Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
In Grande Cache, at a packed open house about the proposed mine held in July, questions about its environmental impact are top of mind for many in attendance. Maxim Power, the company pitching the new project, says that the mine will be underground, meaning local water will be more protected than in a surface mine.
It’s been 10 years since the historic floods of southern Alberta that were deadly, expensive and resulted in the first ever declaration of a State of Provincial Emergency in Canadian history. Over 100,000 people were evacuated from their homes in communities throughout southern Alberta and five people lost their lives. There was more than $5 billion dollars in damages and 55,000 square kilometres of land was directly impacted by the floods; an area nearly 70 times the size of Calgary.
Snow-wise, it hasn't been a great year in the Rocky Mountains, says Canmore-based water expert John Pomeroy. "[The snowpack] is in the lowest quarter to lowest 10 per cent of all years measured over the last half century in the Kananaskis-Banff region," said Pomeroy, who is Canada Research Chair in Water Resources and Climate Change at the University of Saskatchewan. "It's definitely a low snow year."
A committee that is supposed to consult Albertans on coal development in the Rocky Mountains won't be allowed to hear what people want to say about water and land use. "The terms of reference say we're consulting on everything but what we want to talk about," said local landowner Kevin Van Tighem. That document, posted to a government website, says the five-member committee will only be able to consider issues under the control of the Department of Energy.
Alberta’s environment minister is trying to reassure rural municipalities in the province’s south that their water supply isn’t threatened by industrial development such as coal mines. Many municipalities have expressed concern about what effects the government’s plan to expand the coal industry would have on water supplies. Environment Minister Jason Nixon says despite changes to water allocation from rivers, environmental rules remain the same.
Completed in 1973, the Army Corps of Engineers dam was designed to regulate how spring snow melt in the Kootenay River watershed (87% of which originates in Canada) enters the downstream watershed. It has done so effectively, but at a considerable price to local residents. The upper end of the reservoir in Canada bears the brunt of the storage draw down each spring, and in dry years, the reservoir’s moonscape does not always refill to a level that allows for much recreation. The control over these water levels is 100% vested in American operation of Libby dam.
