Annual Monitoring Program and Monitoring Program Revision Report for the Effluent Irrigation Spray System at the Ghost Cadet Camp
Retained by Defense Construction Canada, Waiparous, Alberta, 2013
When the Ghost Cadet Camp was built, an effluent irrigation spray system was installed as part of the base’s waste water treatment system. This system disperses treated effluent in an adjacent area of forest/grassland known as the ‘spray field’. The effluent irrigation spray system was subject to a long-term monitoring program, which began with a baseline study in 1999. Annual monitoring continued yearly until 2013. In 2013, Dr. McKinley implemented the annual monitoring program. This included small mammal trapping, breeding bird surveys, ungulate pellet surveys, a standing timber assessment, plant biomass measurements, and ground cover measurements, all of which were undertaken by Dr. McKinley.
Dr. McKinley was also tasked with undertaking a review of the long-term monitoring program results, which included analysis of twelve (12) years of monitoring data, comparison to baseline conditions, and recommendations for how the monitoring program could be refined in future years.
Elk Herd
Role: Senior Project Manager/Senior Field Biologist (with DST Consulting Engineers)