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.