Environment

PER CAPITA WATER USE

Environment Canada calculates an average Canadian daily domestic use of 343 litres per person.1

In 2006, Red Deer’s daily domestic use was 290 litres per person.2

TREND IN PER CAPITA WATER USE

The residential per capita use in 2004 was 261 L/c/d (Litres/citizen/day).

The residential per capita use in 2005 was 246 L/c/d.

The residential per capita use in 2006 was 290 L/c/d.3

Between 2001 and 2004, the average daily water flow in Red Deer has increased by 26.3 %, well above the provincial decline of 3.9 % and the national decline of 1.3 %.4

AIR QUALITY

The Air Quality Index, or AQI, associates concentrations of five major air pollutants to provincial air quality objectives and federal air quality objectives. Outdoor concentrations of carbon monoxide, fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, ozone and sulphur dioxide are used to determine whether the quality of the air is Good, Fair, Poor or Very Poor. Good air quality is the best possible rating and means that there are no known harmful effects to human or environmental health.

Between January 1, 2006 and January 31, 2007, Red Deer’s air quality measured “Good” 96.14% of the time.5

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS MONITORING

Emissions of greenhouse gases are reported to Alberta Environment only by large industrial facilities that annually emit 100,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in carbon dioxide equivalent units.

Passenger transportation contributes to 13% of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions and commercial transportation contributes to 11%, according to federal government figures

Greenhouse gas emissions are not monitored in the Red Deer region, other than the reports filed by large-volume emitters described above.6

PERCENTAGE OF DESIGNATED GREEN SPACE

The City of Red Deer defines "Green Space" as a combination of land zoned as "open space" and "environmental".

As of 2007, of the City's geographic area, 25% is designated as Green Space.7

PERCENTAGE OF DEVELOPED VS UNDEVELOPED LAND

The percentage of developed land (including residential, commercial, industrial and public service land) is 59 % with the remaining 15 % of city land being undeveloped.8

BREAKDOWN OF DOMESTIC WASTE: RECYCLABLE, YARD WASTE, LANDFILL

Curbside waste is defined by the City of Red Deer as waste collected from single family residences (dwellings without access to a dumpster), including the Blue Box program, yard waste and household garbage.

Of the curbside waste collected in Red Deer in 2006, 15% was recyclable material, and 10% was yard waste. The other 75% of waste was taken to Red Deer’s landfill.9

Please see Appendix 1.0 for more information

1 Environment Canada. 2007. Water Use. Retrieved July from http://www.ec.gc.ca/default.asp?lang=En&n=24F7F60E-1 back
2 P. Vust, City of Red Deer, 2004-2006, personal communication, February 2007. back
3 P. Vust, City of Red Deer, 2004-2006, personal communication, February 2007. back
4 Environment Canada. Water use data 2001 and 2004. http://www.ec.gc.ca/water/en/manage/use/e_data.htm. back
5 http://www.casadata.org/airqualityindex/AQI.asp. back
6 Alberta Government. 2006. Environment. Retrieved July 2007 from http://www3.gov.ab.ca/env/air/EMR/sgreporting.html. back
7 Woods, T. (2007). City of Red Deer GIS Department. Data current as of February 28 2007. back
8 Woods, T. (2007). City of Red Deer GIS Department, personal communication, February 28 2007. back
9 J. Whitesell, City of Red Deer, Environmental Services Department, personal communication, February 2007. back