Successful year for OWC

The Oldman Watershed Council recently held its annual general meeting at the Enmax Centre, with officials calling it a time to reflect and celebrate past success and look to the future.

“Our greatest accomplishment is the thousands of people that we engage in our work,” said Shannon Frank, OWC’s executive director.

She said water testing done over the past three years shows overall the quality of the Oldman River is good, but there were a few times when the river exceeded guidelines.

However, the results were from three sites along the main stem of the river and sampled once per month, and do not give a comprehensive picture of the entire watershed.

“We would like to see more monitoring to better understand this complex watershed,” Frank said.

The watershed extends east from the Rocky Mountains, through the foothills, across the drylands and irrigated plains, and to the grasslands.

“We are all downstream of others and must work together to protect our most precious resource — water,” Frank said. “Whether you are a farmer, urban homeowner, business owner, or backcountry enthusiast, there are many things you can do to improve the health of our watershed.”

OWC has created a State of the Watershed Report and an Integrated Watershed Management Plan; the organization is working to implement both.