Got Gravel? Strategies to Secure Gravel for Rural Municipalities. Part 2 Technical Report. October 30, 2013

Transcription

1 ALBERTA ASSOCIATION OF MUNICIPAL DISTRICTS AND COUNTIES Got Gravel? Strategies to Secure Gravel for Rural Municipalities Part 2 Technical Report October 30, 2013 Prepared for the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties by CharettePellPoscente Environmental Corp.

2 BLANK PAGE

3 Executive Summary The Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMDC) initiated a project in April 2013 to study the availability of gravel for use by rural municipalities for the construction and maintenance of public works infrastructure (for example rural roads). This report, Provincial Gravel Study Part 2 Technical Report, provides information on two elements of the project: the geographic analysis that determined the status of gravel supply and use both provincially and by Land-use Framework planning regions, and the development of information that can support the Land-use Framework regional planning currently underway in the province. The AAMDC views land-use planning as a means of balancing gravel allocation between provincial, municipal and commercial uses. The geographical analysis, corroborated by rural municipality survey results, suggests three of the seven Land-use Framework planning regions, the South Saskatchewan, North Saskatchewan and Lower Athabasca, will be in a deficit aggregate supply situation as provincial growth and economic development continues. The suggested approach is to include aggregate management strategies within the Land-use Framework regional planning process. The strategies should include one or more of the following: Identifying potential public aggregate sources and reserving the use of them within the government land management system for future public works projects. Planning future infrastructure and transportation needs to move aggregate from areas of high supply to areas of low supply and high demand. Planning for potential future land uses such as quarries to fulfill aggregate demand. Recycling aggregate. Other strategies may be identified during the planning processes. Developing aggregate management strategies through regional planning is proactive towards managing future development pressures and public works infrastructure maintenance. Information on the policy review and rural municipal survey elements of the project are in the report titled, Got Gravel? Strategies to Secure Gravel for Rural Municipalities Part 1 Summary Report. Got Gravel? Part 2- Technical Report 1

4 Table of Contents Executive Summary... 1 Introduction... 3 Geographic Analysis... 3 Assessment Results by Planning Region Summaries by Planning Region Lower Athabasca Planning Region Upper Athabasca Planning Region Lower Peace Planning Region Upper Peace Planning Region North Saskatchewan Planning Region South Saskatchewan Planning Region Red Deer Planning Region Closing Summary

5 Introduction The Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMDC) initiated a project in April 2013 to study the availability of gravel for use by rural municipalities for the construction and maintenance of public works infrastructure (for example rural roads). The AAMDC project included: a review of policy that guided the allocation priority of provincial gravel supplies to public works uses, a survey of rural municipalities to understand their challenges in acquiring gravel, a geographic analysis that determined the status of gravel supply and use both provincially and by Land-use Framework planning regions, and the development of information that can support the Land-use Framework regional planning currently underway in the province. The AAMDC views land-use planning as a means of balancing gravel allocation between provincial, municipal and commercial uses. This report, Provincial Gravel Study Part 2 Technical Report, provides the information on the provincial and regional gravel analysis. The report also provides a summary for each Land-use Framework planning region, intended to be used by municipal representatives on the Regional Advisory Committees, to input gravel supply strategies into the regional plans. The Regional Advisory Committees are established for each planning region to advise the government on important aspects to address in the regional plan. The policy review, recommendations and rural municipality survey results are presented in a summary report titled, Got Gravel? Strategies to Secure Gravel for Rural Municipalities Part 1 Summary Report. Geographic Analysis PRE-ANALYSIS DATA MANIPULATION AND EXPLANATION There were three main data sets used in the analysis of aggregates for the project. The Digital Integration Disposition Systems (DIDs) data was purchased from AltaLIS Ltd. This data provided information on all current dispositions on crown land within Alberta. The Alberta Geological Survey (AGS) Sand and Gravel Deposits with Aggregate Potential 1 data set provided the geographic information for potential aggregate deposits within Alberta. The third data set contained information on private land Class I aggregate pits (as of 2012) and was provided by Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (ESRD). Class II pit data was not available and is not represented in this analysis. All above data was accessed May AGS-Sand and Gravel Deposits with Aggregate Resource Potential: ram=%2fcgi-bin%2fmapserv.exe&map_web=template%20agg-index.html&mapsize=

6 CPPENV began analysis by filtering the DIDs data for only aggregate related dispositions. Disposition types selected were Disposition Reservation (DRS), Consultative Notation (CNT), Protective Notation (PNT), Surface Material Lease (SML), Surface Material Exploration (SME), and Surface Material License (SMC). Within each type, the data was further filtered for aggregate related activity. This included Sand and Gravel Removal, Surface Materials Potential, Sand and Gravel, Surface Material Exploration, and Public Pit. The AGS aggregate inventory was conducted from 1976 to 2009, and includes four levels of study certainty: Aggregate resources in this deposit were confirmed by multiple test holes and sampling. Sand and/or gravel with resource potential were confirmed in this deposit by Alberta Geological Survey site investigation and limited sampling and/or testing. This deposit is assumed to contain sand and/or gravel based on Alberta Geological Survey investigation of other sites in the area, remote sensing and/or other sources of information. This deposit was identified from remote sensing and/or other information without Alberta Geological Survey site investigation of the area. There is potential for the occurrence of sand and/or gravel. Within this, the inventory includes both sand and gravel deposits, with material composition of differing percentages. This includes: GRAVEL deposit: contains greater than 75% gravel Sandy GRAVEL deposit: contains 50% to 75% gravel Gravelly SAND deposit: contains 25% to 50% gravel SAND deposit: contains less than 25% gravel UNKNOWN deposit: amount of gravel unknown For analysis, the AGS aggregates inventory layer was filtered for areas of access restrictions, including areas such as provincial/federal parks, wilderness areas, wilderness/wildland parks, natural areas and ecological reserves. These areas were chosen by CPPENV based on knowledge of access limitations for commercial operations. First Nations reserves and metis colonies were not excluded from the analysis because similar to private land, the aggregate is technically available through agreements with those jurisdictions. This new layer was used as the main AGS aggregates inventory data for analysis. Deposit volumes were not calculated. Also to note, a large portion of northern Alberta (approximately 16%) was not mapped by AGS for potential aggregates. No assumptions were made by CPPENV regarding aggregate potential in this area. Map scaling for the project needed to be addressed because data for private land Class I pits was presented by quarter section, while data for public land aggregate dispositions was displayed by disposition area. For analysis, a quarter section scale was determined optimal. Therefore, disposition areas were rounded up to the quarter section area. No analysis goes below this scale (unless otherwise stated). 4

7 Finally, aggregate per capita was calculated and used for regional comparison. This data was obtained from the Government of Alberta Municipal Census Data Population for only the Counties and Municipal Districts was used, as cities and towns generally find their own aggregate supplies. OVERVIEW ASSESSMENT RESULTS FOR THE PROVINCE Analyses were conducted on total aggregate available (sand & gravel) and also on just gravel dominated deposits. Objectives for the analysis were to determine locations of potential reserves, current development of aggregate resources, and regions of abundance and shortage for each Land Use Planning Region (Map 1). Because aggregate deposit information is only provided by AGS, conclusions about abundance and shortage are only based on this data. No assumptions were made about aggregate deposits outside of the AGS estimated areas. Table 1 below, outlines the AGS provincial potential current aggregate available for extraction, with estimates for both gravel dominated deposits and all predicted deposits. Table 1. Total AGS estimated aggregate and gravel, current access restrictions, and extraction All Aggregate Deposits (ha) Gravel Dominated Deposits (ha) AGS Total Estimated Area 5,538, ,321 Area after Defined Access Restrictions 3,690, ,764 AGS Areas Currently Extracted 234,236 72,112 Area Available for Future Extraction 3,456, ,652 As is apparent by the above table, there is an abundance of AGS estimated sand deposits through Alberta, and limited gravel deposits available. Approximately 13% of all available aggregate deposits are gravel dominated, limiting the pool of what can be allocated to all operators (Map 2). 5

8 Map 1. Alberta Land Use Framework Planning Regions 6

9 Extraction of aggregate occurs throughout the province. As of May 2013, there were approximately 1,047,854ha of land under aggregate extraction notation. This included private land pits and public land aggregate related dispositions. One must note however, this total extraction area does not all correspond to areas AGS predicted as having aggregate availability. Table 1 indicates area of overlap with AGS predictions, and is denoted as AGS Areas Currently Extracted. Private Land Pit Extraction: There are approximately 1892 quarter sections of private owned land containing Class I pits. The Government of Alberta manages approximately 175 quarter sections and approximately 391 quarter sections are managed by Counties or Municipal Districts. The largest combined area of private pit extraction occurs in the North Saskatchewan Region, and the lowest occurs in the Lower Peace Region. Many of the private land pits are found within the areas of AGS estimated gravel deposits (Map 3). Public Land Disposition Extraction: There are approximately 2898 aggregate related registered dispositions within Alberta (Map 4). The following is a break-down of disposition types and disposition managers. Table 2. Public land dispositions by agency Disposition Type Government Agency Municipal Agency All Other CNT DRS PNT SMC SME SML The numbers within Table 2 also contain dispositions which are active but have been cancelled with outstanding obligations. At the time of analysis, there were 333 dispositions under this category. These areas could potentially contain volumes of gravel, and potentially be seen as options for future aggregate reserves. There are also currently about 1106 leases which will expire over the next 10 years. The Government of Alberta, through the Ministry of Transportation, is responsible for approximately 925 aggregate related dispositions on public land. Of the government dispositions, 100 are cancelled with outstanding obligation and 631 expire over the next ten years. A large amount of these are located in the Lower Athabasca region. Any of the dispositions which are cancelled (Map 5) or expire over the next 10 years (Map 6) could potentially be areas of reserve, if operators do not fully extract the resource and the area is vacated. 7

10 Map 2. Areas of AGS estimated aggregate available for extraction and AGS estimated gravel available for extraction 8

11 Map 3. Private land aggregate pits through the province: Map is indicative of private land competition for aggregates and gravel. Many pits overlap areas estimated by AGS. Private land pits have been exaggerated in scale to appear on map. 9

12 Map 4. All aggregate related dispositions as of May 2013: Dispositions have been exaggerated in scale to appear on map. 10

13 Map 5: Public land dispositions active in ESRD DID s, but cancelled with outstanding obligations: These aggregate related dispositions currently are not active pits, and the resource within them is unknown. If necessary, these could be viewed as a last resort reserve, with ground verification. Map features exaggerated for viewing. 11

14 Map 6: Aggregate related public land dispositions expiring between : These dispositions are currently active pits, but after expiry could potentially act as reserves if operators vacate, resources are still plentiful, and rural municipalities are allowed to take-over and resume operation. Map features exaggerated for viewing. 12

15 Assessment Results by Planning Region A breakdown of the aggregate analysis can be seen in Table 3. These numbers are the final numbers used in the analysis by planning region. The Aggregates (ha), Gravel (ha), and Gravel within 2km of Roads columns are all calculated from AGS data. These numbers reflect the access restrictions as well as any current development. They are the calculated values of what is currently available for extraction (as of May 2013). The numbers in Table 3 will be referenced in the following sections. Table 3. Main numbers used in aggregate and gravel analysis. Framework Planning Region RM Population % of AB Population Region Area (ha) Aggregates (ha) Gravel (ha) Current Extraction (ha) Gravel within 2km of Roads Length of Major Roads (km) Lower 134,905 4% 9,325, , , , , ,350.2 Athabasca Lower Peace 17, % 19,217, , , , , ,076.1 North 239,861 6% 8,578, , , , , ,087.5 Saskatchewan Red Deer 68,968 2% 5,034, , , , , ,634.5 South 127,403 3% 8,376, , , , , ,024.3 Saskatchewan Upper 53,560 1% 8,298, , , , , ,518.4 Athabasca Upper Peace 38,201 1% 7,427, , , , , ,931.5 Chart 1 and 2 depict the planning regions and their respective percentages of total aggregate available for extraction and total gravel available for extraction. At first investigation, the Lower Athabasca has an abundance of aggregates compared to the other regions; however has the least amount of gravel available for extraction. The Lower Peace region in contrast has the least amount of AGS estimated aggregate available, and the North Saskatchewan has the highest deposit amount of gravel available for extraction. Upon investigation of planning region area to AGS estimated gravel dominated area (Chart 3), the Upper Peace and the North Saskatchewan have the largest amount of gravel deposited compared to their area. Again, the Lower Athabasca has the lowest amount of gravel deposited compared to its area. 13

16 Chart 1. Percentage of AGS estimated aggregate for potential extraction by planning region. Chart 2. Percentage of total gravel for potential extraction by planning region Chart 3. Percent of region area covered with gravel deposits (total regional gravel/total region area) 14

17 Proximity to Market Analysis: Aggregate deposits are only economical for extraction if the proximity to roadways is within a reasonable distance. A brief investigation was conducted to understand deposit distances from major roadways, arterial roads, and collector roads (Map 7). Provincially, 55% of all AGS estimated aggregates are found within 2km of these defined roadways. Focusing on gravel dominated deposits, 79% of the deposits are within 2km of major roadways. Chart 4 and Chart 5 explain the percentage of provincial aggregate and gravel found within the 2km road buffer. Though the Lower Athabasca has a high amount of aggregate, it is not easily accessible, at only 3% within 2km of major roadways. Red Deer has the highest provincial percentage of aggregate within 2km of roads at 16%, however the North Saskatchewan has the highest provincial percentage of gravel within 2km of roads. Chart 4. Percentage of AGS estimated aggregate within 2km of major roads (regional aggregate within 2km/total aggregates within 2km of major roads) 15

18 Map 7. AGS estimated aggregate and gravel deposits found within 2km of major roads, and those deposits beyond 2km of major roads. 16

19 Chart 5. Percentage of AGS estimated gravel within 2km of roads (regional gravel within 2km of roads/total gravel within 2km of major roads) Chart 6. Percentage of gravel dominated area within 2km of major roads in each planning region When investigating gravel within each planning region and comparing that to region roadways, it was found that a substantial amount of gravel is actually within 2km of roadways. All planning regions have over 50% of potentially extractable gravel within 2km of major roads. This is a positive finding per region, as it indicates that the accessibility for gravel reserves is high when looking only at road proximity. Chart 6 depicts percentage of gravel by region within 2km of major roads. Major road length by planning region was calculated using National Road Network (NRN) data (Table 4). This included highways 2, arterial roads 3 and collector roads 4. The average road length calculated was 26,375km. Lower Athabasca, Lower Peace, Upper Peace were all significantly below the average. It must be noted that it was not possible to filter the road network data for municipally maintained roads; 2 Alberta Transportation: are defined as core routes in the National Highway System and serve long trip lengths 3 Alberta Transportation: intra-provincially only these highways also carry traffic over long distances 4 Alberta Transportation: highway carries traffic from major generators such as communities, and/or resource and industrial developments but with overall shorter travel distances roadways provide the connection between local roads and arterials, and generally serve traffic of an inter-county nature 17

20 therefore there is the assumption, for the purpose of this study, that rural municipalities maintain all three levels of road. Associated with road networks are Government of Alberta aggregate reserves and operations. Similar to rural municipalities, the government would need a substantial amount of aggregate for road building and maintenance purposes. Table 4 also outlines approximate amounts of reserves (CNT + PNT) and operations (DRS + Private Land Pits). These government numbers will be referenced in further in this analysis. Table 4. Major road lengths, percent by framework, current government reserves and gravel operations Region Major Road Length (km) % Major Road in Region Government Reserves (ha) Government Operations (ha) Lower Athabasca 6, % 310, ,165.2 North Saskatchewan 52, % 31, ,267.4 Red Deer 31, % 1, ,199.4 South Saskatchewan 44, % 48, ,303.3 Upper Athabasca 22, % 69, ,227.0 Upper Peace 17, % 34, ,443.0 Lower Peace 10, % 130, ,854.8 Populations: Population data was collected from Alberta Municipal Affairs, and filtered for only rural municipality populations. Population was chosen as the proxy for fair gravel allocation as data values, though static, are conclusive and no assumptions need to be made. The inability to conclusively filter the road network data for those roads only maintained by rural municipalities caused too much uncertainty to decisively use this data for a fair gravel allocation metric (Map 7). Using population also allows for comparisons to be made between provincial government allocations (Table 4), rural municipality allocations (Table 5), and an overall provincial wide allocation. These will be depicted in the following pages. 18

21 Map 8. Populations by rural municipality and areas of gravel dominated deposits. 19

22 Alberta has a population of approximately 3,768,284. Rural municipalities have a combined population of approximately 680,160, or 18% of the provincial population. If fair allocation of the AGS predicted gravel deposits was based on rural municipalities comprising 18% of provincial population, then 18% of AGS predicted gravel deposits (80,217.3ha) should be allocated to the rural municipalities as a whole. Looking at only the population of planning regions one can see each region comprises a different percentage of the total planning region population. Table 5 outlines the fair gravel deposit allocation associated with region populations. Table 5. Fairly allocated AGS estimated gravel deposits by percent populations Framework Planning Region % of Rural Municipality Population Gravel Fairly Allocated (ha) Lower Athabasca 20% 15,910.6 North Saskatchewan 35% 28,289.0 Red Deer 10% 8,134.0 South Saskatchewan 19% 15,025.8 Upper Athabasca 8% 6,316.8 Upper Peace 6% 4,505.4 Lower Peace 3% 2,035.9 Total 100% 80,217.3 It can be seen that the North Saskatchewan comprises the highest population of all the regions (35% of the total) and the Lower Peace comprises the least (3% of the total). Based on only this information, one can also immediately see the Lower Athabasca fair gravel allocation is immensely higher than the AGS predicted gravel deposits for the region (see Table 3). These numbers can be seen as potential reserves for each region, all other variables being equal. General Analysis: Chart 7 below, depicts a non-manipulated comparison between population, AGS predicted aggregate deposits, and AGS predicted gravel deposits. In all regions, aggregate deposits area high. This however is not significant, unless rural municipality construction operations utilize sand. This chart just gives a basic understanding of availability versus population. 20

23 Chart 7. Basic comparison of rural municipality population, aggregate, and gravel. The three variables, population, gravel availability, and major road length were then analyzed for relationships. Chart 8 depicts the un-manipulated relationship between the three. Chart 8. Comparison of population, AGS estimated gravel, and calculated major road length. It is apparent; Lower Athabasca has a significant population but very low gravel deposits and road major road lengths. Also significant is the North Saskatchewan. Though the greatest amount of AGS estimated gravel available for extraction, it has the highest population. Table 6 outlines the significance between population and gravel for each planning region. 21

24 Table 6. Approximate proportions of gravel to population by planning region Lower Athabasca North Saskatchewan Red Deer South Saskatchewan Upper Athabasca Upper Peace Lower Peace Population is 40 times that of gravel Population is 2 times that of gravel Population is 1.2 times that of gravel Population is 1.8 times that of gravel Gravel is 1.6 times that of population Gravel is 2.2 times that of population Gravel is 2.4 times that of population Ratios were then calculated to compare variables. Hectares of gravel per kilometer of road and hectares of gravel per person were calculated and then averaged. The Lower Athabasca, North Saskatchewan, Red Deer, and South Saskatchewan were all below average for both metrics. The outcomes can be seen in Chart 9. Chart 9: Ratio of gravel (ha) to population (pop) and gravel (ha) to road length (km) by region. Analyzing further, the third metric, kilometers of road per person was added. This comparison can be seen in Chart 10. Falling below average on all ratios are the Lower Athabasca, North Saskatchewan, Red Deer and South Saskatchewan. The North Saskatchewan, Red Deer and South Saskatchewan all have close to the same gravel/km ratio, however of the three, the North Saskatchewan has the least amount of gravel/person. 22

25 Chart 10: Ratio and averages for gravel deposits, population, and road length for each region. Chart 10 analyses the relationship between roads, population, and gravel deposits. The ratio km/population is an indicator of road density compared to demography. Generally, one would expect that a higher population and a greater road density lead to greater need for aggregate. The smaller the ratio, the less road construction needed to support the population. The second ratio, gravel ha/population, indicates how much of the fixed resource of gravel there is per person in the region. The higher the number, the more flexible a region can be in gravel allocation if population increases. The third ratio, gravel ha/km, gives an idea of how much of the fixed gravel there is currently per kilometer of currently constructed major road. Again, if this ratio is high, there is a better chance of fulfilling road building needs without compromising gravel reserves. A low ratio indicates tight constraints on road building, as there isn t as much gravel available for increasing road demands. The Lower Athabasca in the above case is significantly below the averages of the other regions. If the Lower Athabasca is seen as an outlier, the question was asked if the data would change much after its removal from analysis. Chart 11 depicts the same data as Chart 10 with the exclusion of the Lower Athabasca. Chart 11. Removal of the Lower Athabasca from ratio analysis. 23

26 As one can see, data does not change significantly when the Lower Athabasca is removed. The North Saskatchewan, Red Deer and South Saskatchewan are all still below average on all three metrics. The Lower Athabasca does not skew data averages significantly. Total major road length for the province is 184,622.5km. Breaking this down by region, an understanding of road length density can be calculated by region. Chart 12 depicts the density by planning region. Chart 12. Percent of major roads within each planning region The North Saskatchewan, South Saskatchewan, and the Red Deer regions have the largest major road density length of all the regions. However, they have very low gravel to population ratios and gravel to road length ratios. This combined information perhaps alludes to a future shortfall in gravel deposits. Chart 13. Comparison between fair allocation gravel deposits and gravel within 2km of major roads by region Gravel within 2km of roads was further analyzed and compared to that of fair allocation based on the 18% calculated rate. Chart 13 depicts a straight comparison between fair allocation gravel deposits and 24

27 AGS estimated gravel deposits within 2km of major roads. In all cases, except the Lower Athabasca, there is substantially more gravel than there is gravel needed for fair allocation. As a metric of comparison, a provincial scale ratio was calculated for major roads, AGS estimated gravel deposits, and population. The 2012 provincial population according to Alberta Municipal Affairs is approximately 3,768,284. The total major road length (184,622.5km) and total AGS estimated gravel deposits (445,652ha) were used with the total provincial population to calculate the following ratios. The total kilometer/total provincial population ratio is The gravel ha/total provincial population is 0.12, and the total gravel ha/total kilometer is This denotes there are 0.05km of major road per person, 0.12ha of available AGS estimated gravel per person, and 2.41ha of available AGS estimated gravel per kilometer of major road. Also calculated for comparison were the above ratios using AGS estimated gravel within 2km of major roads. The gravel ha/total provincial population is 0.10, the total gravel ha/total kilometer is Chart 14 and Chart 15 depict the ratio relationships between gravel (total and within 2km of major roads), major road length, rural municipality population, and provincial calculated ratios. Total kilometer/total provincial population was not charted below; as the only significant finding was that the Lower Athabasca region was below the provincial ratio. Chart 14. Provincial ratios gravel to road compared to regional ratios gravel to road 25

28 Chart 15. Ratio of total gravel/provincial population compared to regional gravel/rural municipality population and gravel within 2km of roadways/rural municipality population The final portion of the analysis consisted of analyzing current aggregate extraction through the province and the Government of Alberta s role in the market. Chart 16 outlines the un-manipulated data version of the population to exaction to gravel availability relationship. The outlier of Lower Athabasca Current Extracted Area can be correlated to the amount of industry development the Region has been experiencing over the past 30+ years. Current extraction is a sum of private land aggregate pits (Class 1) and public land aggregate related dispositions, however this data could not be filtered for only gravel, thus reflects sand and gravel operations. Chart 16. Line graph depicting rural municipality population, current aggregate extraction, and AGS estimated gravel availability relationship. Total aggregate extraction ratios were calculated and can be seen in Table 7. Extraction area is significantly above gravel availability in the Lower Athabasca. This region also has the highest extraction/kilometer of major road. 26

29 Table7. Ratios developed for aggregate extraction (ha) using population, major roads, and available gravel (ha) Planning Region Extraction/population Extraction/km Extraction/Available Lower Athabasca Lower Peace Upper Peace Upper Athabasca Red Deer South Saskatchewan North Saskatchewan Government operations are a very small portion of the total aggregate extraction that is occurring in the province. Chart 17 outlines the amount of government aggregate extraction taking place within each planning region currently. Chart 17. Government operations as a percent of total extraction by planning region. Ratios were developed to compare the government s role in aggregate extraction and reservation based upon population and length of major road. For provincial comparison, provincial population and total kilometers of major road length was used. The provincial ratio for government reserve/provincial population was 0.17 and the ratio for government reserve/kilometer major road was Each government ratio was also calculated by Planning Region and can be seen in Table 8. 27

30 Section Summary: The table below summarizes key findings from the geographic analysis above. Table 8. Summary of calculated results and ratios by planning region. Total AGS Gravel Available Gravel within 2km of Major Roads Framework Planning Region ha/km ha/pop km/pop ha/km ha/pop Government Reserve/population Government Reserve/km Lower Athabasca North Saskatchewan Red Deer South Saskatchewan Upper Athabasca Upper Peace Lower Peace PROVINCIAL RATIO Gravel abundance and availability for rural municipality use is not an immediate concern in the Upper Athabasca, Upper Peace and Lower Peace Regions. These regions have the highest hectares of gravel per population and per kilometer of major road. This is also true for ratios involving gravel within 2km of major roads. Ratios of kilometers per population for these regions are comparative to most other regions, yielding a negligible impact on the surplus/deficiency analysis. Based on fair allocation by population and AGA estimated gravel availability, these three regions need the least amount of gravel to satisfy rural municipality operations. Those regions which may require strategies to secure gravel in the future include the South Saskatchewan and the North Saskatchewan. Each of these regions has low gravel hectare to population ratios and low gravel hectare to kilometer ratios. This means that there is less available extractable AGS estimated gravel per person and per kilometer of constructed road. This may indicate these regions may need to focus on attaining strategic reserves in the near future. The Red Deer region may be considered the median of all regions. It has a large amount of gravel available for extraction, and most is within 2km of major roads. Current extraction and government reserves are low, and most ratios calculated, though below average, represent the median values for the data sets. Gravel abundance is in a critical state in the Lower Athabasca region. This region was below average in all calculations, and below average when comparing to the provincial ratio. It has the least amount of AGS estimated gravel, but the highest population, current extraction area, and largest government reserve area. Rural municipalities need to establish reserves in this region or perhaps be faced with shortages in the immediate future. One source of reserve could be unused government acquisitions, cancelled public land dispositions, or public land dispositions soon to expire. 28

31 Summaries by Planning Region Following are aggregate analysis and rural municipality survey summaries for each of the seven Land-use Framework Planning regions presented in the following order: Lower Athabasca Upper Athabasca Lower Peace Upper Peace North Saskatchewan South Saskatchewan Red Deer The purpose of the summaries is to provide a concise information package for rural municipal representatives on Regional Advisory Committees and/or technical planning teams with information on aggregate supply and availability to incorporate into the planning processes. The information will support the municipality representatives to communicate information on gravel reserves in the region and whether there are issues related to gravel supplies for future public uses. 29

32 Lower Athabasca Planning Region The Lower Athabasca Planning Region has an area of 9,325,768.1ha. It is the second largest planning region and has the second highest rural municipal population in the province. It is one of the fastest growing regions, both demographically and economically 5. It also has perhaps the most transient population associated with the oil sands development. There are three rural municipalities located within this region (Map A). This is the only planning region thus far that has a complete published regional plan, including proposed conservation/recreation areas (Map B). These new areas were not accounted for in the geographic analysis. The Lower Athabasca has an abundance of potentially extractable aggregates. In fact, about 25% of AGS estimated total aggregates can be found within the Lower Athabasca region. In total, it has an approximate extractable deposit area of 848,879.2ha, however only 3,390.4ha (0.4%) is gravel dominated. This deposit covers approximately 0.04% of the region. This small deposit contributes to only 0.8% of available AGS estimated gravel, the smallest of the deposit area of the planning regions (Map C). It must be noted however, that the AGS did not map approximately 825,563.5ha of land within the Lower Athabasca. Calculations for gravel and aggregate availability did not take into account this area. Mapping of the public land aggregate related dispositions in the Lower Athabasca does depict very small disposition areas within the non-mapped AGS area. This may indicate that there is an amount of gravel or aggregate within the area, but it would need ground verification for this assumption to be conclusive. EXTRACTION: Oil sands development plays a large role in the economy, and can be directly linked to the higher municipal population and resource extraction statistics. Due to the extensive development, the Lower Athabasca has the highest total aggregate extraction numbers of all the regions. Almost half of the land (43%) within the province used for aggregate extraction occurs in the Lower Athabasca. 445,632.6ha of land is currently under some sort of aggregate related agreement. 443,372.1ha are under public land disposition, and approximately 2,260.4ha of land are under private land aggregate agreements (Map D). The Government of Alberta also plays a large role in aggregate operations in the Lower Athabasca. Government aggregate reserves (CNT+PNT) equate to approximately 310,729.6ha of land. Extraction operations (DRS + Private Land Pits) approximate an area of 11,165.2ha. This is about 2.5% of the total extraction occurring in the Lower Athabasca planning region. ROAD NETWORK: The road network within the region is sparse. Major roads only account for 3% of the provincial total. There is approximately 6,350.2km of major road, the least amount in all the regions. 6% of the total AGS estimated aggregate can be found within 2km of these roads, and only 1% of the AGS estimated gravel available is within these bounds. However, this 1% equates to almost all of the 5 Lower Athabasca Regional Plan , Government of Alberta, August 2012, accessed July 15, 2013, 30

33 estimated gravel found within the region (3,386.1ha), so proximity to transport routes is not an issue for gravel extraction (Map E) for the Lower Athabasca. POPULATION: The Lower Athabasca rural municipal demographic (134,905 people) accounts for 4% of provincial total population or 20% of the total calculated provincial rural municipality population. This population is approximately 40 times greater than the gravel available for potential extraction within the region. RATIOS: This region has the least amount of gravel/kilometer of road and the least amount of gravel/ person compared with all other planning regions. However, it also has the least amount of road/person to maintain. When comparing the region ratios to the provincial ratios, one can see that the Lower Athabasca had the same kilometer/population ratio (0.05) as the province. The region has a considerably lower ratio of gravel hectares/population (0.03) compared to the provincial metric (0.12), and considerably lower gravel hectares /kilometer ratio (0.53) than the provincial equivalent (2.48). These ratios are all also well below the regional averages calculated (Chart 10). FAIR ALLOCATION: If fair allocation was determined using population as the sole indicator, this planning region should be allocated 4% of total gravel aggregate or 20% of that allocated to rural municipalities. This would equate roughly to 15,910.6ha for reserve. However, the region only has 0.8% of the total AGS estimated available gravel aggregate, yielding a deficit of gravel for not only the rural municipalities within the Lower Athabasca, but for all residents who reside in the region. SURVEY SUMMARY: The findings from the geographic analysis of the Lower Athabasca which indicate the area is deficient of gravel resources do coincide with those responses from the survey. However, only two out of the three rural municipalities from the Lower Athabasca responded, so survey results do not provide a truly conclusive indication of aggregate and gravel operations in the region. Both rural municipalities that responded indicated they did not have strategic reserves and they both purchased their aggregate from commercial suppliers. They felt aggregate in their region had low to moderate abundance and low to moderate availability (Map F, G, H, I, J) The most notable rural municipality was that of the MD of Bonnyville. This MD had difficulty securing aggregate, did not have strategic reserves, and the aggregate was both in low abundance and low availability. 31

34 Map A. Lower Athabasca Planning Region with Counties and Municipal Districts. 32

35 Map B. Lower Athabasca Planning Region General Overview. 33

36 Map C. New Conservation and Recreation/Tourism Areas in the Lower Athabasca Planning Region (not yet approved) 34

37 Map D. Regional Overview of Available AGS Estimated Aggregate and Gravel Deposits. 35

38 Map E. Overview of Regional Public Land Dispositions and Private Land Pits vs. Areas of Available Aggregate and Available Gravel 36

39 Map F. Available Aggregates and Gravel and Proximity to Major Roads. 37

40 Map G. Responses to survey question 1. Map H. Responses to survey question 2. 38

41 Map I. Responses to survey question 3. Map J. Responses to survey question 4. 39

42 Map K. Responses to survey question 5. 40

43 Upper Athabasca Planning Region The Upper Athabasca Planning Region has an area of 8,298,067.5ha. It is the fifth largest planning region and has the fifth highest rural municipal population in the province. There are eight rural municipalities within the planning region (Map L, Map M). It is an area of diverse economic opportunity and has an abundance of natural resources. The Upper Athabasca has an average abundance of potentially extractable aggregates (Map N). About 13% of provincial aggregates can be found within the Upper Athabasca region. In total, it has an approximate extractable deposit area of 451,045.3ha, but only 84,461.8ha (19%) is gravel dominated. This deposit covers approximately 1.02% of the region. This deposit contributes to 19% of available AGS estimated gravel, the second highest of the deposit area compared to all other regions. It must be noted however, that the AGS did not map approximately 1,287,977.71ha of land within the Upper Athabasca region. Calculations for gravel and aggregate availability did not take into account this area, thus potential aggregate and gravel sources could be higher than reported. Mapping of the aggregate related public land dispositions depict dispositions within this AGS unmapped region. This could suggest potential deposits, but ground verification would be necessary. EXTRACTION: Forestry and aggregate operations play a large role in the local economy. This activity may account for most of the current aggregate extraction activity taking place in the region. 134,626.0ha of land is currently under aggregate related agreements. Approximately 123,652.0ha is under public land disposition and 11,103.2ha is managed on private land (Map O). The Government of Alberta also plays a role in aggregate operations in the Upper Athabasca. Government aggregate reserves (CNT+PNT) equate to approximately 69,108ha of land. Extraction operations (DRS + Private Land Pits) approximate an area of 5,227ha. This is about 3.9% of the total extraction occurring in the Upper Athabasca planning region. ROAD NETWORK: The road network length within this region is average. Major roads account for 12% of the provincial total. There is approximately 22,518.4km of major road, the fourth largest amount in all the regions. 13% of the total AGS estimated available aggregate can be found within 2km of these roads, and 14% of the estimated gravel available is within these bounds. Within the region however, only 61% of the available region gravel is found within 2km of major roads. Though over half is accessible within the 2km bounds, the other 39% is found beyond this, and may yield accessibility issues in the future (Map P). POPULATION: The Upper Athabasca rural municipal demographic (53,560 people) accounts for 1% of provincial total population or 8% of the total calculated rural municipality population. In this region, gravel deposits outweigh population by approximately 1.6 times. RATIOS: This region has an above average amount of gravel/kilometer of road (3.75ha/km) and gravel/ population (1.58ha/person) within the region. However, it has only slightly an above average amount of kilometer/population (0.42km/person) to maintain. When comparing the region ratios to the provincial ratios, one can note that the ratios for the Upper Athabasca are higher for all three metrics. 41

44 When comparing provincial ratios to those calculated for gravel within 2km of major roads, all three ratios are higher than the provincial ratio, but the gravel hectares within 2km of major roads/kilometer of major road ratio (2.30ha/km) is only slightly higher than that of the provincial calculation (1.94ha/km). The lower ratio is due to the lower amount of gravel available for extraction, as only 61% of the regions gravel is within 2km of major roads. These ratios indicate that the region could be considered an area of surplus, as all metric are above the averages. FAIR ALLOCATION: If fair allocation was determined using population as the sole indicator, this planning region should be allocated 1% of total AGS estimated gravel aggregate or 8% of AGS estimated gravel allocated to rural municipalities. This would equate to approximately 6,316.8ha of gravel. This region has 19% of the AGS estimated available gravel, far above the 1% potentially allocated using the population calculation. SURVEY SUMMARY: All of the eight rural municipalities from within the region responded to the survey. Four respondents indicated that they did have challenges securing aggregate resources, and of these, three said they did not have strategic reserves. Two of these purchased gravel from commercial operators. All three indicated aggregate was moderately abundant, which is consistent with the analysis above. Availability was low or unknown. Two of the three indicated a system to identify possible aggregate sources as improvements which could be made in the system. Four counties indicated they did not have any problems securing aggregate and do have aggregate reserves. These counties managed their own pits and they indicated low to moderate abundance of aggregates available (Map Q, R, S, T, U). 42

45 Map L. Upper Athabasca Planning Region with Counties and Municipal Districts 43

46 Map M. Upper Athabasca Planning Region General Overview 44

47 Map N. Regional Overview of Available AGS Estimated Aggregate and Gravel Deposits 45

48 Map O. Overview of Regional Public Land Dispositions and Private Land Pits vs. Areas of Available Aggregate and Available Gravel 46

49 Map P. Available Aggregates and Gravel and Proximity to Major Roads 47

50 Map Q. Responses to survey question 1. Map R. Responses to survey question 2. 48

51 Map S. Responses to survey question 3. Map T. Responses to survey question 4. 49

52 Map U. Responses to survey question 5. 50

53 Lower Peace Planning Region The Lower Peace Planning Region has an area of 19,217,581.2ha. It is the largest planning region but has the lowest rural municipality population in the province. Four rural municipalities are located within this region (Map V, Map W), and they all have an abundance of resources, mainly public forested land, within their boundaries. The Lower Peace has the least amount of potentially extractable aggregates within the province, only approximately 7.9% of the total. This equates to an approximate extractable deposit area of 272,331.9ha. Of this, approximately 42,005.2ha is gravel dominated, or about 15% of the total deposit. Comparing this gravel to other regions at a provincial scale, the Lower Peace region has 9.4% of the total AGS estimated gravel available for extraction (Map X). Gravel deposits cover approximately 0.22% of the Lower Peace land area. It must be noted however, that the AGS did not map approximately 6,344, ha of land within the Lower Peace region. This is a substantial amount of land, and potential deposits calculated in this report do not take into account this area. Thus, potential sources of aggregate and gravel could be higher than presented here. Mapping of the public land aggregate related dispositions in the region indicates aggregate related activity within this unmapped area. Ground verification could prove other reserve sources. EXTRACTION: Next to the Lower Athabasca Region, the Lower Peace Region has the highest aggregate related extraction area within the province. Approximately 169,666.2ha of land is currently under aggregate private land management or aggregate dispositions. There is about 167,726.9ha of land occupied by public land leases, and about 2,004.0ha of land occupied by private land aggregate operations. Only about 6,507.9ha of this extraction occurs in areas predicted by AGS to have aggregate reserves (Map Y). The Government of Alberta also plays a role in aggregate operations in the Lower Peace. Government aggregate reserves (CNT+PNT) equate to approximately 130,100.2ha of land. Extraction operations (DRS+Private Land Pits) approximate an area of 6,854.8ha. This is about 4.0 % of the total extraction occurring in the Lower Peace planning region. ROAD NETWORK: The Lower Peace major road network is the second shortest of all the regions. Major roads account for only 5% of the provincial total. There are approximately 10, 076.1km of major road. 5% of the total AGS estimated aggregate can be found within 2km of these roads, and 9.0% of the estimated gravel available is within these bounds. Comparing the gravel within the region to the gravel within 2km of roads in the region, 71% of gravel is within 2km of major roads. As the largest region, having 71% of gravel within 2km of major roads may be seen as benefit to acquiring strategic gravel reserves (Map Z). POPULATION: The Lower Peace rural municipal demographic (17,262 people) accounts for 0.5% of provincial total population, and 3% of the total calculated rural municipal population. In this region, gravel deposits are 2.4 times that of population. 51

54 RATIOS: A relationship between gravel availability, population size, and major road length found that in this region, though lower in population, available aggregate, and length of major roads, the ratio of gravel/kilometer and gravel/population is one of the highest in all the regions. This region has the second highest gravel/kilometer of road (4.17ha/km) and highest gravel/population (2.43ha/person) ratios. When addressing kilometers/population, the Lower Peace also had the highest ratio (0.58km/person). This ratio indicates the Lower Peace has the highest amount of road segments per person. Ratios are still above average when gravel hectares within 2km of major roads is used in the ratio analysis. Ratios using that gravel deposit area yield 2.97ha/km and 1.73ha/person. When comparing the region ratios to the provincial ratios, one can note that the ratios for the Lower Peace are substantially higher for all three metrics compared with provincial ratios. This may indicate that the Lower Peace region may be an area of surplus for aggregate and gravel. FAIR ALLOCATION: If fair allocation was determined using population as the sole indicator, this planning region should be allocated 0.5% of total AGS estimated gravel aggregate, or 3% of what is allocated to rural municipalities. Of the AGS estimates, this would equate to approximately 2,035.9ha of gravel. This region currently has about 42,005.2ha of estimated available gravel, substantially more that needed by population allocation. SURVEY SUMMARY: There are four rural municipalities within the Lower Peace Region. Three of the four responded to the survey. When asked about problems securing aggregate, all three indicated they had no problems. They also indicated they all have strategic reserves lined up for future projects. Two of the three rural municipalities manage gravel on public land and one purchases it. The two who manage pits on public land indicated aggregate is moderately abundant, while the rural municipality who purchases indicated it is in low abundance. When asked about availability of aggregates, moderate, low and unknown availability were reported. Comments specified aggregate sources were outside of county boundaries and no inventories were conducted to find future sources. Two of the three rural municipalities have had problems acquiring SME s, and all three manage pits on public land, with 2/3 routinely obtaining approvals and 1/3 often encountering extensive delays. Two of the three general comments were focused on identifying unallocated deposits, and the third wanted more consultation with local authorities before development occurred (Map AA, AB, AC, AD AE). 52

55 Map V. Upper Athabasca Planning Region with Counties and Municipal Districts 53

56 Map W. Lower Peace Planning Region General Overview 54

57 Map X. Regional Overview of Available AGS Estimated Aggregate and Gravel Deposits 55

58 Map Y. Overview of Regional Public Land Dispositions and Private Land Pits vs. Areas of Available Aggregate and Available Gravel 56

59 Map Z. Available Aggregates and Gravel and Proximity to Major Roads 57

60 Map. AA. Responses to survey question 1 Map AB. Responses to survey question 2 58

61 Map AC. Responses to survey question 3 Map AD. Responses to survey question 4 59

62 Map AE. Responses to survey question 5 60

63 Upper Peace Planning Region The Upper Peace Planning Region has an area of 7,427,031.6ha. It is the second smallest planning region and has the second smallest rural municipal population in the province. There are nine rural municipalities within the bounds of the planning region (Map AF, Map AG) The Upper Peace has approximately 9% of the AGS estimated potentially extractable aggregates within the province. In total, it has an approximate extractable aggregate deposit area of 304, 118.0ha, and 84,417.3ha (27.8%) of this is gravel dominated deposits. Gravel dominated deposits within the Upper Peace constitute approximately 19% of the total estimated gravel available for extraction. Approximately 1.14% of the Upper Peace Region land area is covered by these gravel deposits. Comparing this gravel to other regions at a provincial scale, the Upper Peace Region has the greatest gravel to aggregates ratio (Map AH). It must be noted however, that the AGS did not map approximately 2,281,687.42ha of land within the Upper Peace region. This is a large amount of land, and potential deposits calculated in this report do not take into account this area. Thus, potential sources of aggregate and gravel could thus be higher than presented here. Mapping of the public land aggregate related dispositions in the region indicates aggregate related activity within this unmapped area. Ground verification could prove other reserve sources. EXTRACTION: The Upper Peace Region has the second lowest aggregate related extraction area within the province. Approximately 76,225.8ha of land is currently under aggregate private land management or public land dispositions. There is about 72,020.7ha of land occupied by public land leases, and about 4,528.1ha of land occupied by private land aggregate operations. Only about 7,931.8ha of this extraction occurs in areas of AGS predicted aggregate (Map AI). The Government of Alberta also plays a role in aggregate operations in the Upper Peace. Government aggregate reserves (CNT+PNT) equate to approximately 34,547ha of land. Extraction operations (DRS + Private Land Pits) approximate an area of 5,443ha. This is about 7.1 % of the total extraction occurring in the Upper Peace planning region. ROAD NETWORK: The Upper Peace major road network is the third smallest in the province. Major roads account for 10% of the provincial total. There are approximately 17,931.5km of major road. 7.0% of the total AGS estimated aggregate can be found within 2km of these roads, and 19% of the estimated gravel available is within these bounds. Comparing the gravel within the region to the gravel within 2km of roads in the region, 80% of gravel is within 2km of major roads. As the second smallest region, 80% of gravel within 2km of major roads is very beneficial, and should be investigated as potential reserves for the rural municipalities in the region (Map AJ). POPULATION: The Upper Peace rural municipality demographic accounts for 1% of provincial total population; approximately 38,201 people. Of the total calculated rural municipal population, Upper Peace accounts for 6%. Gravel in this region is about 2.2 times that of population. 61

64 RATIOS: A relationship between gravel availability, population size, and major road length found that this region, though lower in population and average length of major roads, has an above average deposit of available gravel. The ratios of gravel hectares/kilometer and gravel hectares/population are one of the highest compared to all regions. The gravel hectares/kilometer of major road ratio (4.71ha/km) is the highest of all region ratios calculated. The gravel hectares/population ratio (2.21ha/person) is the second highest of all regions. When addressing kilometers/population, the Upper Peace had the second highest ratio (0.47km/person). All of the calculated ratios are significantly above the provincial ratios. When investigating ratios using gravel available within 2km of major roads, ratios were 1.78ha/person and 3.78ha/km, respectively. Both of these are significantly higher than the provincial ratios and the highest of all planning regions. This data indicates that the Upper Peace has plenty of gravel for road building and for a growing population. It may also be concluded that this region is the planning region containing the largest surplus of gravel of all regions. FAIR ALLOCATION: If fair allocation was determined using population as the sole indicator, this planning region should be allocated about 1% of total AGS estimated gravel aggregate or 6% of what is allocated to rural municipalities. Of the AGS estimates, this would equate to approximately 4,505.4ha of gravel. This region currently has approximately 84, 417.3ha of available gravel, substantially more than is needed for rural municipality use. SURVEY SUMMARY: All nine rural municipalities within the Upper Peace Region responded to the survey. Five specified problems securing aggregate and four specified no problems and of these, two do not have strategic reserves. These two obtained aggregate by purchase and through managed pits on private land. Both indicated aggregate is moderately abundant, but has low availability. The four rural municipalities who did not have problems acquiring aggregate have strategic aggregate reserves. Two of the four purchase their aggregate, one manages private land, and the fourth acquires through supply agreements. Abundance of aggregate, according to these four, is moderately to very abundant, though the availability ranged from unknown to very available. None of the four had problems applying for SME s, and when managing on private and public lands, no rural municipality had any major problems (Map AK, AL, AM, AN, AO). 62

65 Map AF. Upper Athabasca Planning Region with Counties and Municipal Districts 63

66 Map AG. Upper Peace Planning Region General Overview 64

67 Map AH. Regional Overview of Available AGS Estimated Aggregate and Gravel Deposits 65

68 Map AI. Overview of Regional Public Land Dispositions and Private Land Pits vs. Areas of Available Aggregate and Available Gravel 66

69 Map AJ. Available Aggregates and Gravel and Proximity to Major Roads 67

70 Map AK. Responses to survey question 1 Map AL. Responses to survey question 2 68

71 Map AM. Responses to survey question 3 Map AN. Responses to survey question 4 69

72 Map AO Responses to survey question 5 70

73 North Saskatchewan Planning Region The North Saskatchewan Planning Region has an area of 8,578,706.0ha. It is the third largest planning region and has the largest rural municipal population in the province. There are 19 rural municipalities represented in this planning region (Map AP, Map AQ). The North Saskatchewan has approximately 11% of the AGS estimated potentially extractable aggregates within the province. In total, it has an approximate extractable deposit area of 395,113.9ha, and 103,200.4ha of this is gravel dominated deposits. This is the largest gravel dominated deposit comparatively. Gravel dominated deposits within the North Saskatchewan constitute approximately 23% of the total AGS estimated gravel for the province. The 103,200.4ha of gravel within the North Saskatchewan covers approximately 1.2% of the regions land area (Map AR). EXTRACTION: The North Saskatchewan Region has the third lowest aggregate related extraction area within the province. Approximately 1% of land within the North Saskatchewan (95,570.5ha) is currently under aggregate private land management or public land dispositions. There is about 52,966.7ha of land occupied by public land leases, and about 44,288.36ha of land occupied by private land aggregate operations. 21,329.2ha of this extraction occurs in areas of AGS predicted aggregate. This is the greatest overlap of AGS data within the province (Map AS). The Government of Alberta also plays a role in aggregate operations in the North Saskatchewan. Government aggregate reserves (CNT+PNT) equate to approximately 31,469.0ha of land. Extraction operations (DRS + Private Land Pits) approximate an area of 5,267.4ha. This is about 5.5 % of the total extraction occurring in the North Saskatchewan planning region. ROAD NETWORK: The North Saskatchewan major road network is the largest in the province. Major roads account for 28% of the provincial total. There are approximately 52,087.5km of major road. 16% of the AGS estimated aggregate can be found within 2km of these roads, and 24% of the estimated gravel available is within these bounds. Comparing the gravel within the region to the gravel within 2km of roads in the region, 82% of gravel is within 2km of major roads. This is logical, as it has the largest major road network. As the third largest region, 82% of gravel within 2km of major roads is very beneficial, and should be investigated as potential reserves for the rural municipalities in the region (Map AT). POPULATIONS: The North Saskatchewan rural municipal demographic accounts for 6% of provincial total population and 35% of total rural municipality population. Population is approximately two times that of gravel deposits. RATIOS: A relationship between gravel availability, population size, and major road length found that the North Saskatchewan has the highest population, the largest amount of available gravel, and the highest road length. However, the ratio of gravel hectares/kilometer of major road (1.98ha/km) is below the provincial ratio (2.41ha/km) and below the region calculated average (2.65ha/km). The gravel hectares/population (0.43ha/person) is above the provincial ratio but significantly below the calculated region average (second lowest ratio). When addressing kilometers/population, the North Saskatchewan had the second lowest ratio (0.22km/person). When investigating ratios using gravel available within 71

74 2km of major roads, ratios were 0.35ha/person and 1.62ha/km, respectively. Both of these are lower than the provincial ratios, and the ha/person ratio is the second lowest compared to all other regions. Data indicates that this region, due to its large population and larger road network, may have deficits of aggregate in the future. FAIR ALLOCATION: If fair allocation was based on population, 6% of AGS estimated gravel reserves should be allocated to the North Saskatchewan. This would equate to approximately 28,2898ha. If gravel was allocated to the rural municipalities, the North Saskatchewan makes up 35% of total region population, and therefore should be allocated 35% of what is allocated to the rural municipalities in total. As it stands, this region has roughly 23% of the AGS estimated available gravel for extraction. SURVEY SUMMARY: Eighteen of the 19rural municipalities within the North Saskatchewan Region responded to the survey. Six rural municipalities indicated they did have problems securing aggregate, and five of these do not have strategic reserves. Three of the five manage private land as their primary aggregate source; one manages public land, and one purchases aggregate. Seven rural municipalities do not have problems securing aggregate and do have strategic reserves. Most felt aggregate availability and abundance was moderate. All of these agencies managed their own pits. Of those who did experience problems when applying for approvals, the general comments were the time it takes for government review is too long and holds up the process. Removing the 80ac limit was also mentioned. These aggregate issues do reflect the predicted deficiency from the geographic analysis above. Of all the respondents, there is the belief that aggregate is low to moderately abundant and low to moderately available. For those who manage private pits, the average response was that sometimes and often delays are encountered. For those who managed pits on public lands, most indicated they routinely obtain approvals, though a few indicated they often encountered delays. 72

75 Map AP. Upper Athabasca Planning Region with Counties and Municipal Districts 73

76 Map AQ. North Saskatchewan Planning Region General Overview 74

77 Map AR. Regional Overview of Available AGS Estimated Aggregate and Gravel Deposits 75

78 Map AS. Overview of Regional Public Land Dispositions and Private Land Pits vs. Areas of Available Aggregate and Available Gravel 76

79 Map AT. Available Aggregates and Gravel and Proximity to Major Roads 77

80 Map AU. Responses to survey question 1 Map AV. Responses to survey question 2 78

81 Map AW. Responses to survey question 3 Map AX. Response to survey question 4 79

82 Map AY. Responses to survey question 5 80

83 South Saskatchewan Planning Region The South Saskatchewan Planning Region has an area of 8,376,428.0ha. It is the fourth largest region and has the second largest rural municipal population in the province. It contains 16 rural municipalities (Map AZ, Map BA). The South Saskatchewan has approximately 16% of the AGS estimated potentially extractable aggregates within the province. In total, it has an approximate aggregate extractable deposit area of 552,543ha, and 72,420.4ha of this is gravel dominated. This is just above the average; it is the median of all the seven regions. Gravel dominated deposits within the South Saskatchewan constitute approximately 16% of total AGS estimated gravel for the province. This deposit within the South Saskatchewan covers approximately 0.86% of the region (Map BB). EXTRACTION: The South Saskatchewan Region has the fourth largest aggregate related extraction area within the province. Approximately 1% of land within the South Saskatchewan (96,959.1ha) is currently under aggregate private land management or public land dispositions. There is about 63,640.5ha of land occupied by public land leases, and about 34,033.5ha of land occupied by private land aggregate operations. In total, the 10,355.4ha of this extraction occurs in areas of AGS predicted aggregate (Map BC). The Government of Alberta also plays a role in aggregate operations in the South Saskatchewan. Government aggregate reserves (CNT+PNT) equate to approximately 48,967.1ha of land. Extraction operations (DRS + Private Land Pits) approximate an area of 6,303.3ha. This is about 6.5 % of the total extraction occurring in the South Saskatchewan planning region. ROAD NETWORK: The South Saskatchewan major road network is the second largest in the province. Major roads account for 24% of the provincial total. There are approximately 44,024.3km of major road. 22% of the total AGS estimated aggregate can be found within 2km of these roads, and 19% of the estimated gravel available is within these bounds. Comparing the gravel within the region to the gravel within 2km of roads in the region, 94% of region gravel is within 2km of major roads. This is logical, as it has the second largest major road network. Having 94% of gravel within 2km of roads can be seen as a strategic advantage to acquiring gravel and those deposits found within the bounds should be investigated as potential reserves for the rural municipalities in the region (Map BD). POPULATIONS: The South Saskatchewan rural municipal demographic accounts for 3% of provincial total population, or 19% of total rural municipal population. Population is approximately 1.8 times that of gravel deposits. RATIOS: : A relationship between gravel availability, population size, and major road length found that the South Saskatchewan has the third highest population, the fourth largest amount of available gravel, and the second highest road length. The ratio of gravel hectares/kilometer of major road (1.65ha/km) is below the provincial ratio and below the region calculated average. The gravel hectares/population (0.57ha/person) is above the provincial ratio (0.12ha/person) but below the calculated region average (1.15ha/person), which is the third lowest ratio. When addressing kilometers of major road/population (0.35km/person), the South Saskatchewan has the fourth lowest ratio. This is just below the region 81

84 average (0.36/person), but above the provincial ratio (0.05). Data indicates that this region may be meeting gravel needs currently, but could potentially have deficits in the future. FAIR ALLOCATION: If fair allocation was determined using population as the sole indicator, this planning region should be allocated about 3% of total AGS estimated gravel aggregate. If allocation was based on that allocated to rural municipalities, the South Saskatchewan should attain 19% of that allocated to rural municipalities (approximately 15,025.8ha). As it stands, this region has roughly 16% of total AGS estimated available gravel for extraction. SURVEY SUMMARY: There are 16 rural municipalities in the South Saskatchewan Region. Fourteen of these responded to the survey. All respondents manage their own pits, and close to all believe aggregate is moderately to very abundant and moderately to very available in their regions. Only five of the rural municipalities indicated they have problems securing aggregate, and all five also do not have strategic reserves. They all routinely obtained approvals for activities plans, however. These five also agree that the process in place seem to work well and government representatives are helpful Nine rural municipalities do not have any problems securing aggregate and six of these have strategic reserves. On average, these six rural municipalities routinely obtain approvals and do not have any major issues to report. It appears that the South Saskatchewan rural municipalities are happy with the system and do not feel as though there is a deficit of aggregate, now or in the future (Map BE, BF, BG, BH, BI). 82

85 Map AZ. South Saskatchewan Planning Region with Counties and Municipal Districts 83

86 Map BA. South Saskatchewan Planning Region General Overview 84

87 Map BB. Regional Overview of Available AGS Estimated Aggregate and Gravel Deposits 85

88 Map BC. Overview of Regional Public Land Dispositions and Private Land Pits vs. Areas of Available Aggregate and Available Gravel 86

89 Map BD. Available Aggregates and Gravel and Proximity to Major Roads 87

90 Map BE. Responses for survey question 1 Map BF. Responses to survey question 2 88

91 Map BG. Responses for survey question 3 Map BH. Responses for survey question 4 89

92 Map BI. Responses for survey question 5 90

93 Red Deer Planning Region The Red Deer Planning Region has an area of 5,034,529.7ha. It is the smallest planning region and has a below average rural municipal population of 68,968 individuals. There are 10 rural municipalities represented within its bounds (Map BJ, Map BK) The Red Deer Region has approximately 18% of the AGS estimated potentially extractable aggregates within the province. In total, it has an approximate extractable deposit area of 632,500.6ha, and 55,756.5ha of gravel dominated deposits. Gravel dominated deposits within the Red Deer Region constitute only about 13% of the total AGS estimated gravel available. This gravel deposit covers approximately 1.11% of the region (Map BL). EXTRACTION: The Red Deer Region currently has the least amount of aggregate related extraction in the province. Less than 1% of the region is currently under aggregate private land management or public land dispositions. Public land dispositions only cover an area of 5,442.3ha however 23,854.0ha of land is occupied by private land aggregate operations. This can be attributed to the large amount of private land within the region, versus the low amount of crown land (Map BM). The Government of Alberta also plays a role, though small, in aggregate operations in the Red Deer Region. Government aggregate reserves (CNT+PNT) equate to approximately 1,778.2ha of land. Extraction operations (DRS + Private Land Pits) approximate an area of 2,199.4ha. This is about 7.5 % of the total extraction occurring in the Red Deer planning region. ROAD NETWORK: The Red Deer Region major road network is the third largest in the province. Major roads account for 17% of the provincial total. There are approximately 31,634.5km of major road. 30% of the AGS estimated aggregate can be found within 2km of these roads, and 15% of the AGS estimated gravel available is within these bounds. Comparing the gravel within the region to the gravel within 2km of roads in the region, 96% of gravel is within 2km of major roads. Having 96% of gravel within 2km of roads can be seen as a strategic advantage to acquiring gravel and those deposits found within the bounds should be investigated as potential reserves for the rural municipalities in the region (Map BN). POPULATION: The Red Deer Region rural municipal demographic (68,968) accounts for 2% of provincial total population or 10% of the total rural municipality population. In this region, population is 1.2 times that of gravel deposits. RATIOS: A relationship between gravel availability, population size, and major road length found that in this region has the fourth highest population, the third lowest amount of available gravel, and the third highest road length. The ratio of gravel hectares/kilometer of major road (1.76ha/km) is below the provincial ratio and below the region calculated average. The gravel hectares/population (0.81ha/person) is above the provincial ratio but below the calculated region average. When addressing kilometers of major road/population (0.46km/person), the Red Deer region has the third highest ratio. This is above the regional average and above the provincial ratio. When investigating ratios using gravel available within 2km of major roads, ratios were 0.77ha/person and 1.69ha/km, respectively. The first is above the provincial ratio for gravel within 2km of major roads (0.1ha/person), and the second is below the provincial ratio (1.94ha/km). Data indicates that this region may be in need of gravel reserves in the 91

94 future. Having a high km/pop ratio depicts a greater need of gravel for road building, if population should increase. However, this region has below average amounts of gravel hectares/kilometer of major road and a lower ratio of gravel hectares/population. FAIR ALLOCATION: If fair allocation was determined using population as the sole indicator, this planning region should be allocated about 2% of total AGS estimated gravel aggregate or 10% of that allocated to rural municipalities. This would be approximately 8,134ha of gravel. As it stands, this region has roughly 13% of AGS estimated available gravel for extraction. SURVEY SUMMARY: Of the 10 rural municipalities in the Red Deer Region, nine of them responded to the survey. There are four rural municipalities who have had problems securing aggregate, though only one does not have strategic reserves. This county purchases aggregate, and believes aggregates are in low abundance and low availability within its bounds. There are five rural municipalities who do not have problems securing aggregate, and all do have strategic reserves. All except one county, believe aggregate is moderately to very abundant and available. The one county believes there is low abundance of aggregate, and the availability is unknown. This county hauls gravel in from other areas. Overall, there does not appear to be any serious aggregate allocation issues in the Red Deer Region according to those surveyed, with the exception of Stettler County. For those who have experienced some sort of delays, they referenced the public engagement process/land owner concerns as being the major holder up. Kneehill County had also indicated via comments that the aggregate within its bounds has low availability. This county is one of the only two that purchase their resource (Map BO, BP, BQ, BR, BS). 92

95 Map BJ. Upper Athabasca Planning Region with Counties and Municipal Districts 93