Please join us for lunch on November 12
![](http://r20.rs6.net/on.jsp?ca=94cf446e-4e9d-4611-b1d7-8288cc606b59&a=1103565212340&d=1119030578491&r=3&o=http://ui.constantcontact.com/images/p1x1.gif&c=42ba4a00-a321-11e3-951e-d4ae526edd6c&ch=42bf5310-a321-11e3-951e-d4ae526edd6c)
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This is blog #7 in our “Understanding Drought” series where we answer the question on everyone’s mind: Are we still in a drought?
“How to go camping in Alberta for the first time?” Follow along as Rachel figures out where to go and how to be safe while enjoying our beautiful watershed this May Long Weekend.
Join us in welcoming our newest Watershed Stewardship Assistant, Rachel! From beef to bees and birds of prey, Rachel’s background and biodiversity degree are a great fit for this year’s projects. Learn more about Rachel in our latest blog!
On February 29th, the Building Multi-Year Drought Resiliency Workshop was hosted by four southern Watershed Planning and Advisory Councils (WPACs): Oldman Watershed Council, South East Alberta Watershed Alliance, Milk River Watershed Council Canada, and Bow River Basin Council.
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(Editor's Note: An important letter to the editor from Elspeth Nickle. What are your views? We'd love to hear from you.)
October 17, 2014The Honourable Jim PrenticePremier of Alberta307 Legislature Bldg.10800 - 97 AvenueEdmonton, AB T5K 2B7Dear Premier Prentice:I am writing this letter to respectfully ask you to take action and close the trails to mechanized recreational traffic in the Hidden Creek area, one of the waterways in the upper Oldman watershed, in order to protect this valuable and vulnerable stream.I have been motivated to write this letter because of:1. The very marked deterioration of Hidden Creek and the area adjacent to it since my last visit only one and a half months ago.2. Your announcement, as you introduced your new cabinet, that Alberta was under new management which has given me hope that some action might be taken.3. An entry which appeared on the AESRD blog on Oct. 4, 2014 which similarly raised my hope that the Forestry Service in this region might be amenable to action.I am sending this letter by email directly to your office and copying it to a number of other individuals and organizations which I think will find it interesting; please see the cc. list at the bottom. I will follow up by sending it to you by registered mail. I am hopeful for a timely reply and especially action but, if there is a holdup in your office and I do not hear from you, I will make the extra effort to call and speak with your staff in the hopes that this matter can be expedited.The reason for my request of immediate actionTen days my husband and I hiked on foot up Hidden Creek but our happy outing was marred upon our discovery that the conditions around Hidden Creek had badly and visibly deteriorated in the last month and a half. The water quality in the stream was visibly murky, a marked contrast to the much better water quality on the same day in the upper Oldman, which we forded on foot in order to get into the Hidden Creek area.The extensive motorized recreational traffic on the trail, which runs in very close proximity to the stream, and recent rains have clearly contributed to this deterioration. The pictures I have enclosed are by no means isolated shots; the whole of the length of the trail we walked showed similar deterioration.
Conditions on the trailAlthough we were there on a Wednesday (October 1, 2014), when we expected traffic to be nil to low, at least half a dozen ATVs past us. (We were the only ones on foot). This is an old trail, which is leftover from I think previous logging or seismic explorations, but it has not reverted to its natural state because, as you can see from the pictures, it is very extensively used. With the approaching high point of the hunting season, activity can only be expected to increase.I am sure you are aware that water quality is a prime indicator of the overall health and viability of the watershed; poor water quality can indicate excessive runoff, the inability of the watershed to hold back and store water, or increased difficulty for native fish populations to spawn successfully. Hidden Creek is one of the few remaining areas in the Crowsnest where native bull trout are still found in any appreciable numbers. It is worrisome to think what the future holds if current conditions prevail.
Note the fresh tire marks to the left. Hidden Creek is less than 5 metres to the left of those tracks!The AESRD blog entry, Oct 4, 2014.After this disheartening experience, I read with considerable hope the AERSRD blog entry of Oct. 4, 2014 which exhorted the public to learn "how to minimize the impacts of your activities on Alberta's plant and animal habitats" and provided links to Alberta's Species at Risk Guide.On page 16, I was pleased to find out that the bull trout is a species at risk, that it is Alberta's provincial fish, and that under Threats, AESRD recognized that "Populations remain low because of habitat loss and degradation (such as sediments in streams) from industrial activity, especially roads"Then, in a section entitled How Can You Help?, it suggests among other things:1) Keep off-highway vehicles out of creeks and streams and use bridges for stream crossings.2)Report hanging culverts and off-highway vehicles driving in streams to our nearest [A]ESRD office.It seems that AESRD has a very good handle on the direction needed to be taken. In this case, with the extremely close proximity of the trail to the creek in the Hidden Creek watershed, one could conclude that the road itself is so close, it might as well be in Hidden Creek! Also, any of the ATV;s we saw had most certainly forded the Oldman in the same place we had to get to the area, and that is most certainly not in keeping with the advice in the Species at Risk Guide.Further, in my dealings with conservation minded groups, which incidentally is also encouraged in the "How Can You Help?" section, I can attest that there is an acute frustration about reporting off-highway vehicle activity to the nearest AESRD office. It doesn't actually result in any substantive action being taken, or hasn't in the past. By writing this letter to you, and copying it to the nearest AESRD office, I am hoping for a different outcome.I am very much hoping that when you said that Alberta was under new management, you meant it. I look forward to your response at your earliest convenience.Yours very truly,Elspeth J. Nicklecc:Honourable Kyle Fawcett, Miinster of Environment, AERSDCraig Johnson, Fisheries, Blairmore, AERSDMatthew Coombs, Fisheries, Blairmore, AERSDTerry Clayton, Fisheries, Lethbridge, AERSDEmeric Janssens, Fisheries, Lethbridge, AERSDPaul Christensen, Fisheries, Calgary, AERSDSara Burnstead, Fisheries, Calgary, AERSDJennifer Earl, Fisheries, Cochrane, AERSDBev Yee, Assistant Deputy Minister, Integrated Resource Management Planning Division, Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, AERSDTim Juhl, Timber, Blairmore, AERSDRupert Hewison,Timber, Blairmore, AERSDCraig Harriott, Timber, Blairmore, AERSDMike Taje, Land Use, Blairmore, AERSDLeo Dube, Wildlife Management, Lethbridge, AERSDGreg Hale, Wildlife Management, Pincher Creek, AERSDBridget Pastoor, MLA, Lethbridge EastGreg Weadick, MLA, Lethbridge WestDanielle Smith, Wildrose Party LeaderMr. Joe Anglin, Wildrose Environment CriticMr. Pat Stier, MLA, Livingstone-MacleodRaj Sherman, Alberta Liberal Party LeaderLaurie Blakeman, Alberta Liberal Party Environment CriticBrian Mason, Alberta New Democratic Party LeaderShannon Frank, Oldman Watershed Council, Executive Director, Lethbridge.Katie Morrison, Conservation Director, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society - Southern AlbertaKarsten Heuer, President, Yellowstone-to-Yukon InitiativeLeanne Elias, Field Notes CollectiveLorne Fitch, Wildlife BiologistJustina C. Ray, Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, Executive Director and Senior Scientist
Volunteers transport fish to be measured on shore |
Photo kindly provided by Bill's daughter, Fiona |
Rainwater use and beauty |
Why wastewater? You pay for it from the tap! |
(Editor's note: Our watershed is a complex place, with many competing —and sometimes contradictory—interests. How can we best create a safe, collaborative space where all voices can be heard and valued?)
This was a graphic I made up as I was thinking about the challenge we have, as the OWC, in putting out our message.
So if there was ONE KEY THING we had to say, what would it be?
Surely that's not so difficult. So I write in "Oldman, Watershed, Council, water, management, health". Our mandate is to provide advice to decision-makers. Better add: "WPAC, advisory, Alberta". The Oldman existed before the provincial government's 'Water For Life' strategy but got subsumed into it as a Watershed Planning and Advisory Council - one of 11 in Alberta, each for a different watershed.
That means we need to come up with lots of evidence to back up our advice. Add: "publications, reports, science, facts, protecting, planning and SOW". The State of the Watershed (SOW) publication is an intense piece of work, evaluating 4 sub-basins in the watershed plus the main stem of the Oldman River.
Oops. Better add the names of all the rivers in the watershed. "Oldman, Little Bow, Willow, Castle, Crowsnest, Belly, St. Mary's..." throw in "Waterton" and "Chain Lakes" too, and better add the "Oldman Dam".
Well, the dam isn't the only thing that has altered the course of the rivers. so I add: "irrigation, canals, flood, cities". I think about all the communities that are served by these complex systems that I have yet to quite comprehend. All the little dust bowls that are now bread baskets. I add the names of the big communities: "Lethbridge, Coaldale, Coalhurst, Taber, Vauxhall, Vulcan, Cardston, Magrath, Pincher Creek, Crowsnest Pass, Claresholm, Stavely, Nanton, High River, Picture Butte, Nobleford" ... miss anybody?
Well, we all know what this irrigation water is helping to do: "farmers, ranchers, agriculture, livestock, food, drink". It makes me think about the huge difference between city life that I know and love and the country life that I'm now learning all about. Add: "urban, rural, immigration".
There must be plenty of people like me who move to southern Alberta knowing nothing about it. Nothing about the "plants, animals, vegetation, forests, mountains, prairie, grassland" ... gotta add "rough fescue". It makes me feel important if I say it. It just has a nice ring to it. I didn't know it meant native GRASS, a now at-risk ecosystem. There's another new vocabulary I learned that I love to say: "invasive species". Makes me think of men from Mars and stuff. I don't even know what's a weed in my own backyard never mind what's out there in the watershed. But I'm learning. Better add: "education".
Oh! "children". Kids gotta learn.
But what about the adults? They go out there and enjoy all kinds of things like camping, hunting, fishing, recreation, and OHVs. That gives me pause for thought. Those OHVs. Never liked 'em. Noisy as all-get-out. But I'm learning how people who work the land need them and use them to take care of it, and I'm learning that there are a lot of responsible riders that do a lot of good in the watershed, building bridges and maintaining trails over sensitive areas ... Ah yes: "habitat, consideration, responsible, headwaters".
Headwaters, headwaters. We're all about them at the OWC. It's our main priority at this point. I write: "water quality, water quantity, future generations". There's a lot of activity up in those headwaters. A lot of it creates effects that are not immediately measurable or noticeable. I add: "legislation, enforcement, linear features, landscape simulator, fragmentation, habitat, fish".
I remember hearing from a Peigan friend about how the Creator, Naapi, taught people how to hunt and fish. I add: "Peigan, Kainai, Blood, Blackfeet, First Nations, Naapi". It is impossible to talk about the Oldman-this and the Oldman-that all the time without acknowledging that the Oldman River is named so because it is the river beside which the Oldman (Naapi) walked. We could all use more Naapi stories, I think. They teach us that the light of creation is in all things.
Suddenly, I have it. THE ONE KEY THING.
"We are ALL downstream".
- Anna Garleff, OWC Communications Coordinator
anna@oldmanbasin.org
587 224 3793 cell
Suite #204, 7205 Roper Road
Edmonton, Alberta T6B 3J4
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Office: 780-757-5530
Fax: 1-866-654-2826
Cell: 780-974-7524
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