A standing room-only crowd of 250 turned out last week to talk hear about the Blindman River and how the province regulates the use of its water for industry, farming and communities.
Rural Municipalities of Alberta chair and Ponoka County Reeve Paul McLauchlin moderated the meeting last Thursday and was both surprised and pleased by the turnout.
Those who attended were provided overviews of how Alberta Environment and Protected Areas (AEPA) and the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) oversee and manage the province's water resources and determine how much can be used for fracking and other uses.
Seniors, Community and Social Services Minister and Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre MLA and Lacombe-Ponoka MLA Jennifer Johnson attended along with representatives from Calgary-based Baytex Energy, who provided insight into how they manage water use for fracking.
McLauchlin said the recent run of dry years has more people talking about water conservation and how best to manage the resource.
"Folks in this neighbourhood have been observing changes in stream flow, in the tributaries especially of the Blindman, but also in the Blindman itself," he said on Monday.
At the same time that conditions have been drier, there has been increased oil and gas activity in the region.
McLauchlin believes the gathering will serve as a "call to action.
"I think the province is learning probably that increasing communication is a critical piece."
From the community side, there were calls to boost public involvement in how water resources are managed.
"I think that was definitely heard as a sort of call to action," he said. "I wouldn't be surprised to see some local action in a progressive and helpful manner."
That is definitely the game plan for Friends of Blindman River, the group of volunteers who organized the meeting at Ponoka County's Liberty Hall, northeast of Rimbey.
Friends member Haleigh Sanderson said they were very happy to see so much interest in the watershed's future and collected many names of area residents interested in volunteering. The group hopes to meet with Medicine River Watershed Society members this fall to get advice on how to create a similar organization for the Blindman River.
"I think the presenters were really good. I think a lot of people gained a lot of knowledge," said Sanderson. The group is working with the province and the energy regulator to have the presentations available online soon.
Earlier this month, the group sent a detailed letter to Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz to do more to protect the aquatic ecosystem to apply the province's Water Conservation Objectives,which are considered when water licences are approved, to smaller tributary rivers "especially in water-short or potentially water-short areas, such as the Blindman and Medicine River sub-basins."
The Friends called on the minister to appoint an expert panel to review water conservation objectives and to do more to gather data on watersheds to regularly update state of the watershed reports.
The group says it is not opposed to the "judicious use of freshwater for hydraulic fracturing or other industries." However, water diversion licences should only be issued when sufficient water is available.
Sanderson said the group is still awaiting Schulz's reply to their concerns before deciding what next steps to take on the advocacy front.
Also coming are answers from the AER to some of the group's detailed technical questions such as the methods used to determine the flow rates used to determine water allocation.
For information go to blindmanriver.ca or go to the groups Facebook page.
