Sierra Club's Brian Pincott believes lack of government policy has left watersheds unprotected

The provincial government recently released a report titled Measuring Up, indicating that the quality of Alberta’s rivers may be in decline. This has prompted two prominent local environmentalists to renew calls for officials to do more to protect the watershed.
    Since 1996 the provincial government has been publishing a water quality index which rates six major Alberta rivers at key sites based on monthly data measuring metal, bacteria, nutrient and pesticide levels. It offers a glimpse into the health of river systems that impact the province’s largest cities including Calgary and Edmonton. The report states that four Alberta rivers (Bow, Oldman, Red Deer and North Saskatchewan) were rated “fair” during the period of April 2005 to March 2006.
    Along the Bow River, water quality was rated as “fair” east of the city with higher than normal levels of bacteria being detected. Alberta Environment has said the reported levels of bacteria were the result of runoff from storm sewers during a bout of severe weather the region experienced during the period the measurements were taken. However, Brian Pincott, chairman of Sierra Club of Canada’s Chinook Chapter says the report is a warning that current public policy is not in place to protect Alberta’s rivers.     “The report underlines the lack of an overall land-use strategy,” says Pincott. “As we have this expansive growth we’re drawing from our rivers.” He adds, “We’re dumping more into the rivers and drawing more water from them. In Calgary, this is affecting our drinking water.”
    Pincott says that short-term economic interests have taken priority over protecting the watershed. “We have an extreme lack of policy around this,” he says. “We need to protect our watershed. We need to protect the Weaselhead, the Elbow and the Bow Valley corridor. If we don’t have a river, we don’t have an economy, we don’t have a city.”
    In 2003, the Alberta government launched Water for Life: Alberta’s Strategy for Sustainability in response to critics who were calling for action to protect the province’s water systems. However, one well-respected environmental advocate says the government document is largely being ignored. “The time is now to protect ecosystems, or they will be lost and be very difficult to restore,” says Danielle Droitsch, executive director of Bow Riverkeeper. The non-profit society’s mission is to “protect and restore the Bow River watershed.”
    Droitsch, who also sits on an advisory body known as the Alberta Water Council, says the most immediate and valuable action the Alberta government can take is to protect wetlands. “We must have healthy aquatic ecosystems,” she says. The water advocate believes that if river ecosystems are protected, issues such as a reliable water supply and fresh drinking water will be ensured.
    Concerns about large volumes of water being drawn from the Bow River for irrigation, in addition to future development, such as a large-scale waste treatment plant being proposed for the Exshaw/Lac Des Arc area, underscore the dangers now facing the Bow River. “It’s unsustainable,” says Droitsch.         “We’re working in an unsustainable situation.” She says in addition to government action the average citizen can also take steps to protect Alberta’s rivers by reducing the amount of water used on a daily basis. “My motto is ‘awareness and action,’” she says. Droitsch also urges members of the public to contact their “decision makers” at the local and provincial levels of government to press for protection of Alberta’s waterways. “Our main thrust is to push the government to do what it’s supposed to do,” says Droitsch. “They could take immediate action.”
    Alberta Environment rejects the assertion that Water for Life is being ignored and says the formation of the Alberta Water Council and the continuation of the water quality index proves it remains committed to protecting Alberta’s rivers.
    “Since the measurements were first started in 1996, overall water quality has improved in most of the river basins,” says spokesperson Erin Carrier. “If we’ve missed something we welcome that information.”