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| Water
knowledge – maintaining a balance |
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Caring
for rivers
Every community in Alberta has
them, they are volunteers; concerned citizens, naturalists,
scientists, business and professional, male, female, young
and old. They are people who care about the ecosystem and
the impacts that human development can have. In Calgary it’s
the Bow River Basin Council (BRBC), a multi-stakeholder, charitable
organization dedicated to improve and protect water quality
of the Bow River Basin.
In Edmonton, its called the North
Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance (NSWA),a watershed group that
is dedicated to the protection and enhancement of the water
quality and ecosystems in the North Saskatchewan watershed
of Alberta. Its membership includes provincial government
departments, NGOs, municipalities, first nations and industries.
The common thread amongst its members is the belief that a
collaborative watershed approach is the best way of finding
a balance between human wants and watershed health. As a testament
of its beliefs, the NSWA has undertaken a number of projects.
The biggest and probably by far the most important is the
'State of the Basin (North Saskatchewan) Report'. The purpose
of the report is to document baseline information on the North
Saskatchewan watershed.
Although the core component in
Canada’s water management strategy is sound science,
an informed public is also essential for action and understanding.
While teams of government, industry and university researchers
provide the basic science, engineering and hands-on understanding
of water problems and water solutions, it is community-based
organizations that often provide leadership and information
on local water concerns. |
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Public
involvement It has been
noted elsewhere in this publication that about 85% of the
river water in Alberta flows north and ends up in the Mackenzie
River system, via the Slave, Peace, Athabasca and other rivers.
Not enough was known about the quantity and quality of water
in these rivers until the Northern Rivers Basins Study produced
a comprehensive report in 1996. That report, which was led
by scientists from Environment Canada was made up of about
150 individual mini studies, and included extensive use of
traditional knowledge, public and industry input and intensive
analysis by some of Canada’s most esteemed scientists.
The study demonstrated conclusively
that residents of the river basins care deeply about the ecological
state of the region in which they work and live. This support
demonstrates the importance of public involvement in setting
goals and devising management plans for basins and watersheds.
The timeliness of the study in the context of resource industry
expansion, its value as a benchmark for measurement of impacts
from future projects, its demonstration of the importance
of technological and scientific advances and the inclusion
of public concerns are all important aspects of this and subsequent
studies. The study and the support it has received has led
to an ongoing research program into northern rivers called
the Northern River Ecosystem Initiative.
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| A
team of professionals The
Canadian Water Resources Association (CWRA) is a Canada-wide
association of professionals and organizations dedicated to
promoting effective management of Canada’s water resources.
The CWRA’s members are from private and public organizations;
with branches in all prairie provinces.
The objectives of the CWRA are:
- to stimulate public awareness
and understanding of Canada’s water resources;
- to encourage public recognition
of the high priority of water as a valued resource;
- to provide a forum for the exchange
of information and opinions relating to the management of
Canada’s water resources; and
- to participate with appropriate
agencies in international water resource management activities.
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Traditional
values and current realities The
father helps his son lay the trap so the mink can't avoid
it. Once done, they leave the trap line and head for the lake
narrows since the fishing there is always good. As they ride
their snowmobiles the son reflects on his Dad's knowledge
of trapping and the old ways. A third of the way to the narrows
the father spots tracks of a cow moose and calf. The tracks
are yesterday's so they ride on.
At the narrows they augur half
a dozen holes, drop baited hooks and then quietly start playing
them. Before long there are four pike on the ice.
As they travel homeward in the
late afternoon they talk and joke about their day. Things
are not the same since the hydro plant was built. There is
now a big reservoir and that makes traveling a lot easier
but some of the better fishing holes are gone and there are
no longer muskrats down stream of the plant.
But the price for muskrat pelts
is too low for a trapper to earn a decent living. So one of
the son's choices has to be college or technical school. Well
at least he'll be able, blindfolded, to out-fish and out-hunt
any of his city buddies. |
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| Living
on the edge The slow-growing,
long-lived and prehistoric-looking Lake Sturgeon was once
plentiful in the Saskatchewan River system from Lake Winnipeg
into Alberta. Over the years, the population has drastically
declined because of over harvesting and hydroelectric power
projects interfering with their migration routes. Today the
population in the South Saskatchewan River is estimated at
about 5,000 and relatively stable. However the population
in the North Saskatchewan River is estimated to be only about
1,000. To help the sturgeon's chances the Alberta Government
has placed tight restrictions on fishing this species. The
Lake Sturgeon's circumstances are just another example of
the efforts required to address past abuses of our aquatic
biodiversity. |
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