@article {53581,
	title = {Review of water management alternatives on water depth in the lower Athabasca River},
	year = {2009},
	note = {CEMA Contract No. 2009-0009 SWWG. },
	month = {10/2009},
	pages = {27 pages },
	institution = {Cumulative Environmental Management Association },
	address = {Fort McMurray, AB },
	abstract = {Under the Phase II framework analysis, there is an understanding that future development of resource based industries in the Athabasca River basin will put increasing pressure on instream flows as industries increase the demand for extraction of water from the river for use in the industrial process. In order to maintain instream flow needs for environmental and sociological uses, there is a need to evaluate the impact of future water extractions related to industrial build-out. The focus of this report is to evaluate the various water extraction scenarios related to industrial expansions in the basin and to determine the potential impact of these extractions to water depth with the Lower Athabasca River. By evaluating impacts on water depth, one can draw hypotheses as to whether impacts on water depth may have an associated socio-economic impact to recreational uses of the river. Base on the evaluation conducted during this investigation, it is concluded that the water management alternatives proposed in Phase II of the Athabasca River Water Management Framework will have insignificant impact on the recreational uses of the Lower Athabasca River. There are several things that could be considered as future work to gain a more in-depth understanding of recreational uses and potential impacts. To better quantify any potential impacts, a time series analysis could be conducted to verify the duration of potentially insufficient water depths. The study conducted here was a steady state analysis using only one discharge value. A time series analysis using weekly flow values could be conducted to see if the threshold flow could be identified that would lead to impass issues in some points of the river. In addition, a full length River2D model would verify the assumptions used in this study that the modeled sections are truly representative from a hydrodynamic perspective to the rest of the river. A literature review and research into the phenomena of ice formation and ice thickness related to water depth may lend some value to understanding if winter based recreational activities may be impacted. In addition, including some areas of the river that have a major tributary confluence in the River2D model may provide an understanding of the threshold at which access to the tributary becomes an issue. Access to tributaries is not solely dependent on flows in the Athabasca and therefore an understanding of flow conditions between the tributary and the Athabasca River and the phasing of those flows will need to be understood.},
	keywords = {Athabasca River, CEMA, hydrology, instream flow needs, tributaries},
	url = {http://library.cemaonline.ca/ckan/dataset/905902e7-552f-42c3-a550-a060c6df9e40/resource/022e35a2-2b99-469a-8ff8-045c715489b2/download/rptcemaframeworkiiwateranalysisfinal2009oct27f.pdf},
	editor = {AECOM Canada Ltd.}
}
