brwa welcomes new staff i - beaver river watershed … … · · 2016-12-02brwa welcomes new...
TRANSCRIPT
BRWA Welcomes New Staff
I am pleased to introduce myself as the new
Program Manager for the Beaver River Watershed
Alliance. I grew up in the town of Peace River in
Northwestern Alberta, where my family still lives on
the banks of the Peace River. After high school I
attended Grande Prairie Regional College where I
earned a degree in Forest Resource Management.
From there, I spent a number of years working in the
forest industry throughout Western Canada.
I have been living and working in the Beaver River
Watershed since 2006 and I now call this region
home. Originally, I spent four years living in Meadow
Lake, Saskatchewan which is part of the Saskatchewan
side of the Beaver River watershed and have since been living and working in Bonnyville. I really enjoy
the town and the surrounding area.
I am an avid outdoorsman and enjoy camping, fishing, hunting, slow pitch, soccer, cycling,
watersports and downhill skiing. Over the years I have tried to fish at as many of the lakes in the
watershed (Alberta and Saskatchewan) as possible to explore the region. It is amazing just how
ecologically different Alberta’s Lakeland is from the Mighty Peace Region, yet from a social perspective
the areas are very similar.
I am very excited to be in the position of Program Manager. I am very passionate about the land and
the water where I live, and I am now in a position to be involved with the Beaver River Watershed
Alliance (BRWA) programs every day. I spend most weekends of the summer at Moose Lake at my In-
laws lake lot and enjoying the recreational opportunities that the lake presents. It is this connection
with Moose Lake that led me to the BRWA and I look forward to working on programs in the entire
watershed over the coming years.
In This Issue:
Integrated Watershed Management Plan….…2
Shoreline Cleanup…….4
X-Stream Science……...5
Summer Programs….…6
Beaver River Naturalist
Society……………………..6
WPAC Summit…………..7
Calendar Contest………8
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Fall 2016
Colin Hanusz
Integrated Watershed Management Plan
T he development of the Integrated Watershed Management Plan (IWMP) has resumed with a renewed
focus on stakeholder engagement to determine the top regional water priorities. The first draft of the
document has assembled all of the background information and has identified a few goals for the plan. In the
coming months we will be holding a municipal forum, and will be engaging with First Nations communities and
local watershed stewardship groups. Once we have determined some additional recommendations we will re-
assemble the Technical Advisory Team to review the plan and its recommendations.
W ithin the current draft of the IWMP a number of draft goals have been developed. As we work to
develop priorities additional goals may be identified through the stakeholder engagement process.
The current goals are identified in the following table.
Component Draft Goal
Water Quantity Secure, reliable water supplies
Water Quality Maintained in the natural range of variation
Biodiversity Self-sustaining populations of fish, wildlife and vegetation
Riparian Areas and
Wetlands
Contribute to water quality and critical habitat
Land Management Minimizing the impact of development on water resources
Climate Change Recognized and considered in decision making and planning
Knowledge and Understanding
Balance of local and traditional knowledge, social science and scientific research.
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T hroughout the planning process of the IWMP we will be reviewing the 2013 State of the Watershed
(SoW) report to address the knowledge gaps that were identified. The SoW report provides
information on ground water, surface water, climate, water use, aquatic resources and an in depth look at
each drainage basin within the watershed. The SoW report provides an excellent snapshot in time in
regards to many important indicators. An example from one of the Drainage Basin reports is below.
Moose Lake Drainage Basin Indicators
A s a part of our stakeholder engagement process we are developing new drainage basin orthophoto
maps to distribute. These maps will help stakeholders to identify where they live within the
watershed and connect where they live to the water cycle in the basin. We are also developing a
watershed-scale map that will show the watershed in relation to all the roads and communities within the
watershed. This will serve the functional purpose of an area access map, while increasing the knowledge
of the Beaver River Watershed for our local population.
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Moose Lake Drainage Basin Digital Elevation
Model Marie Creek
Annual Jessie lake Shoreline Cleanup
O n Thursday, September 22nd the BRWA hosted the annual Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup at Jessie
Lake. Approximately 125 community volunteers, including students from Notre Dame High School spent their afternoon removing litter and debris from the shoreline.
L itter has a direct impact on ecosystems, wildlife, drinking water, recreation and the economy. It has
the potential to interfere with important biological processes, introduce non-native species, reduce water quality and negatively impact delicate food webs.
S imilar to last year, the most common item found were cigarette butts. According to Swim Guide
2015, there is no single item in the world that is littered with such abandon as cigarette butts. Cigarettes and cigarette butts are consistently the number one item collected during beach and recreational area clean-ups, making up 35-50% of all litter collected.
B ut even worse, an estimated 80% of butts on the ground find their way into our waterways where it
starts to leach into the environment the assortment of toxins. A cigarette filter can continue to leach these toxins for over 10 years.
A ground breaking study conducted by San Diego State University on the effects of discarded
cigarettes on marine life showed that one cigarette soaked in the water for 96 hours leached enough toxins to kill half of the fresh or saltwater fish exposed to it. The study is the first of its kind, and has spurred more research into the public health and environmental side effects cigarette butts have when they hit the water.
P lease remember to always properly dispose of cigarette butts and share with others the
importance of doing so. For more information on the cleanup and a detailed inventory of all the litter items collected please visit our website at www.beaverriverwatershed.ca. Read the full article “Cigarette Butts Are Poisoning The Water” by Gabrielle Parent-Doliner in Swim Guide at the link https://www.theswimguide.org/2015/10/07/butt-bugs-cigarette-litter-and-the-beach/.
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X -Stream Science has seen a very successful first
year. Throughout May and September 2016, the
BRWA delivered 7 X-Stream Science programs to 3 local
high schools and over 200 students. The schools
included Notre Dame High School, Bonnyville
Centralized High School and Cold Lake High School.
S tudents from these schools had the opportunity to
sample the water quality of the Beaver River and
Marie Creek on half-day Field Studies. The students
used scientific protocols to collect aquatic benthic
macroinvertebrates (water bugs) and conduct water
quality tests to answer the question “What is the health
of my local river?” Specific parameters that were tested
include surrounding land use, riparian area vegetation,
aquatic benthic macroinvertebrates and water quality
data, such as temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH,
conductivity and turbidity.
W e are very proud of this program and even
accepted an Award of Excellence from Synergy
Alberta in October for the work being done. The BRWA
is excited to bring it to more schools and organizations
in the Beaver River watershed in the Spring of 2017! If
you would like to learn more about the program or
would like your school/ group to be involved please
contact Chantelle at 587-201-4345 or
Proudly funded by the Municipal District of Bonnyville, Town of Bonnyville, City of Cold Lake and Lac La Biche
County.
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T he Beaver River Naturalist Society provides a forum, unique in our area, for the appreciation and grassroots
conservation of our nature-rich watershed. The Society’s Mission is to promote the enjoyment,
conservation and study of natural history. The small group of 15-20 people is involved in several member and
outreach activities, and strives to promote community interest and conservation awareness of the areas rich
flora and fauna.
Upcoming events:
Christmas Bird Count - Saturday, December 17th, 2016
Great Backyard Bird Count - Friday, February 17th, 2017
(http://www.audubon.org/content/about-great-backyard-bird-count)
Contact BRNS President Ted Hindmarch at 780-942-3103 or
[email protected] to get involved!
Beaver River Naturalist Society
Summer Programs
T he BRWA had a very busy summer with education programs and outreach events! Throughout July and August programs were
delivered to the Bonnyville Boys and Girls Club, Bonnyville and District Centennial Centre’s Science Camp, Lac La Biche County’s Mad About Science Program, Bonnyville Canadian Native Friendship Centre’s Day Camp, campgrounds and local libraries!
T he BRWA visited the Bonnyville, Cold lake, St. Paul and Elk Point libraries to deliver a total of 9 interactive presentations to the
Summer Reading Programs. These presentations focused on topics such as watersheds, water, wetlands and animals of the Boreal Forest.
T hroughout the summer you may have also seen the BRWA at local events with our display materials! We attended the Cold Lake
Canada Day Celebrations, Moose Lake Walleye Classic, Lac La Biche Environment Festival, Cold Lake Mega Geocaching Event, Cold Lake Aqua Day and Parks Day!
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2017 Watershed Planning and Advisory Council Summit
T he 2016 Watershed Planning and Advisory Council (WPAC) Summit was hosted by the
Bow River Basin Council in Calgary, Alberta on October 27th and 28th. The event brought together people from all corners of the province representing each of Alberta’s 11 WPACs.
T he Summit takes place every other year as an opportunity for the WPACs to come
together to share their successes, ideas and plans for the future. The BRWA was able to attend the event with 5 representatives!
F or those unable to attend the event, the WPACS prepared a summary
document – “Achievements, Integrated Watershed Planning, Collaboration” – for the 2016 WPAC Summit. Be sure to check it out under the Publications tab of our website http://beaverriverwatershed.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/WPAC-Summit-1.compressed.pdf.
Co-Chairs
Roxane Bretzlaff [email protected]
Kristy Tetreau
Follow Us!
www.beaverriver-watershed.ca
Beaver River Water-shed Alliance
@BeaverWatershed
@BeaverWatershed
Independent Standing Committee of
2017 Youth Calendar Contest O ur 2017 Youth Calendar Contest received a total of 133
entries from youth across our watershed! Throughout the year we asked students to draw their favorite memory in the Beaver River watershed. In this calendar, you will see how our youth have been enjoying the Beaver River watershed and some of the favorite memories they have made, from watching wildlife to hiking, swimming and camping! These moments of enjoying our local natural areas are very important to our youth understanding the importance of keeping these areas healthy.
W e would like to thank everyone for their entries; thirteen pieces of artwork were chosen to be featured in the
BRWA’s 2017 calendar. We would like to recognize our winners: Ashton Lawrence, Keira Dearing, Rhianna Abdy, Mia Theriault, Decon Tkachuk, Gabrielle O’Quinn-Brennan, Tim Richard, Koda Piche, Alexandria Janvier, Silas Scanie, Paisley Campbell, Rylie Landry and Danielle Antoniuk. Congratulations! Each winner will be presented with a 50$ visa gift card on behalf of the BRWA to recognize their success. Visit the office to get your copy of the 2017 Youth Calendar!
Staff
Colin Hanusz Program Manager
587-201-5517 colin@beaverriverw-
atershed.ca
Chantelle Adams Education & Outreach
Coordinator 587-201-4345
chantelle@beaverriver- watershed.ca
5107W 50 Street
Bonnyville, Alberta
T9N 2J5
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