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Our Services

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Aquatic Impact Assessment

Aquatic Expertise


Our highly experienced and qualified aquatic / fisheries biologists, have expertise in both assessing fish habitat quality and potential impacts on fisheries resources. Impact assessments on fish populations can only be properly completed when you have a solid understanding of fish and fish habitat and the process in which various developments or activities can impact it.

RC BioSolutions Ltd. staff have had key roles within a wide variety of projects throughout Alberta, B.C., Saskatchewan, Yukon and NT for oil and gas, mining, infrastructure, transportation, land development, wastewater treatment, and hydro-power industries.  RC BioSolutions Ltd. is experienced in conducting both large and small scale projects and maintains a large inventory of specialized equipment for assessing:

  • Fish habitat (boat, ATV’s, vehicles, underwater camera, depth sounder)

  • Fish habitat use (electroshockers, gill nets, seine nets,, minnow gee traps, live wells)

  • Fish movement (telemetry equipment, tagging equipment)

  • Benthic invertebrates (serber samplers, Ekman dredge, kick sampler, D net)

  • Zooplankton/phytoplankton (Wisconsin and plankton nets)

  • Water quality (kemmerer samplers, dissolved oxygen meter, conductivity, pH, turbidity, temperature loggers, secchi disc, etc.) and

  • Stream discharge (water flow meter)
     

In addition to aquatic technical expertise, our team is also experienced in project management, cost tracking, report writing, and regulator liaisons, all of which are also important aspects of delivering projects with the highest quality while remaining on time and on budget.

Aquatics
Wildlife & Birds
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Wildlife & Bird Assessment

Wildlife & Bird Assessment

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RC BioSolutions Ltd. staff have had major roles in managing and conducting all aspects of terrestrial assessments (in accordance with federal and provincial regulatory requirements) to support environmental impact assessment, pre-disturbance assessment, post construction monitoring, closure projects, etc.

 

Our staff have been involved in the environmental assessment and permitting process for both large and small scale projects for oil and gas, mining, infrastructure, transportation, land development, wastewater treatment, and hydro-power industries.

Typical projects include:

 

  • Breeding bird surveys and nest sweeps

  • Pre-disturbance assessments

  • Ecological land classification and ecosystem mapping (vegetation, soils and wildlife)

  • Detailed vegetation inventories

  • Biophysical impact assessments

  • Wetland classification and impact assessments

  • Rare plant surveys

  • Weed surveys

  • Soil classification surveys

  • Conservation and reclamation plans

  • Air photo interpretation

  • Amphibian surveys

  • Caribou protection plans

  • GIS / mapping

 

Our terrestrial experts are accustomed to the needs and requirements of our clients and have the appropriate level of experience to obtain scientifically defensible results and gain approvals that allow projects to proceed in the most timely and cost effective manner possible. RC BioSolutions Ltd. is committed to assisting industry in protecting and preserving our natural resources through sustainable development.

Wetlands
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Wetlands

In response to increasing pressures on wetlands in Alberta associated with urban, agriculture, oil & gas and industrial developments, Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP) and the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) have placed a rigorous focus on wetlands and wetland impact. Approval under the Alberta Water Act is required for any impact to a wetland including construction/alteration of a wetland, vegetation removal and/or alteration of drainage of a wetland, including activities in close proximity to a wetland. Activities completed without approval from AEP and/or AER are considered non-compliant under the Water Act. A detailed wetland impact assessment is required prior to gaining a Water Act approval authorizing an impact to a wetland.

 

RC BioSolutions Ltd. has built a reputation providing professional and high quality environmental consulting services to a variety of industries and has completed numerous wetland impact assessments and successfully obtained Water Act approvals for these projects. This reputation is built not only on the quality of professional services we provide, but on our understanding of the regulatory approval process, the acquisition of those approvals, and our ability to recognize other potential issues effecting the success of the projects we contribute to.

 

RC BioSolutions Ltd. employs qualified senior wetland ecologists, known as a Qualified Wetland Aquatic Environmental Specialist (QWAES) or a Qualified Wetland Science Practitioner (QWSP) that have the appropriate level of experience in conducting wetland assessments using the current Alberta wetland classification systems, as well as an in depth knowledge of the current legislation affecting wetlands in Alberta.

 

QWAES and QWSP services include:

 

  • Wetland assessments (including vegetation surveys, soil surveys, wildlife surveys, rare plant surveys, weed surveys, etc.)

  • Wetland delineation including wetland aerial photograph interpretation

  • Wetland restoration (development of restoration plans and implementation of restoration plan)

  • Wetland compensation plans

  • Wetland mapping using GIS

  • Submitting and obtaining regulatory approvals and permits

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