SUNDRE — A local councillor has joined an ad hoc group struck by the Alberta Water Council (AWC) that will be exploring and identifying future provincial water management needs as well as opportunities and challenges that are expected to arise in the coming years.
Presenting council with background information during a special meeting in recent weeks by teleconference, Linda Nelson, chief administrative officer, said the matter was brought forward in light of Coun. Cheri Funke’s expressed interest in sitting as a member of the group.
In June, the AWC’s membership endorsed creating the ad hoc group to consider potential future opportunities and challenges as well as to develop possible options such as improved cooperation, identifying capacity development programs, and outlining a priority list of water management issues to be reviewed in coming years, said Nelson.
“Several programs exist in Alberta to manage water, such as the Water for Life strategy, the Water Act, the Alberta Land Stewardship Act to name a few,” states a portion of AWC’s call for members to create the ad hoc group.
“While the province’s water management system continues to operate effectively, it is important to proactively identify and address challenges and opportunities to our water management system that may be on the horizon. Additionally, by analyzing any potential risks that each challenge or opportunity may pose to our water management system, the province can better position itself to plan and adapt to any changes,” the document reads.
Coun. Rob Wolfe moved to support his colleague’s participation in the ad hoc group project.
Coun. Richard Warnock wondered, “How large of an outreach, or how large of a group this will become — or is there any kinds of limitations?”
Funke, who previously spoke with Tanya Thorn, the vice-president of AWC and a councillor from Okotoks, said, “There isn’t a limit, they haven’t set how many members they would be requesting. They wanted to start out with finding out how much interest there is about the group before they narrow down who would be involved with it.”
Mayor Terry Leslie sought clarification with regards to how the initiative might be important to the Town of Sundre, which is already a member of the Red Deer River Municipal Users Group and the Red Deer River Watershed Alliance.
“What difference would this make and the impact it might have for our community?” Leslie asked.
Funke said the alliance uses AWC’s Water for Life strategy as a basis for most of what the organization does for Alberta Environment.
“I thought it would be important because, as we all know, water is very important to our community. We start at the top, we take our water from there, and then we release into the river. So, I thought it would be a very important role for us to be involved in,” she said.
Following up, the mayor also asked whether the councillor was aware of any other municipalities along the Red Deer River watershed that have expressed interest in joining the ad hoc group.
“That information hasn’t been released,” said Funke, adding that up to that point, interested parties in the southern portion of the province had only been instructed to submit notices of intent to join.
“There isn’t much more information released other than that,” she said.
The motion on the floor carried unanimously.
