News Release: Alberta weakens Wetland Policy, removes considerations for major wetland classes

September 2, 2026

• •
• •
• •

• Birds
• Grasslands
• News Release
• Wetlands

Last week, the Government of Alberta announced that ephemeral, temporary, and seasonal wetlands located on private cropland will be able to be cultivated, seeded, sprayed, ditched, drained, and infilled without oversight after amendments are made to the Water (Ministerial) Regulation and Alberta Wetland Policy this fall.

While the province is celebrating the move as a “restoration of property rights for Alberta farmers,” wetlands on private land are still connected to our collective watersheds. The water these wetlands hold and the benefits they provide are public goods; any declines in their abundance, size, and function degrade the watershed’s overall ability to slow, filter, and store flows on the landscape.

Wetland loss has already been extensive in the province, largely concentrated in the same areas that will now see further declines due to the impending policy changes. According to the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (ABMI), non-permanent water bodies (like the wetlands targeted under this policy change) are estimated to cover 6.5 percent of the prairie region. With total wetland area in the prairies at 6.9 percent, this means that most wetlands remaining in the region are now at increased risk of being degraded or destroyed by what Alberta’s Minister of Environment and Protected Areas characterizes as “common-sense changes.” Considering that common sense once asserted that the Sun revolved around the Earth, this justification from decision makers is not defensible for such consequential policy.

The Alberta government mistakenly considers permanence as synonymous with importance — although not always visible, impermanent wetlands play vital roles within our watersheds, particularly in places where water is scarce.

Ephemeral, seasonal, and temporary wetlands contribute base flows to streams, reduce peak flows during floods, facilitate exchange between groundwater and surface water stores, increase habitat connectivity, and support movement of wildlife. Rich in biodiversity, they also provide prime breeding and nesting habitat for waterfowl and other water-dependent species as they migrate across the region. They help prevent soil erosion, retain sediment, sequester carbon, and absorb, transform, and remove excess chemicals like phosphorus, nitrate, nitrite, and pesticides, many of which originate from agricultural operations. They actively regulate water balance on Alberta’s landscape, playing a particularly dominant and direct role in setting the rate, extent, and timing of runoff in the prairies. In a province known for limited precipitation and frequently afflicted by drought, this makes protecting all of Alberta’s wetlands critical.

Now, the benefits of these wetland classes will no longer even be considered before their destruction is permitted.

“It is deeply disappointing and ironic that the Government of Alberta has spent the last two years looking to find ways to increase water availability in the province, only to then greenlight increased destruction of one of the landscape’s main ways of naturally storing water.” —Kennedy Halvorson, Conservation Specialist at Alberta Wilderness Association

The announcement that a new tile drainage code developed through “targeted stakeholder engagement” is anticipated by early 2027 is also worrisome, because tile drainage does not just remove water from underground stores during times of excess, but at all times — including during dry or drought conditions when it is needed most.

In regions where tile drainage installation is common, research finds reduced overall watershed storage and increased severity and duration of stream flow droughts, a specific type of hydrological drought that occurs when streams experience abnormally low flows. The negative repercussions are widespread; less water in streams means less water to support our communities, run industry, feed agriculture, and maintain all the ecosystem services streams provide. Tile drainage is also known to increase water temperatures and concentrations of excess nutrients and pollutants downstream, which is harmful to Alberta’s aquatic ecosystems.

The government states that only “potentially affected downstream landowners” need to be considered when further wetland loss and degradation incurred through these changes inevitably impact the regional hydrology. This is a critical failure to recognize that everyone in Alberta, landowner or not, relies on the continued integrity of watersheds in the province and is negatively affected by declines in their health and function.

These changes were made without public consultation, prioritizing the interests of one industry above everyone else. Alberta Wilderness Association condemns this shortsighted decision and urges the need for robust public consultation and science-based decision-making before the Government of Alberta undertakes any amendments to the Wetland Policy or the Water (Ministerial) Regulation.

For more information, please contact:

Kennedy Halvorson, (403) 283-2025, cs1@abwild.ca