| | Over 40 local watershed groups have formed in Alberta in recent years. These grass-roots groups are involved in awareness activities and on-the-ground actions to address local priorities like protecting water quality and quantity, and sustaining streamside habitat. The Water for Life strategy identifies these Watershed Stewardship Groups as the third vital partnership type for accomplishing the strategy’s goals.
Alberta Environment’s Petra Rowell says, “A lot of these Watershed Stewardship Groups and some of the WPACs, like the Bow River Basin Council and the North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance, started long before the Water for Life strategy. The strategy recognizes that they are leading the way and doing great stuff. And if we can help bring partners together and increase their capacity, that’s what we want to be doing.”
Many of these local groups are in agricultural areas and are driven by local producers. George Stalker, Watershed Coordinator for the M.D. of Rocky View, works with three producer-based watershed groups located within the Bow River Basin. He says, “I don’t believe all the local watershed groups are really familiar with the strategy. That said, the strategy’s three goals are being met as a result of what farmers have been doing.”
Stalker cites many examples of how groups in his area are contributing to those goals. For instance, he says, “Every year, the Farmers of the Elbow Watershed have been putting in what they call a ‘habitat enhancement project’. The farmers take a portion of a riparian area [an area near a river, creek or wetland] that had been accessible to livestock and fence it to restrict livestock access. In some cases, the farmers provide an alternative water source which the cattle prefer over going down to the river to drink.” The fenced-off areas have “dramatically” recovered, rapidly filling in with water-loving plants. He adds, “Healthy riparian areas act as a natural filter for the water running off the upland. The cattails, rushes, reeds and willows trap sediments and use the nutrients in the runoff, so the water entering our rivers is a lot cleaner.”
In Stalker’s experience, producers are very aware that their productivity depends on healthy water and soil resources. “Farmers recognize they are tied to the land and have been implementing beneficial management practices [BMPs] to ensure the long-term sustainability of their family businesses. The BMPs increase their farm’s environmental health – they are a capital asset investment.”
He adds, “However, cash flow can be a real barrier to getting the BMPs on the ground. Alberta just came out of three to four years of drought, five years some say, and on top of that cattle producers are dealing with the BSE crisis. A typical little BMP project to put up a fence or an off-site watering system can run to $3000 to $4000....In a lot of cases, it’s money that people just don’t have.”
Many local groups seek out partners to provide financial and technical assistance for projects. For instance, Stalker says Joe Zink, interim leader of the Farmers of the Elbow Watershed (FEW), has designed a Cattle Setback Program, which provides funding for fences and waterers to keep cattle off the Elbow River and its tributaries. The FEW is partnering with agencies including the M.D. of Rocky View, the Cows and Fish program, the Bow River Basin Council, and the City of Calgary to secure funding and implement projects.
The Water for Life strategy encourages partnerships within basins, with WPACs providing information and assistance to local groups, and local groups sharing their knowledge and taking part in basin-wide initiatives. In Stalker’s case, he is a member of the Bow River Basin Council, providing a link between the Council and local groups. The Council provides educational and networking assistance to groups as well as some project funding.
Stalker says watershed health declined over the past century due to the independent actions of many individuals doing what they thought was best for their families. He believes the path back to healthy watersheds will also be through the independent actions of many individuals. The difference is that today, because of the efforts of groups like the FEW and many others, producers have much greater knowledge of the effects of their actions.
He says, “With a better understanding of our relationship to the landscape, we can take the steps needed to sustain the environmental and economic health of our farms and communities.” |
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