is critically important for the breeding of local, regional and provincial colonial water birds. For decades, wetlands have been used to treat anthropogenic effluents because of their ability to transform organic and uptake toxins and nutrients (Zhou et al., 2022). Frank Lake is known as one of Canada’s most economically important wetland complexes because of its applications to wastewater treatment, water storage and management, and conservation of biodiversity (Zhou et al., 2022). The restoration and design of Frank Lake is a model of cooperative conservation and adaptive management (White & Bayley, 1999). |
Figure 1: Frank Lake basins map (White & Bayley, 1999).
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Ecological genealogy
To discuss the ways our ecosystems are changing, it is critical to recognize the history of settler colonialism and settler (industrial) agriculture. Industrial agriculture in Canada is rooted in western expansionism and settler colonialism's quest for transformation of land and erasure of Indigenous peoples (Smith, 2021). Indigenous people have a long history and relationship with the land near and surrounding Frank Lake for sustenance, cultural and spiritual practices, medicinal resources and community connection. The surrounding area of Frank Lake is within the traditional territories of various Indigenous peoples, including the Blackfoot Confederacy which includes the Kainai Nation, Siksika Nation, Piikani Nation and Amskapi Piikani (Siksikaitsitapi – Blackfoot Confederacy Tribal Council, n.d.). The land has also been historically and currently significant for the Metis, Stoney Nakoda, and Sioux Nations, and Plains Cree People (Native Land, n.d.). Roughly more than 125 years ago during European colonization, farmers were eager to take advantage of the results of the glacial recession which left behind the perfect combination of fertile and productive soils (Ducks Unlimited Canada, n.d.). European settlement and subsequent agricultural expansion led to the drainage of potholes and has “reduced the size of Frank Lake and by the early 1980s, the wetland was dry” (White & Bayley, 1999, p. 25). Furthermore, it has been estimated that intense agricultural pressure has resulted in up to 71% of this landscape has been lost since European colonization and settlement in the Canadian prairies (Ducks Unlimited Canada, 2024; White & Bayley, 1999).
Prairie Potholes are small wetlands left as landscape relics of the retreat of the last ice sheet during the Pleistocene glaciation of North America’s prairies (Johnson et al., 2008). When the ice retreated it left millions of shallow depressions. Wetland potholes hydrologically connect during seasonal spring melt, filling up and spilling into nearby wetlands (Brown et al., 2017). Historically, Frank Lake had fluctuating water levels that impacted its productivity and size (Sadler, 1995), with two flooding events, one in 1952 and in 1975. Furthermore, Frank Lake varied in size from 3,800 acres in the 1950’s to coming up completely dry in the 1930’s, mid 1940’s and in during the 1980’s (Sadler, 1995). Frank Lake has experienced dramatic changes since the early 1980s due to agricultural drainage and encroachment, reducing the size of the wetland and causing the wetland to dry out (White & Bayley, 1999). Before restoration efforts, the Town of High River Alberta released their waste water into the watershed Oldman Watershed which includes Frank Lake. Intense agricultural production caused as much as 90% of the Frank Lake watershed to be altered before restoration in 1990 (White & Bayley, 1999). The Frank Lake subregion included a diversity of habitats from upland native mixed grasslands, meadows, shorelines, and wetlands (Figure 2; White & Bayley, 1999). This mix of landscape supported a diverse array of species, such as “nesting and staging waterfowl, marsh birds and shorebirds” (Sadler et al., 1995 as cited by White & Bayley, 1999, p. 27). Moreover, Frank Lake is the only large permanent wetland in Southern Alberta providing habitat for 30,000 migrating waterfowl making it regionally and provincially important for breeding colonial waterbirds as well as for rare, threatened and endangered species (Poston et al, 1990; Wallis et al, 1996 as cited by White & Bayley 1999). Additionally, there has been a lack of protective policies for the PPR and wetlands in Alberta. Although there was federal legislation, Migratory Birds Convention Act of 1917, which focused on the protection of migratory birds and their habitats - including wetlands across Canada, it did not specifically state any regulations for Frank Lake (Government of Canada, 2019). |
Figure 2: Frank Lake observation blind structure during flood conditions. Photo accessed from: https://birdscalgary.com/bountiful-birding-at-frank-lake/ on March 21, 2024.
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Present tense
An opportunity arose in 1988 to restore Frank Lake with a mixture of agro-industrial wastewater from a beef processing plant, municipal wastewater, producing 3640 m³/day of wastewater, and additional fresh water from the Highwood River (White & Bayley, 1999). This project was designed and implemented between Ducks Unlimited Canada, industry (Cargill Foods), local and provincial government, under a dual mandate of wastewater treatment and bird habitat (White & Bayley, 1999). The project came to fruition when goals to accommodate restoration efforts and social and economic viability of the region were combined.
Within five years of wastewater addition to Frank Lake, it demonstrated a significant capacity for wastewater nutrient reduction, supporting over 130 reintroduced bird species, and supported the reestablishment of several other flora and fauna species (White & Bayley, 1999) such as, American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos), Pectoral Sandpiper, (Calidris melanotos) and Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) (Figure 3). Frank Lake continues to be monitored and managed to provide bird habitat opportunities and for the sustained long term capacity of wastewater treatment. Researchers at the University of Lethbridge are completing a five year study beginning in 2022 to understand how long Frank Lake can sustain current treatment levels and improvements to treatment process (McCuaig, 2022). Frank Lake Conservation Area is recognized as an Important Bird Area in Canada that supports public recreational use of the park (mainly birdwatching and hunting) and limited-access research opportunities (IBA Canada, n.d.). The Government of Alberta has current legal jurisdiction over Frank Lake and is managed through Ducks Unlimited Canada (Ducks Unlimited Canada, 2024). Frank Lake’s success as a restored natural wetland with constructed components exists as a long-standing example of an ecologically and industrially functional wetland system in a cold climate. |
Figure 3: A summary pie chart of species type at Frank Lake, AB. according to citizen science source for species reporting, iNaturalist (Frank Lake Conservation Area Project). Accessed March 3, 2024
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future tradjectory
A wetland complex, an ecological functional unit (W. C. Johnson et al., 2010), hydrologically connected during seasonal spring melt, filling up and spilling into nearby wetlands (Brown et al., 2017). As part of a broader ecological functional unit, Frank lake will support surrounding wetland features and provide reliable habitat during drought, and agricultural or industrial development (Figure 4).
In future modelling of climate warming simulations, the broad PPR is predicted to be too dry in the western region and have too few functional wetlands and associated habitat to support historic levels of wetland dependent species, including waterfowl (W. C. Johnson et al., 2010). Functional loss of PPR wetland ecosystems that support waterfowl breeding grounds makes it difficult to predict waterfowl populations at today’s levels under altered future climate conditions (W. C. Johnson et al., 2010). Due to Frank Lake’s consistent water supply from wastewater inputs, it can act as an intact buffer for temporal variation of the regional wetland complex by providing habitat, water and nutrient cycling, and its designed element of wastewater treatment. If agro-industrial wastewater input was reduced due to climate change, social or economic changes related to the beef industry, Frank Lake would have reduced capacity to provide year-round habitat to local and migratory biodiversity. An additional threat to Frank Lake is future energy infrastructure development. For example, an approximately 600 ha solar farm proposal was turned down by the Alberta Utilities Commission due to the potential threat to wildlife in the region, particularly wildlife at Frank Lake (Kaufmann, 2023). Despite, “some positive socio-economic benefits” to the Cold Lake First Nations and potential for reconciliation between the Nations and Crown, the solar farm could not be accepted near High River because “the impacts on the project on Frank Lake [Important Bird Area] and the social and environmental values that is represents, are unacceptable” (Kaufmann, 2023). Frank Lake could be used as an example for other wetland restoration projects with similar climatic, environmental conditions, and community needs. Communities seeking solutions for local sewage or wastewater treatment, nutrient storage, hydrological cycling and drought issues, or ecological benefits to local native species, could look to Frank Lake as an integrative multifaceted solution. Collaborative wetland restoration projects are an opportunity for Indigenous resurgence to tackle community needs and to lead land stewardship initiatives. Since the restoration of Frank Lake was prompted under a dual mandate, for the need of wastewater treatment and bird habitat, its purpose was to become a designed ecosystem to assume functions of a natural wetland. It filters effluents before rejoining the local watershed while providing migratory bird habitat during a time of habitat loss. As part of Frank Lake’s design to store and transform nutrients, nutrient removal or transformation, functionality is initially high but declines as the marsh ages “due to the saturation of adsorption sites on detrital material and wetland soil”, as summarized by White & Bayley (2001). With consistent demand of this wetland feature due to wastewater input, thresholds of nutrient intake and storage could be exceeded causing the wetland to run its course beyond its designed functions, up to decades after designed wetland creation (Nessel & Bayley, 1984). The University of Lethbridge’s five year study on Frank Lake will provide insights to the long term stability and viability of the designed wetland to naturally process wastewater inputs (McCuaig, 2022). |
Figure 4: American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) at Frank Lake, Alberta. Photo by: leisah on iNaturalist, observed and recorded May 2021. Accessed at https://inaturalist.ca/projects/frank-lake-conservation-area.
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References
Blackfoot Confederacy Tribal Council. (2021). Blackfoot Confederacy Nations. https://blackfootconfederacy.ca/nations/.
Baulch, H., Whitfield, C., Wolfe, J., Basu, N., Bedard-Haughn, A., Belcher, K., Clark, R., Ferguson, G., Hayashi, M., Ireson, A., Lloyd-Smith, P., Loring, P., Pomeroy, J. W., Shook, K., & Spence, C. (2021). Synthesis of science: Findings on Canadian Prairie wetland drainage. Canadian Water Resources Journal, 46(4), 229–241. https://doi.org/10.1080/07011784.2021.1973911
Brown, R., Zhang, Z., Comeau, L.-P., & Bedard-Haughn, A. (2017). Effects of drainage duration on mineral wetland soils in a Prairie Pothole agroecosystem. Soil & Tillage Research, 168, 187–197. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2016.12.015
Government of Canada. (2019). Canada Gazette, Part 1, Volume 153, Number 22: Migratory Birds Regulations. Government of Canada. https://gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2019/2019-06-01/html/reg3-eng.html
IBA Canada. (n.d.). Important Bird Area Site Listing: Frank Lake (south) High River, Alberta. https://www.ibacanada.ca/site.jsp?siteID=AB079&lang=EN
Johnson, R. R., Oslund, F. T., & Hertel, D. R. (2008). The past, present, and future of prairie potholes in the United States. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 63(3), 84A-87A. https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.63.3.84A
Johnson, W. C., Werner, B., Guntenspergen, G. R., Voldseth, R. A., Millett, B., Naugle, D. E., Tulbure, M., Carroll, R. W. H., Tracy, J., & Olawsky, C. (2010). Prairie Wetland Complexes as Landscape Functional Units in a Changing Climate. BioScience, 60(2), 128–140. https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2010.60.2.7
Kaufmann, B. (2023, April 22). High River solar farm proposal rejected; Utilities regulator deems project too large a risk to bird population. Calgary Herald, A.5.
McCuaig, A. (2022). Alta. Study Explores Treated Water’s impact on Wetlands. https://www.producer.com/news/alta-study-explores-treated-waters-impact-on-wetlands/
Native Land. (n.d.). Native Land. https://native-land.ca/
Nessel, J. K., & Bayley, S. E. (1984). Cypress Swamps. University of Florida Press, Gainesville.
Sadler. (1995). Frank Lake—It’s More than Ducks. 53(1), 134–139.
Siksikaitsitapi – Blackfoot Confederacy Tribal Council. (n.d.). Black Foot Confederacy. https://blackfootconfederacy.ca/.
Smith, J.R. (2021). “Exceeding Beringia”: Upending universal human events and wayward transits in Arctic spaces. Society and Space, 39(1), 158-175. 10.1177/0263775820950745 journals.sagepub.com/home/epd.
White, J. S., & Bayley, S. (2001). Nutrient Retention in a Northern Prairie Marsh (Frank Lake, Alberta) Receiving Municipal and Agro-Industrial Wastewater. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 126, 63–81.
White, J. S., & Bayley, S. E. (1999). Restoration of a Canadian Prairie Wetland with Agricultural and Municipal Wastewater. Environmental Management, 24(1), 25–37.
Zhou, X., Johnson, S. E., & Bogard, M. J. (2022). Organic matter cycling in a model restored wetland receiving complex effluent. Biogeochemistry, 162, 237–255. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-022-01002-x
Baulch, H., Whitfield, C., Wolfe, J., Basu, N., Bedard-Haughn, A., Belcher, K., Clark, R., Ferguson, G., Hayashi, M., Ireson, A., Lloyd-Smith, P., Loring, P., Pomeroy, J. W., Shook, K., & Spence, C. (2021). Synthesis of science: Findings on Canadian Prairie wetland drainage. Canadian Water Resources Journal, 46(4), 229–241. https://doi.org/10.1080/07011784.2021.1973911
Brown, R., Zhang, Z., Comeau, L.-P., & Bedard-Haughn, A. (2017). Effects of drainage duration on mineral wetland soils in a Prairie Pothole agroecosystem. Soil & Tillage Research, 168, 187–197. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2016.12.015
Government of Canada. (2019). Canada Gazette, Part 1, Volume 153, Number 22: Migratory Birds Regulations. Government of Canada. https://gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2019/2019-06-01/html/reg3-eng.html
IBA Canada. (n.d.). Important Bird Area Site Listing: Frank Lake (south) High River, Alberta. https://www.ibacanada.ca/site.jsp?siteID=AB079&lang=EN
Johnson, R. R., Oslund, F. T., & Hertel, D. R. (2008). The past, present, and future of prairie potholes in the United States. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 63(3), 84A-87A. https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.63.3.84A
Johnson, W. C., Werner, B., Guntenspergen, G. R., Voldseth, R. A., Millett, B., Naugle, D. E., Tulbure, M., Carroll, R. W. H., Tracy, J., & Olawsky, C. (2010). Prairie Wetland Complexes as Landscape Functional Units in a Changing Climate. BioScience, 60(2), 128–140. https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2010.60.2.7
Kaufmann, B. (2023, April 22). High River solar farm proposal rejected; Utilities regulator deems project too large a risk to bird population. Calgary Herald, A.5.
McCuaig, A. (2022). Alta. Study Explores Treated Water’s impact on Wetlands. https://www.producer.com/news/alta-study-explores-treated-waters-impact-on-wetlands/
Native Land. (n.d.). Native Land. https://native-land.ca/
Nessel, J. K., & Bayley, S. E. (1984). Cypress Swamps. University of Florida Press, Gainesville.
Sadler. (1995). Frank Lake—It’s More than Ducks. 53(1), 134–139.
Siksikaitsitapi – Blackfoot Confederacy Tribal Council. (n.d.). Black Foot Confederacy. https://blackfootconfederacy.ca/.
Smith, J.R. (2021). “Exceeding Beringia”: Upending universal human events and wayward transits in Arctic spaces. Society and Space, 39(1), 158-175. 10.1177/0263775820950745 journals.sagepub.com/home/epd.
White, J. S., & Bayley, S. (2001). Nutrient Retention in a Northern Prairie Marsh (Frank Lake, Alberta) Receiving Municipal and Agro-Industrial Wastewater. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 126, 63–81.
White, J. S., & Bayley, S. E. (1999). Restoration of a Canadian Prairie Wetland with Agricultural and Municipal Wastewater. Environmental Management, 24(1), 25–37.
Zhou, X., Johnson, S. E., & Bogard, M. J. (2022). Organic matter cycling in a model restored wetland receiving complex effluent. Biogeochemistry, 162, 237–255. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-022-01002-x