Bylaw to preserve and protect trees in public spaces
On August 24, City Council’s Urban Planning Committee will discuss a proposed bylaw to preserve and protect trees in public spaces owned by the City of Edmonton. There is currently no proactive tree protection or preservation bylaw.
The city’s urban forest of 380,000 boulevard and open space trees and 3,000 hectares of natural stands provides environmental and ecological benefits by contributing to urban biodiversity, retaining water, providing wildlife habitat, and sequestering carbon. Trees enhance the livability and quality of life in the city’s neighbourhoods by cooling the streetscape, purifying the air we breathe, providing shade and creating a sense of well being in the urban environment.
City trees are damaged or lost by soil compaction from vehicles, heavy equipment, and storage of construction materials over tree roots that can reduce pore space in soil which leads to limited water and air flow to the roots causing decline in the overall health and resilience of the trees. It is critical that tree assets, especially existing mature trees, are responsibly managed, preserved and protected for current and future generations.
Mature trees provide the largest ecosystem benefits, but their inventory is relatively small. City-owned mature trees make up 15 percent of the total inventory for boulevard and open space trees, excluding natural stands. They are estimated to have a monetary value of over $900 million and annual ecosystem benefits of over $10 million. When mature trees are damaged or lost, their many benefits are degraded or lost for decades.
To present to the Committee on this issue, register with the City Clerk at 780.496.8178 or city.clerk@edmonton.ca Read the reports at Agenda Item 6.2 https://pub-edmonton.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?Id=e2a9adbb-058b-4ed5-b5d9-2f199fb024be&Agenda=Agenda&lang=English&Item=23&Tab=attachments
Proposed coal mining upstream of Edmonton a risk to our drinking water
City Council’s Utility Committee at its August 27 meeting will discuss the potential impact on Edmonton’s drinking water from four provincially approved coal mining projects. Activity that happens in the headwaters of the North Saskatchewan River is a matter of vital interest to the City of Edmonton and every Edmontonian.
Five percent of the North Saskatchewan watershed upstream of the City of Edmonton is currently held by coal leases, and poses a risk to source water, aquatic ecosystem health, and industrial and agricultural users if development occurs.
The North Saskatchewan River is currently Edmonton’s sole source of drinking water and provides Edmontonians with recreational opportunities including fishing, swimming, and boating in addition to being an important ecological system for wildlife. A basin wide, comprehensive risk assessment and integrated land use and water management plan does not currently exist.
EPCOR conducted a risk assessment of upstream coal mining in the North Saskatchewan River Watershed that suggests risks to drinking water and assimilative capacity of the river under normal operating conditions is low, and risks to water quality for aquatic ecosystem health within Edmonton is medium-low. However, in the event of a rare catastrophic mine failure, such as a tailings dam failure, there would be an extreme impact on downstream water quality.
To present to the Committee on this issue, register with the City Clerk at 780.496.8178 or city.clerk@edmonton.ca Read the City and EPCOR reports at Agenda Item 6.1 https://pub-edmonton.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?Id=0cfd3d5e-d0e0-46af-8916-336acf259964&Agenda=Agenda&lang=English&Item=21&Tab=attachments
Rhubarb originally valued for medicinal purposes
Although rhubarb is a perennial vegetable, it is often put to the same culinary uses as fruits.The stalks are the only edible part of the rhubarb plant. They have a rich, tart flavor when cooked. The leaves of the rhubarb plant are toxic, they contain an irritant called oxalic acid, so be sure not to eat them.
The Chinese call rhubarb "the great yellow" and have used rhubarb root for medicinal purposes for thousands of years. During Islamic times, it was imported along the Silk Road reaching Europe in the 14th century. The cost of transportation across Asia made rhubarb expensive in medieval Europe. It was several times the price of other valuable herbs and spices such as cinnamon, opium and saffron.
The high price, as well as the increasing demand from apothecaries, stimulated efforts to cultivate different species of rhubarb on European soil. Certain species came to be grown in England. The local availability of the plants grown for medicinal purposes, together with the increasing abundance and decreasing price of sugar in the 18th century, galvanised its culinary adoption. Rhubarb came to North America with European settlers. Learn more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhubarb
Photo of EPCOR solar power plant construction
Garry writes “Another good weekly newsletter. Just a quick comment about the caption describing it as reindustrialization. A solar farm possesses none of the problems we commonly associate with industrial sites. Once operating solar farms produce no audible noise, traffic, odours, dust, nor stray light. Hardly the characteristics of an industrial site.”
Melanie says “I’m so gutted to see the solar panels going up. Will you share an update on what the heck happened with the court injunction or whatever legalese was trying to hold this up that absolutely failed? Want to make noise about this around elections and such.”
Harry states, “I appreciate your informative newsletter. I see that EPCOR is aggressively moving forward with it’s industrial-scale solar farm in the river valley. I think there will be a lot of very disappointed users of the river valley in this area, when they see the finished result. There will be a significant loss of aesthetics, not to mention ecological impacts.”
Apology re Mountain Bike Concerns headline
Feedback has been received from many Edmonton Mountain Bike Alliance members concerned this headline unfairly blamed their sport for unsanctioned trails in the river valley. We accept this criticism and apologize for the headline. Illegal trails can be made by runners, hikers, dog walkers, homeless encampments, etc. A better headline would have been Unsanctioned Trails Concerns.
Readers should note that unless we explicitly state it, articles and reader feedback in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the position of NSRVCS.
Photo by Louisa Bruinsma of a bald eagle at Rundle Park.
Comment or contribution
If you have a comment, concern, or question, contact us at nsrivervalley@gmail.com Please also email us river valley photos or event information. Your friends, neighbours and colleagues can sign up for this newsletter on our web site.
Sincerely yours,
Harvey Voogd
North Saskatchewan River Valley Conservation Society
780.691.1712