Water Future

Water is always changing. And our stories and understanding of water will have to change and adapt as we face challenges of climate change, invasive species, development and pollution. But there are also new technologies, new ways of researching water systems, and new understandings of how watersheds work.

For a good water future, I believe that water needs more appreciation and respect.

Appreciate the role that water plays in our daily lives.

Appreciate our impacts on the water systems. 

Appreciate that water keeps us alive.

Appreciate that water gives us quality of life. 

Respect that water is one of the most powerful natural forces on earth. 

Respect that water can destroy homes, lives and cities.

Respect that water allows us to thrive in our homes, lives and cities.

With appreciation and respect we will be in a position to adapt to whatever the future holds.

And how can we make this happen?

• Get out and explore the watersheds in your community and across Canada.
• Learn more about local water issues.
• Get involved in project like this one.
• Tell your water stories to others. Listen to their stories.
• Teach water appreciation to your friends, family and community. 
• Help people make their own water memories.
• Donate or volunteer with organizations that help establish water security in Canada and abroad. 

Canadians and Water

As Canadians we have a lot of Water. What struck me the most is that we make memories by water. But as a big country, the watersheds we know and love are very different. As an Albertan I grew up with glacial lakes and rivers. I believe many Canadians have a happy memory related water. But each experience is unique to the particular time and place the memory was made.

I believe the more waters we can experience, the more stories we hear, the more memories we make, the more fully we will be able to understand the greatness that is our Canadian water.

Common Themes

Water is our happy place. 

Many of the personal stories I read recounted happy memories being in or near water. We live by water and it is often the most beautiful part of our neighborhood. We vacation by water, it is where we play, have fun and spend time with our friends and families. Only a few people had negative stories of water or associate it with bad things. Why is this?

Water is natural.

Bow Lake. One of my favourite natural places.

Many connections to water were rooted to a natural place. We associate water with nature. It has a physical presence in our lives. Why are we less likely to think about the water that comes from the tap or other household uses of water? Is it because we are emotionally less connected to the water in our taps? The water we drink is the water that keeps us alive.

Water is taken for granted.

 

This challenge opened my eyes to my water use and made me think about the many ways it is so essential to my life. I felt that other bloggers has the same realizations. Why is it so hard for us to connect water with the bigger picture of our lives? Thankfully this challenge made the bubbles around us a bit bigger to help us appreciate and understand how the water system is so important to our lives and communities. Now we just have to share our new understanding!

Water has a story.

 

We all have something to say about water. And it strikes me that the more we think about it, explore it and talk about it, the more stories there are.

Blog comments

It was great to read other blogs from the challenge. There was lots of creativity and interesting ideas brought up.

Some of my comments to fellow bloggers include:

My other comments did not appear on the public blog yet. (or I mis-posted).

• For Jessica I thought her gathering was a great idea. I was wondering what types of discussions the students had after her presentation. I also wanted to know if the students were aware of the issue before the presentation. 

• For Kandras I was excited to read that she also takes kids pond dipping and teaches students about ecosystems. There is nothing like helping kids find awesome creatures to make you enthusiastic about environmental issues of all sorts. I also believe she has great enthusiasm for water and the environment and have no doubt that she will make a difference in the environmental movement.

The Gathering

At this time of year in Waterton Park, there are very few people living here (about 10 of us under 30). Hosting a gathering was more difficult than I thought. It was almost impossible to bring a group together on one night.

So for this activity I used a previously planned dinner gathering to bring up the topic with the group and over the next few days made an effort to speak to individuals in more detail about water issues here in Waterton. I focused on the ethical dilemma we face about restoring the aquatic ecosystem and how to go about that.

Here are some interesting examples we discussed that are relevant to restoration issues. 

Fish and Bison

While there is a lot of research and restoration work going on in some national parks, there is very little optimism for the future of the bull trout here. In many ways it is good that Waterton has maintained a well-connected watershed. There are no culverts, dams or any other obstructions that isolate populations of fish. But this also means that once an invasive fish is introduced they can and will get everywhere. It would be nearly impossible to remove all the non-native fish from the entire park.

The only isolated waters in Waterton are the small, historically fishless lakes. If we really want to have the native bull trout here, it would be possible to remove the non-native fish from these lakes and introduce a small population of bull trout to these lakes. But is this really what it means to have a healthy aquatic ecosystem? Is it enough to just have the right species somewhere?

A similar decision was made with the plains bison. In the early 1800’s they had disapeared from the prairie landscape due to over-hunting. Today Waterton has about 15 plains bison that live in a large corral at the edge of the park. These bison, while they do offer great viewing for visitors and are in their natural habitat and area, they are not making the same contributions to the ecosystem that their ancestors were as they roamed the plains in great herds.

The general consensus with my friends is that it is not worth harming other fish and invertebrates just to have a few native fish when they can’t really be part of the ecosystem. 

Linnet Lake

Linnet Lake used to be a very popular swimming area. Parks built a bath house in the early 1920’s and even employed lifeguards in the late 1920’s. But eventually over the decades the water was contaminated with many tadpoles and in the mid 1950’s bloodsuckers infested the lake. In response to this a large olympic size swimming pool was built in 1960. From this point swimming in Linnet Lake has not been encouraged. From 1960 onward people swim in the available pools in Waterton. 

This is a great example of how our use changed the aquatic ecosystem of Linnet Lake. But over time we realized our activities were not suitable for the area and needed to change. So change we did. While there are still invasive species in Linnet Lake, it has become a popular place for animals to hide in amidst all the tourists. I have seen bears quietly swimming in Linnet Lake this past summer, just out of site from visitors at the boat docks on lower Waterton Lake. The wildlife cameras pick up a lot of action particularly from cougars and bears using the lake. 

This is an interesting reflection on how our activities impact aquatic health, but also how we can change our behaviours which can open up new opportunities. While Linnet Lake is probably not the same place or the same ecosystem it was in the 1800’s it still provides valuable habitat and cover for animals living in a high visitor use area of a national park. 

For me this seems like an interesting example of how change happens and we have to adapt – good things can happen and new life can benefit from an altered ecosystem. Now the question is can we learn from this little example and apply it to bigger issues of aquatic health? We are still up to debate on that!

My reflections on this activity.

While I had some great discussions with people about aquatics and learned more about Waterton conservation issues, I did not succeed in hosting a gathering where people came together to really discuss water issues at the same time.

Perhaps I could have found more time to make a more structured and engaging event. Reflecting on how I could have done this differently I though about other environmental events I have been to since graduating from university. I have found, being outside the school/academic setting there is very little interest in formal discussions or presentations about social and environmental issues. I have myself attended presentations and workshops and am often the youngest by decades. Here in Waterton my friends come from all over; some have degrees, some don’t. We live and work in a national park and love being outside. But again, I found very little interest in structured discussion, gatherings and learning of environmental issues outside of work. So my thoughts going forward is how to engage with my friends (youth out of school) effectively about topics like this. Any suggestions or observations from others on this are most welcome.  

More To Learn

I have touched on the tip of the iceberg when it comes to aquatic health in Waterton Lakes National Park, the Oldman River watershed and the Crown of the Continent ecosystem as a whole.

I gathered information speaking to resource conservation staff with Parks Canada, as well as reading reports online. There are links in some of my posts to these articles. If you have further questions or are looking for more details please comment.

An Ethical Dilemma

What will healthy mountain watersheds look like in the future?

What aquatic insects will survive? Will there be bull trout?

What should we do about the health of the watersheds?
Can we keep the glaciers from melting?
Should we reintroduce westslope cutthroat trout?







Should we kill all the non-native rainbow trout? 
Should we allow fish to live in the historically fishless lakes?

 

 

Will we have to change our recreational activities to maintain a healthy watershed?

Aquatic Health Indicators

Aquatic insects are an essential part of the watersheds in mountain lakes. They are habitat specific in their distribution and depend on specific water temperatures. Researchers use them as an indicator of climate warming.

Grinnell Glacier - Glacier National Park

In particular meltwater stoneflies and the glacier stoneflies are disappearing from the glaciers and snowpacks of Waterton Lakes and Glacier national parks. Research continues to discover what this means to aquatic health and what the populations of aquatic insects will look like in the future. We will discover which insects are most adaptable to the changing watersheds. 

Meltwater Stonefly

Climate Change

While the species distribution of aquatic life has changed in the past 100 years, there are bigger changes happening to the watershed. And this is climate change.

 

The Canadian Aquatic Bio-monitoring Network for the mountain parks is monitoring watersheds across the Rocky Mountains. Through monitoring like this we are getting a better picture of aquatic health for the Rocky Mountains as a whole and the health of specific streams and lakes.

Volunteers looking for aquatic invertebrates. Carthew Lakes - Waterton Lakes National Park

We are learning that climate changes is altering water temperatures and levels. This begins right at the start of the watershed with the disappearing glaciers and snow pack

Research is showing that brown trout and rainbow trout are the most adaptable to the changes in the water temperatures and water levels. In contrast there are very few streams and lakes suitable for the bull trout to live.

The Watershed Today

Today in our streams and lakes there are no westslope trout and bull trout live in only 2 streams.

Many Rainbow trout and book trout have hybridized, further reducing populations of bull trout. 

And in the high mountain lakes the mighty rainbow trout is now the top of the food chain, eating the once powerful invertebrates.

To encourage outdoor recreation in Waterton Lakes National Park, the lakes and streams were stocked with fish from the 1930's to the 1980's. 

The best fish for fishing were the rainbow trout and brook Trout. They are aggressive cold water fish who thrive in the mountain watersheds. 

The more aggressive rainbow and brook trout began to take over and push the bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout out of the waters. 

And so our waterways changed.

The People

Many people began to visit to the mountain oasis of Waterton Lakes, a cool escape from the heat of the prairies.

They liked to camp and fish or go to the restaurants, dance halls and swimming pools that were being built.

But else where oil was found along the edges of Cameron Creek. Others made money trapping for furs.

A Story of Change

Long, long ago…

In the cold waterts of the Rocky Mountains, many bull trout and cutthroat trout lived happily in the mountain streams.

And high up in the alpine stoneflies and caddisflies were the top of the food chain in the fishless lakes. 

Changing Waters

Grinnell Glacier, Montana

The story of water is a story of change. It’s solid ice, it’s flowing water, it’s an invisible gas. It trickles down the mountain slopes, flows down streams, rushes through rapids and eventually waves through the ocean. Water is constantly changing through time, through space, through place.

And yet in our lives water is a constant. It is the special lake we visit every summer. It helps create the identity of our home towns. Some even say the waters of Canada add to our national identity.

So how do we understand the changes in our watersheds? The waters are a constant in our lives but are continually changing. What do these changes mean?

The Bull Trout and His Friends

Linnet Lake in the Spring

The cold waters of mountain streams and lakes make it difficult for plants and many species of fish to survive.

But fish like the Bull trout thrive in these waters, along with their friends bacteria, fungi, planktons, insect larvae, snails, plants, amphibians and some fish.

To survive in the Rocky Mountains streams, species like Bull Trout and Westslope Cutthroat Trout are specially adapted for the COLD. If the waters warm up, they will not survive.

The Bull Trout and his friends are the canaries in the coal mine, for warming temperatures in the ecosystem. The native species of fish and aquatic invertebrates are also very sensitive to invasive species.

An important issue for all the watersheds in the Crown of the Continent is the aquatic health. Many people in the region are working to research the health of the aquatic ecosystems and learn how to keep them healthy.

My Watershed

Upper Waterton Lake in October

The Waterton Lakes watershed is part of the Crown of the Continent ecosystem. The Crown of the Continent contains headwaters that stream to Hudson's Bay, the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Waterton Lakes run out the Waterton and Belly Rivers to Hudson's Bay. The waters here are in both Canada and the USA and are a prominent feature of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.

Waterlution Challenge

I work as an interpreter for Waterton Lakes National Park where I strive to connect park visitors with the landscape around them. Participating in this challenge is a way for me to try new methods of connecting people to Canada’s natural spaces.

I also wish to share my energy and enthusiasm about our Canadian ecosystems, waterways and natural areas with other young Canadians. The Great Water Challenge is a unique opportunity to network with other like-minded youth across Canada.

Water and Me

During my first open water swimming race in the Quarry in Canmore, I started the swim with a big group of swimmers. But with my head in the cold dark water I felt very alone. All I could see was the sun filtering down a few inches and then darkness. My mind was thinking of the girl who drowned in the Quarry a month before. With darkness all around, there was nothing I could focus on other than the looming panic in my mind. So I turned inward, counted my strokes and 'just kept swimming'. Within minutes I had reached the other side of the small lake. Here it was shallower, sunlight reached the bottom and stringy weeds were swaying upwards to the surface. The sight of those weeds immediately calmed my mind. Seeing the life growing in the water reminded me that this cold dark water was also life giving and life supporting.With this thought, I enjoyed the remaining 1200m of my swim.

This experience was unique because I felt how powerful water is and how it needs to be respected. Water is essential to our lives, it is something we live and die from.

Me receiving a medal for the open water swim.

                                              

Who am I?

I have spent 28 years exploring and living all over Canada. I am most at home at the cold mountain lakes of the rockies around the Bow Valley. Currently I call Waterton Lakes National Park my home.