Lacombe County is expanding its network of photo points that are part of an initiative to track long-term environmental changes.
The Chronolog project involves the installation of fixed photo brackets at picked locations where visitors can place their phone, take a photo and submit it using a QR code, included with instructions on an attached sign.
Photos can then be downloaded and over time the public time-lapse contributions will show how the landscape changes through the seasons and years.
The county says the photos will help support sustainable lake management, tracks environmental changes and gives the public a way to get involved in local conservation.
Chronolog locations have been set up at Burns Nature Park on Sylvan Lake, at Sandy Point recreation area on Gull Lake and on the Trans Canada Trail at Lacombe Lake.
At Burns Nature Park, the photo record is being used to track water levels, shoreline dynamics and erosion patterns, which will all provide information on climate and environmental change. Lake levels and shoreline condition will be monitored at Gull Lake and at Lacombe Lake, where photos can also be used to track invasive species, such as pale yellow iris.
Additional photo points and instructional signs are going to be added Buffalo Lake, Gull Lake, Blindman River, Medicine River and Crooker Wetland, supported by a $6,300 TD Friend of the Environment Grant. The grant will also pay for the planting of 150 trees and shrubs.
Each Chronolog station features a fixed photo bracket above a sign with directions. Visitors can place their phone into the bracket, take a photo, and submit it using a quick and easy QR code found on the sign below.