After three months of zoom meetings and many emails, the very capable team of Francine Forrest (RDRWA Executive Director) , Kelly Dodds (RDRWA Executive Assistant), Peggy Johnson (RDRWA Board Member) and Karen Fahrlander ( RDRWA Board Member) were ready to host the RDRWA Spring Forum.
Two weeks to go before March 8…agenda revisions complete, speakers confirmed, caterer confirmed, number of people attending…confirmed, host’s script confirmed, speaker’s gifts decided…oh the thrill of planning an event!
March 8 greeted us with a warm, sunny day. Arriving early at the Sundre Legion we performed many checks…wifi-check; zoom-check; caterer-check; sound system-check; projector-check; name tags-check; notepads on tables-check; last minute revisions of host scripts. All systems are go!
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1…We welcomed over 80 people to the Red Deer River Watershed Alliance’s Spring Forum. Our first speaker was Jesse Cardinal from Keepers of the Water. Jane Eaket from AEPA talked about flood mapping in the Red Deer River Basin. A presentation titled Groundwater Quantity and Quality was delivered by Dr. Jessica Liggett (AGS). A delicious lunch was served by the Sundre Pickleball Association. Lunchtime gave people an opportunity to connect with others who share an interest in watershed integrity and stewardship.
Dr. Janelle Baker and Dr. Lorelei Hanson from Athabasca University provided the audience with interesting information during their presentation: Restorying Bull Trout in Alberta. Alison Regan from WaterSMART talked about the South Saskatchewan Regional Operation Model. Darian Coulter and Jennifer Caudron from RDRWA gave an update. Todd Assen and (AEPA) and Werner Herrera (AER) answered questions on water licensing from the audience.
Karen and Francine gave closing remarks. An invitation was sent out to the audience to attend a watershed awareness expo in Sundre on May 3 in Sundre. Beginning at 9:00 a.m, guest speaker Lorne Fitch will speak about his experiences as a biologist and share his insights regarding watershed health. Presentations will be given throughout the day from: Legacy Land Trust; Mountain View County; Town of Sundre; artists; water steward and flyfisherman, Rob Holland. This event will highlight the importance of creating sustainable practices to foster responsible watershed stewardship. Collaborating and creating successful partnerships is an added bonus of attending the event.
Our planning team experts are already discussing the possibility of hosting another watershed forum in Sundre. Stay tuned for more information!
Here are the presentations from the event:
Provincial Flood Mapping in the Red Deer River Basin
Restor(y)ing Bull Trout in Alberta
South Saskatchewan River Operational Model (SSROM) – Collaborative Watershed Management