The Calgary Rivers Users’ Alliance (CRUA) was formed to improve recreational boating access to the Bow and Elbow Rivers in Calgary. More recently the scope of our advocacy has expanded to recreation management improvement across the Bow River Basin.
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September 18, 2024NewsThe City of Calgary’s Haskayne Legacy Park, which borders Glenmore Ranch Provincial Park in the city’s northwest, has been a focal point for recreational river and reservoir access for some time. Calgary River Users Alliance (CRUA) has petitioned the city administration and Councilors to designate a public river access site at the park to enhance outdoor pursuits at the Bearspaw Reservoir and improve Bow River recreational opportunities downstream of Cochrane. Unfortunately, a long-standing agreement between the City of Calgary, Rockyview County, and Transalta, the reservoir operator has blocked access to the reservoir through the Haskayne Legacy Park.
This became a contentious issue recently when a local business leader took it upon himself to develop the Bearspaw Marina which opened with public access across the park’s property. Opposition to the development came from the City of Calgary and Transalta.
CRUA’s position has been that public access through Calgary’s Haskayne Legacy Park to the Bearspaw Reservoir is an essential part of the development of outdoor pursuits for its residents. However, the opportunity to add to the Calgary River Access Strategy appears to have been missed in favor of ecological and human heritage in the area. The River Access Strategy approved by the Calgary City Council in 2017 considered the Haskayne Legacy Park as a suitable site for future river access development.
Although the City of Calgary has shown concern for the protection of Bearspaw Reservoir and the city’s water supply, it is unlikely that a river-reservoir access site will have any increase in the impact on water quality. There are also concerns about vehicle access across the CP rail to the reservoir where a staging area and boat ramp would be built.
Neither of these concerns are insurmountable, but there is a need for open dialogue between the City of Calgary and river-reservoir recreation users to address these issues. It is evident that public engagement is needed to define an expanded Haskayne Legacy Park development strategy.
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September 7, 2024NewsThe Bow River Basin is home to a $150 million river recreation community covering the world-class Canoe Meadows on the Kananaskis River, an ever-expanding raft and paddling experience between Canmore and Calgary. Add Calgary’s Harvie Passage Whitewater Park and the downstream Blue Ribbon Trout Fishery there is something for everyone. Unfortunately, river recreation activities are threatened by poor water management policies. Principally the lack of government oversight on Transalta’s Bow River hydroelectric power plant operations upstream of Calgary. The 2013 Bow River flood and the potential for drought in recent years have shifted a balanced water management policy in favor of protecting municipal infrastructure and ensuring an endless water supply to the downstream agriculture irrigation districts.
The result has been extreme flow variability unaccounted for by snowmelt and rainfall across the basin. Throughout the summer months, there has been rapid up-ramping and down-ramping of flows not seen before that disturbed fish feed behavior to such an extent that a day’s sport fishing was either postponed, canceled, or wiped out. There is certainly a belief within the fishing community that government oversight of water management policy is inadequate to protect a vulnerable sport fishery.
Calgary River Users Alliance has engaged with the Government of Alberta and Transalta over these concerns. The following gives details. Without significant and focused engagement on the part of the fishing community to improve the Bow River water management policy the sport fishery will continue to decline.
The Calgary River Users Alliance (CRUA) and our affiliated organizations have followed the Government of Alberta water management policies for some time. CRUA has engaged with the Alberta Environment and Parks – Water Management Policy Group whenever a change in water management policy has compromised the Bow River water recreation activities. This discussion relates to specific policy changes to water flows downstream of the Ghost Reservoir and Bearspaw Reservoir that directly impacted the world-class sports fishery.
The Bow River flows in and downstream of Calgary are governed by the TransAlta Hydro Ghost Reservoir hydropeaking power plant and the Bearspaw Reservoir afterbay hydro plant that cushions the flow variability from the upstream hydropeaking operations. These power plants are governed by federal and provincial agreements dating back decades. Flow regulation is not mandated in these historical agreements, but rather ongoing discussions between government agencies and the primary license holders downstream that assure adequate water supply to meet agricultural and municipal needs.
Following the 2013 Bow River flood an agreement was put in place between TransAlta and the Government of Alberta to regulate the Ghost Reservoir storage capacity from May to early July that better protects the City of Calgary from flooding. Rapid changes in flows took place to meet the GoA directives. After extensive discussions with AEP and the TransAlta Hydro Scheduling Department, the up-ramping and down-ramping of river flows was eased to where there has been limited impact on the sports fishery over the past 4 years.The drought concerns heading into 2024, have seen changes to TransAlta’s water release directives that had unforeseen impacts on the Bow River sport fishery. For example, water discharged out of the Bearspaw Reservoir fluctuated between lows of 50 cubic meters/sec (cms) and highs approaching 100 cms over a three- day period in May 2024. Our concerns were taken to the Alberta Environment and Protected Area’s (AEP) Regulations Compliance Division and TransAlta Corporation’s External Relation Department. The CRUA report documents the Bow River flows and our engagement throughout the summer of 2024 when similar events took place. Only a limited explanation from either the government regulator or the dam operator took place. [...]
July 4, 2024NewsThe following news release was received from Alberta Environment & Protected Areas today. Some important decisions have been made to move the project forward as quickly as possible while recognizing the importance of public engagement in the future of the project development.
The Morley Reservoir Option will not be advanced at this time leaving the Relocated Ghost Dam and Glenbow East Reservoir option still under consideration for flood relief to the City of Calgary and drought relief for downstream agricultural needs. The three original reservoir options have received considerable criticism in recent years given that flood mitigation infrastructure enhancement projects in Calgary, combined with possible optimizing water storage capacity of existing reservoirs, and improved water management policy upstream of Calgary could alleviate most of the flood and drought risk. Therefore, the Alberta Government’s decision to look at alternatives to the two remaining reservoir storage options is appropriate.
July 2024 Update: The Bow River Reservoir Options
Phase 2: Feasibility Study
Thank you for your continued interest in the Bow River Reservoir Options (BRRO) initiative. As part of our commitment to provide regular updates on the initiative, we would like to share information on the recent engagement activities and our work assessing alternatives to a dam and reservoir.
Given the need to move in a timely manner to prevent floods and mitigate drought along the Bow River, Environment and Protected Areas will not advance the Morley option any further at this time. The study continues to assess technical feasibility, while carefully considering a variety of social, environmental, cultural, traditional land use, engineering, and economic elements for the remaining Relocated Ghost Dam and Glenbow East Options. Accordingly, recent engagement efforts focused on these two options.
The current stage of the initiative is indicated in the graphic below. For more details on the BRRO initiative, including feasibility study updates and engagement opportunities, please visit: https://www.alberta.ca/bow-river-reservoir-options
The Bow River Reservoir Options Study Team
The Bow River Reservoir Options initiative will now focus on two reservoir options in the Bow River basin, upstream of Calgary:Relocated Ghost Dam: An expansion of the existing Ghost Reservoir west of Cochrane
Glenbow East: A new reservoir between Cochrane and the Bearspaw Dam at the western edge of CalgaryIn addition, alternatives to the two remaining reservoir option are now being considered.July 2024 Update: The Bow River Reservoir Options
The Alberta government is looking at alternatives, what does that mean?
Although the BRRO is exploring a potential new reservoir on the Bow River upstream of Calgary for water management flexibility, much work has gone into assessing if there is something else, an alternative, that could be done that would provide equivalent flood mitigation and drought protection. The Alberta government is preparing a report that synthesizes the assessments of key alternatives, documenting in one place their benefits, risks and other important considerations. This will help inform a decision on whether to proceed with one of the reservoir options to Phase 3: Engineering and Regulatory Approval Process.
What alternatives are included?
Many alternatives were assessed by the Bow River Working Group, as described in their May 2017 report, Advice to Government on Water Management in the Bow River Basin. The BRRO was initiated as a result of the Alberta government accepting a recommendation from this report.
Other alternatives were assessed during the Phase 1: Conceptual Assessment as documented in the final report, identified as part of a jurisdictional review conducted by the BRRO study team in 2023 or recommended to the Alberta government during BRRO engagement. [...]
May 15, 2024NewsEach year hundreds, or if not, thousands of vehicles are shuttled downstream the Bow River for the convenience of anglers and paddlers to arrive at their destination, knowing that their vehicle is safely delivered to a takeout point. Keys are most likely left with one of the shuttle companies that operate on the Bow River so that the cars or trucks can be moved between designated river access points independent of river recreation activities. The question of vehicle and key security has rarely been a problem. But that all changed in 2023!
In December 2023 one of the commercial shuttle companies had a vehicle stolen that included the client’s keys that had not been secured for the winter months. The exact number of stolen keys was unknown, and clients were unaware of the theft until they planned to use the shuttle service in 2024. Clients’ vehicles were exposed to possible theft over the winter months and may still be at risk. The option to alleviate the problem is to change the keys and lock assembly at a cost exceeding $1500, or have the keys reprogrammed for $200 which will still allow entry into the vehicle but not drive it away.
The latter option was taken by a regular river user, but on the first trip in 2024, the vehicle was opened before the shuttle driver arrived and the vehicle registration and insurance had been stolen. This opens up greater security risks for the vehicle owner’s residence and property are now exposed.
The lesson to be learned: If your keys are currently in the hands of a shuttle company, check if they are still there. If not take appropriate action to secure your vehicle as soon as possible. And discuss with the shuttle operator what key security issues are planned for in 2024
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May 4, 2024NewsThe Bow River and its tributaries have a wide range of flows throughout the year. Peak flows are reached during late June and July following snow melt in the mountains and taper off until the fall. Two graphs document the current water flows through Calgary and below the Carseland Dam after the takeoff into the Bow River Irrigation District Headwater Canal.For a better understanding of the Bow River water management objectives the calculated and natural flows for the Elbow to Highwood, and Highwood to Carseland reached of the Bow River can be found on our Bow River Flows PageThe Alberta Government’ s Rivers App reports live flow rates and snowpack across the province. Stream flow advisories are also available on the website. [...]
Bow River Flows at Calgary, Cochrane and Downstream to Carseland
