Battle River Watershed Regional Case

This regional case is informed by a history of established research collaborations in rural and remote communities, led by the Alberta Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities (ASCRC) at the University of Alberta and the Battle River Watershed Alliance. The research team has a long-standing orientation to the importance of watersheds as integrative, ecologically-coherent, intersectoral context for understanding complex driving forces of change across land, water, community and health concerns.

Regional Case Updates

Since mid-2020 we have moved to a new cross-ECHO format of sharing Regional Case updates - please see the latest updates for the Battle River Watershed Regional Case on the following Padlet links, or for cross-ECHO updates via our “Updates” page.

Spring 2021 Padlet Update

Winter 2020 Padlet Update

Summer 2020

In spring 2020, the BRWA/UofA Regional Case welcomed several new members to our team to help progress various aspects of the “Health in the Watershed” indicator framework project. In particular, we have been developing educational materials for each of the indicators identified thus far. These materials include maps, fact sheets, policy briefs, and write-ups that describe the historical, political, and social contexts around these indicators and their current status in our watershed. We have also completed a first iteration of the CalEnviroScreen method in Alberta, including an interactive mapping interface to display this information. We will continue to refine this method in the Alberta context, and work across the regional cases of the ECHO Network to advance the development of “ECHOScreen” as the next phase of this work.

The BRWA is continuing to work with agricultural producers, First Nations, and other landowners to carry out riparian restoration projects that support improved water quality, water storage, and biodiversity throughout the watershed. We are also partnering with the North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance to conduct a comprehensive riparian assessment in the Battle River watershed and eastern reaches of the North Saskatchewan River watershed in Alberta. Nearly 16,000 kilometres of riparian lands will be assessed using satellite imagery to measure: 1) the intactness of riparian areas, and 2) pressures on riparian health from adjacent upland areas. We will then use these results to identify priority areas for riparian conservation and restoration.

With spring and summer weather finally arriving, we have also been taking every opportunity to get out on the Battle River for some paddling adventures, and are developing “Paddle the Battle” guides to encourage other watershed residents to do the same. Active lifestyles, outdoor recreation opportunities, and caring for our watershed really do go hand in hand! Check out our website to learn more, and call us up if you are ever in our neck of the woods and want to get out for a paddle!

Spring 2020

The “Health in the Watershed” project continues to be an important focus area for the BRWA and UofA Regional Case. In particular, we’ve made good progress in developing a more integrative indicator framework to look at environment, community, and public health in the Battle River and Sounding Creek watersheds of Alberta. We hosted an online Learning and Impact Workshop with the ECHO Network in October 2019 to share our progress to-date and gain feedback to further strengthen and inform our work. This workshop, as well as a number of related meetings hosted by the ECHO Network in recent months, have provided an active forum to discuss various approaches to selecting, assessing, and reporting on environment, community, and public health indicators. These discussions and cross-ECHO connections continue to shape our work here in Alberta.

Energy systems and climate adaptation have also been central priorities for the BRWA over the past several months. In October 2019, we hosted our second “Finding Common Ground” Tour in the Battle River watershed. The purpose of this bus tour was to explore the diversity of energy systems and climate adaptation projects currently taking place across the watershed, and provide a mechanism for participants to share their knowledge and experiences with other people in their networks. The BRWA has also begun working with the City of Camrose’s Green Action Committee to put together a series of public engagement events on the topics of climate adaptation and action. The intent of these events is to build a shared knowledge base to support the development of a climate action plan for the City.

September 2019

This spring and summer, the Battle River Watershed Alliance (BRWA) partnered with the Agroforestry and Woodlot Extension Society (AWES) on two education and stewardship events. AWES is a non-profit organization with the mission to increase awareness of the economic, social, and environmental values of agroforestry and woodlots in agricultural landscapes. The first event involved working with a landowner who was interested in restoring native plant cover along a stretch of Bigstone Creek, which is located near the headwaters of the Battle River watershed. In May, AWES, BRWA, and a crew of Junior Forest Wardens joined forces to plant around 1,000 native trees and shrubs along the creek. The second event was a workshop about designing and establishing shelterbelts and eco-buffers. Landowners participated in practical hands-on learning about how to conduct a tree planting site assessment and design their own shelterbelt and eco-buffer projects.

In recent months, the BRWA has also been working with the Pigeon Lake Watershed Association to build relationships with the four Maskwacis Cree Nations located in the watershed. We hope to learn more about their priorities for watershed education, stewardship, and management in the Pigeon Lake watershed. The Mamawo Mimiw Sakahikan Working Group was formed to guide these discussions, and includes representation from all four Nations. Community surveys and conversations over the coming months will support the creation of a shared vision for how we can work together to improve the health of the Pigeon Lake watershed and its people and communities.

The BRWA is also gearing up for round two of our Finding Common Ground Tour, to continue exploring current energy systems and future opportunities across the watershed. Check out the upcoming events section of this newsletter for more information!

April 2019

Riparian management and biodiversity have been at the forefront of the Battle River Watershed Alliance’s work during the first months of 2019. We have received funding through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership’s “Environmental Stewardship and Climate Change” grant program to complete a watershed-wide assessment of: 1) riparian intactness, and 2) pressures on riparian health from adjacent upland areas. This assessment will increase our understanding of riparian health across the watershed, and help us prioritize areas for future riparian restoration and conservation efforts. We also recently learned that we have received additional funding to continue with our Buffalo Trail Riparian Restoration Program over the coming year. These funds will enable us to support more landowner projects aimed at protecting or improving the health of riparian areas in the watershed. We also plan to continue hosting educational forums and field days to raise awareness about the links between riparian health, water quality and quantity, biodiversity, community and public health, and more.

For World Water Day 2019 (March 22), the BRWA hosted a “Battle River Biodiversity Forum” to highlight biodiversity and citizen science in our watershed. Speakers from the BRWA, Alberta Lake Management Society, Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute, Cows and Fish (Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society), and Lakeland College shared insights into watershed health through the lens of the diversity of life found across the region. They also provided information on a number of regional initiatives that are involving residents (“citizen scientists”) to collect information on everything from aquatic plants, bugs, and invasive species to water quality, reptiles, and amphibians.

It was a great day spent expanding our view of how the health of our watershed affects not just our own health, but the health of all life forms with which we share this space.

BRWA and the Alberta Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities also continue to work on developing a more integrative watershed health indicator framework. We are currently looking into indicators used by other organizations carrying out similar integrative watershed reporting, in order to support our efforts to identify a suite of indicators that are most relevant and meaningful to the Battle River watershed.

December 2018

First off, a big thank-you to everyone who attended the 2018 ECHO Network Annual Meeting in the Battle River watershed! It was wonderful to share a taste of our Saskatoon berries, Battle River landscapes, and local stewards who are working to protect this place that we love.

In Fall 2018, the Battle River Watershed Alliance (BRWA) has been progressing its work in the areas of source water protection and riparian restoration. We are involved in a project team of the Alberta Water Council that is developing a guidance document to inform a common approach to source water protection across Alberta and provide implementation tools to support this work. Protecting sources of drinking water is an area that would benefit immensely from further integration of health, community, and environment considerations. In the Battle River watershed, this integrative work is currently being undertaken through implementation of the Camrose Source Water Protection Plan. This includes working with agricultural producers to implement beneficial management practices (BMPs) near water, which is the central focus of the BRWA’s Buffalo Trail Riparian Restoration Program. We have been connecting with local landowners through various outreach events over the past year, including this summer’s field day focused on riparian health and livestock watering system options. A number of agricultural producers along the Battle River and tributary streams have expressed interest in implementing BMPs on their land, and the BRWA and our program partners plan to provide technical and financial support for these projects in 2019.

The BRWA was also happy to provide a presentation as part of the October “EcoHealth in Action” webalogue hosted by the western node of CoPEH-Canada. The webalogue highlighted current projects of the four regional cases of the ECHO Network, and was a great opportunity to gain valuable feedback from a wider audience.

July 2018

All of us here in the Battle River Watershed Regional Case are excited to welcome many of you to Camrose, Alberta for the 2018 ECHO Network Annual Meeting in just a few days! We look forward to introducing you to a few of the landscapes that make this prairie-fed watershed so special.

We face many challenges, but we also have a passionate community of people committed to protecting this beautiful place we call home! Municipal partnerships have been an important focus of our work over the past few months. The BRWA hosted two Municipal Watershed Forums aimed at connecting with municipal staff and councillors on topics of watershed education, stewardship, and management.

These forums also provided an opportunity for us to introduce our municipal partners to the ECHO Network and some of the ways we’re seeking to integrate environment, community, and health in our watershed work. ECHO Research Assistant Dar Amsalu has also been connecting with several municipal representatives through interviews focused on looking into the environment, community, and health data needs of municipalities in the Battle River watershed.

In June, we were able to introduce more watershed residents to the ECHO Network during the BRWA’s Annual General Meeting, as well as at the biennial Summit of Alberta’s Watershed Planning and Advisory Councils. The “echoes” of the Network continue to reach further into our watershed community! Next steps centre on progressing our work to develop a more integrated watershed health indicator framework

March 2018 

Climate change, energy options, riparian restoration, and community engagement have been central themes of the Battle River Watershed Alliance’s work as 2018 begins. In February, we hosted the world premiere of our “Finding Common Ground” documentary at the Daysland Palace Theatre. The documentary tells the story and key learnings of our fall 2017 bike tour, which explored the complex dynamics between energy options, climate change, and community resilience in the Battle River region of Alberta. The event was well attended and sparked great conversations. These conversations will continue, as we plan to host a number of other community and youth engagement events on the subject over the coming months. In celebration of World Water Day, and as a wrap-up for our Ponoka Riparian Restoration Program, the BRWA is hosting an event on March 22 that will include information

about native and invasive aquatic species, riparian health assessments, and on-the-ground stewardship actions that are supporting the health of land and water in the Ponoka region. We’re also looking forward to hosting two Municipal Watershed Forums in April to meet with municipal staff and councillors from across the watershed and share information and ideas on our collective work of watershed education, stewardship, and management.

ECHO Network research assistant Dar Amsalu is currently developing a report that investigates common approaches to assessing the potential health impacts of drinking water contamination, particularly as it pertains to human cancer. This information will support future work with Alberta Health Services.

December 2017

The Battle River Watershed Alliance has had an exciting fall, with many projects on the go! We hosted an engaging and informative “Finding Common Ground” bike tour from September 5-7th, which included visits to many energy and resource development hubs in our watershed. Discussions centred around the question of how we “power our way forward”, and touched on the complex ways in which economic, community, and ecological considerations inform how we approach energy options and opportunities in our watershed. We are currently developing a “how-to” guide to provide ECHO Network partners with insight into the process we undertook to plan and implement the bike tour. We were happy to host many members of the BC ECHO Team in Camrose on October 2nd. The morning included lively discussions about “state of the watershed” reporting and indicator development, experiential education connections between AB and BC, and other ECHO-related work. In the afternoon, the team ventured out into the snowy weather for a mini-tour of the watershed.

ECHO Network Research Assistant Dar Amsalu has been working to pull together information on the plethora of environment, community, and health data sets available in Alberta and across Canada, which will help inform our work of developing a more robust watershed health indicator framework. Dar is also undertaking a literature review to investigate potential linkages between cancer and drinking water contamination in Canada and the US. This information will support future work with Alberta Health Services.

Looking ahead to the new year, the BRWA is planning to host two Municipal Watershed Forums in March 2018 to connect with new and returning municipal staff and councillors following the October 2017 Alberta elections. This will be an opportunity to update municipalities on the BRWA’s current work and discuss possibilities for future work and partnerships. We look forward to working with ECHO team members to incorporate environment, community, and health discussions into these forums.

September 2017

The Battle River Watershed Alliance (BRWA) has several projects on the go that connect with the ECHO Network. We are working with the City of Camrose to develop educational materials related to the Camrose Source Water Protection Plan, and have initiated a new riparian restoration pro- gram in the eastern reaches of our watershed. Plans are underway for a “Finding Common Ground” bike tour of the watershed in September, a key focus of which will be the intersection of climate change, our energy choices, and our collective health and wellbeing. We will be visiting several energy hubs in the region, including the Hardisty tank farm, Halkirk wind facility, and Battle River coal-fired generating station. We are also excited to work with Dar Amsalu, the ECHO Network Research Assistant based out of the University of Alberta, and are in conversation with Alberta Health Services about the possibility of examining the potential links between energy development, groundwater quality, and community health in the watershed. Many exciting things are happening, and we look forward to collaborating with the ECHO Net- work to enhance our efforts further!