living feature
valley today, I can’t help but wonder: even as we admire it, do we truly
acknowledge its importance?
“For urban folks, probably their biggest impact on the
river is through stormwater quality, and they don’t even
realize it,” Shannon explains. “We’ve measured the storm
outfalls where that water is dumped back into the Oldman
River, and they’re very polluted with high levels of nutrients
from chemical fertilizers along with fecal coliforms and
E. coli from pet waste, which all contributes to those
measurements.”
We don’t think twice about fl ushing a toilet or running
the tap, but ultimately it all ends up back in the river after
running through the waste water treatment plant. The
same cannot be said for any water running down your storm
drains after a heavy rainfall, collecting whatever might be
along its path and pouring directly into the river without
any fi ltration. From leaves and pet waste, to cigarette butts
and litter, anything that gets washed down the storm drain
heads directly into the Oldman.
While there might be more knowledge and discussion
around the global issues of climate change, it seems we
still have a lot to learn about the little things that add up
to create a larger impact. Avoiding over watering lawns,
reducing car washing frequency, and fi xing leaky taps are
easy ways to reduce the effects on the watershed.
“It’s incredibly important that we’re using best practices
to lessen our impact on the land and water to make sure
there’s a healthy environment left for future generations,
and I think more and more people are starting to realize
this,” Shannon says. “Even just the election of the
provincial NDP and the federal Liberals has shown that the
environment is important to Canadians. Climate change
is actually being talked about now, so that’s a good sign
that people are taking the health of the environment very
seriously.”
So what better way to make a stronger connection to our
source of life than to get out in a canoe or kayak yourself?
If only it was that simple. With the need to shuttle vehicles
and gear, and limited access points due to repeated fl ood
damage, it’s easier said than done.
“The interest is there to put forth more access points, but
the problem is that whatever gets put in, gets taken out by
fl oods,” explains Craig Ellis, Owner of Hig