Westlock District Office

What We Do

• Regional Water Source Investigations and Mapping
• Conservation Planning
• Water Supply Development
• Shelterbelt Assistance
• Riparian Area Management

The Westlock District office assists clients and partners in planning and succeeding in rural economic development and in the conservation of land and water resources. Presently the main tool for this service is the Rural Water Development Program (RWDP). RWDP provides technical and limited financial assistance to producers, groups and communities, and municipalities to develop or conserve their water.

Activities of the Westlock district include mapping of ground water potential and environmentally sensitive areas. Westlock has assisted in developing overall conservation plans for Barrhead County. This information will be used by the municipalities when planning to attract economic development for the municipality and to avoid development in sensitive areas. View groundwater assessment reports for various counties in the Westlock district region.

Group and community projects cover a diverse range of projects, including locating potential water resources for new industry.

PFRA provides technical assistance for locating farm water supplies on existing and new farms. This could include advice to protect or improve the water source on the farm, or to develop a reliable source. A priority of the program is to use the financial resources for diversification of the rural areas, including any value-added ventures.

Conservation issues in the Westlock district are related to water erosion, riparian protection, and field shelterbelts. These issues have been addressed by developing conservation plans with technical assistance from PFRA and our partners, Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (AAFRD) and private industry.

PFRA provides technical assistance for individuals who wish to plant shelterbelts for commercial uses, or conservation. Over the years our office has developed an informal network of information for trees in the District, as well as relying on strong support from the PFRA Shelterbelt Centre located in Indian Head, Saskatchewan.

Education about soil and water conservation issues is one of the priorities of the Westlock District office. Information is delivered through the public school system, Agricultural Service Boards, and technical assistance to producers. The District office has started to participate in the Alberta Agriculture in the classroom program in the role of guest speakers. An exciting aspect to this role is the field experience that the District staff brings.

Partnerships with other government agencies, both federal and provincial and private industry has been a benefit to our clients in our district.

District description

The Westlock District contains the municipalities of Brazeau (MD77), Sturgeon (MD90), Yellowhead (MD94), Woodlands (MD15), Lesser Slave River (MD124), Westlock (MD92), Thorhild (CO7), Athabasca(CO12), Leduc (CO25), Lac Ste. Anne (CO28), Parkland (CO31), and Barrhead (CO11). The municipalities in the southeast of the district have a large number of acreage owners. This results in a combination of an urban population dependant on a non-agricultural income, and a rural population dependant on agriculture and support industries.

The dominant soil developed in the southeast of the Westlock area is black chernozemic, and includes the southeast parts of Leduc, Parkland, Sturgeon and Westlock. The remainder is primarily Grey Chernozemic, or Luvisolic. The soil type and the climate, as well as the proximity to a large population base in the City of Edmonton results in a wide variety of agriculture. Farms are generally mixed with grains, oilseeds and forage, but there are centres of potato farming, horticultural products, fruit orchard production, and sod farming around the city. Exotic game farming, and dried flower production are also found in the district. Cattle and forages are the primary production in the Grey and Luvisolic zone.

The Westlock District has an active woodlot industry with local markets. There are also several major wood pulp and paper companies in the district.

Feel free to contact the Westlock District office for information about rural development, or soil and water conservation.