Water Management

it will be interesting to see the direction of watershed planning in Alberta over the next few years - some critical issues coming to a head...
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Bow River trip a call for action
Calgary Herald
2005.07.18

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The Bow River may be high now but unless we leave more water in place, dry years will hit the river hard, says a local river watch group.

"We've maxed out the river," said Bow Riverkeeper Danielle Droitsch. "And in low water years, that will place extreme pressures on the river itself."

Droitsch is floating more than 600 kilometres by canoe with several companions, stopping in communities along the way to highlight challenges facing the river's health. She heads the local chapter of the Waterkeeper Alliance, an international non-profit group dedicated to protecting the world's supply of freshwater.

The group started at the Wapta Icefield on June 27 and will be floating through Calgary this Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Droitsch is calling on the provincial government to decrease the amount of water that users are allowed to withdraw from the Bow by bringing in a market system for water or by holding back part of established water allocations, some of which were assigned as far back as the early 1900s when water seemed unlimited.

"We need to recognize the true value of water," she said, "and we need to recognize that the river has basic needs."

Robert Moyles, spokesman for Alberta Environment, said the government has been working hard to draw stakeholders together and analyse the health of the river.

The Bow River Basin Council, a 31-member stakeholder committee, will release its next report this fall, said Moyles.

The group is studying how much water is currently being used and projecting needs into the future, making some hard management choices in the process, Moyles said.

Market-based systems and water holdbacks are all on the table.

Limiting water is hard because water is essential for farming in southern Alberta, said Dave Cholka, water controller with the Bow River Irrigation District.

Irrigators are the largest users of water on the Bow River.

In recent years, they've expanded production, said Cholka, not by demanding any more water, but only through using water more efficiently.

Even with improvements, they always keep one eye on the clouds.

"Having the water when you want it, that's the concern," he said. "If you have a really dry year, any river would be over-allocated."

The canoe team will be heading into the irrigation district shortly after they leave Calgary and will be keeping their eyes open for pollution or problems with the riverbanks, said Jim Kievit, lead paddler for the trip.

"We're just paddling along and having a look," he said, adding that the trip has been going well so far.

"The river is high but not extreme. We're going along at a pretty good clip."