Spring is the time of year to look at the water forecast for the coming year. Find updates on our watershed’s drought stage, water sharing agreements, reservoir levels, and snowpack accumulation.
Looking for a fun, low-stakes way to get outside this spring? Get to know your local plants and animals using iNaturalist! Additionally, bumble bees will be back soon, and you can view and learn about local sightings in our ‘bumble bees of the Oldman watershed’ project!
Just how much is Natural Infrastructure worth? Find out in our latest blog!
What’s cute, fuzzy, and sleeps through winter? Bumble bees! Find out where they hunker down in winter, and what cues tell them it’s time to emerge and forage in spring.
Our Engaging Recreationists project is ramping up! Last year, we had 2 Outreach Assistants in the backcountry, piloting our outreach project. This year, we are doubling that capacity and have hired the first of 4 Outreach Assistants (OAs) who will be helping with restoration work and education in the backcountry. Led by Education Manager Sofie Forsstrom, the project is set to take off soon and we will announce the other OAs as they come aboard ...
***SCREENING LIVE FOR WORLD WATERDAY MARCH 22*** With all the attention on the headwaters at the moment (it IS, after all, the first goal tackled via the OWC's Action Plans ....) it can be easy at times to forget what happens downstream. That, is, until disaster strikes like it did in the floods of 2013. Filmmaker Rick Searle explains how decisions made upstream helped contribute to a semi-arid corner of Manitoba being completely flooded ...
Many thanks to the hardworking volunteers who helped us move from our old offices out at the provincial government's Research Centre into our new space downtown! There are two departments in particular that have been long-time supporters of OWC and we we would like to thank for 10 years' of office space for the OWC. They are: the Irrigation Branch and the Water Quality Branch, They have been involved in many projects over the years. We are looking forward to making our new office a community space where we will be having regular events and bring in other related businesses and NGOs that share our vision for a sustainable watershed. Currently, Environment Lethbridge has joined us, and we look forward to expanding our community hub.
With confidence that short notice is better than none at all, I would like to extend an invitation to residents of the Oldman Watershed, to join myself and the staff of the Helen Schuler Nature Center in Lethbridge, for an open house event tomorrow afternoon, January 14th from 2:00 – 5:30. We will be celebrating the unveiling of two new exhibits featuring models for understanding and appreciating our local ecology…
This month’s Green Drinks Lethbridge was attended by long-time residents as well as neophytes who recently arrived in the city. It was a friendly and relaxed assemblage that gathered ‘round the tables, including staff from the Oldman Watershed Council, Environment Lethbridge, and the Helen Schuler Nature Centre; people with backgrounds in environmental consulting, farming, and the healthcare industry; and interested community members...
If you are curious about what our new staff members have been up to and want the latest details on what's happening around the watershed, check out our December newsletter.... What's NOT in there is that we will be finally moving our offices in the first week of January. Anyone with willing hands to help pack, unpack and set up our space - please get in touch <3 We are also looking for office furniture and equipment to help us get settled in - we'll be needing everything from desks to dishes.
With all best wishes for a very merry Christmas and happy holidays!
Who's the boss of the water? The province? The feds? The town? How can anyone make sense out of all this legislation? Who is responsible for something like flooding, anyway? Our Political Science Intern, Mairin Gettman, takes a look at legislation and how it affects the watershed. A BIG SHOUT OUT to Adam Driedzic of the Environmental Law Centre, who assisted in no small way with this project: THANK YOU!
