Oldman Watershed Council (OWC)

OK something a little more technological for all you night people up late because it was too hot to do anything earlier.

I've simply given you a link here (see below in red). It will show a narrated PowerPoint (I hope it works on everyone's machine who has Power Point loaded).

>>YOU MUST DOWNLOAD IT<<< It's 100 MB.

Once you've downloaded it, just open the file and click on the tab "SlideShow" and "From Beginning".

There are 44 slides. The first one has a photo by Lorne Fitch and some music by Richard Burke. You need to click on the little megaphone to hear his soundtrack. (You can see the little megaphone I'm referring to in this screenshot below).


Once you've listened to "Lost Creek", just advance to the next the slide. Don't jump out of your skin once the narration starts! Check your speakers for volume before you start.

If you don't want to hear the narration, just click the box "Use Presenter's View" under that same "SlideShow" tab. Under each slide then, will appear some accompanying sentences that you can read along with.

This particular PowerPoint is the Communications and Outreach Update from the recent AGM which celebrated OWC's 10-year anniversary. It will tell you a little bit about the Communications Strategy in general (how it ties in to the Strategic Plan), the new emblem, why you should care about Social Media (and why Facebook 'Likes' don't mean anything) - and bring you up to date about the Film.

Don't forget that the trailer for the Film is coming out very soon. Anyone who was at the AGM will have had a little taster, since we showed a clip of some of the footage there. As soon as that's perfect, I will be releasing it to you.

The link is below. Just copy and paste it into your browser:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6RQH-WTrQZ5M2hzbWlqTFQ4R0U/view?usp=sharing

Please let me know how this goes and if you enjoyed the presentation. There are a lot more we'd like to share with you, including some of the great presentations from this year's AGM. If there are technical glitches, well, please let me know about them too, so that I can make it easier for folks who want to tune in.

We had a great day - starting off with Naturalist Lloyd Bennett out by the Sand Dunes 25 km east of Taber. Actually, the crew was out at the crack of dawn getting "beauty shots" as the sun rose. We met Lloyd and talked about biodiversity, endangered/at-risk species, invasive species, sagebrush, and more. I was incredibly moved by Lloyd's deep passion for the land and all its creatures. Thanks to Lloyd for taking time out of his busy day for us!

Chris took us out to meet Mike Wind, north of the dunes. His place has got the most stunning view of the Oldman. That, a slice of homemade cake and a steaming cup of coffee and we were set to plan the rest of the shoot. Mike's got some pretty fancy variable-rate irrigation technology and some beautiful-looking potato hills. I swear I am now in reverance every time I eat a potato chip after hearing him talk about all the work that goes into it. But we didn't just hear about it, we went to his production area to see the world's hugest storage of potatoes!!!

That's where this next photo comes in: Mike and his crew good-naturedly signed the media release forms so that we could film them in the plant.

Out at Mike Wind's place near Taber. It takes good water and smart watershed management to make good potatoes!

We next caught shots of intensive livestock operations - hogs, chickens and cattle - all from one viewpoint in a 360 degree view around the landscape. Watershed health means managing industry and prosperity alongside water quality issues.

We got some great shots of the canals and the 'Gabion' wall near north Fincastle (it's Italian for "basket" and it's a natural way of getting gunk out of the water). From there, on to see Kyle Gouw and some gorgeous looking onions and his on-farm reservoir. We were also joined at the end of the day by Mayor De Vlieger - thanks to everyone who participated as our "cast" this day and props to Chris for an entire day of his time for this project.

The other locations this month? Well, our MAJOR SHOOT of course was going to be up at the Oldman falls in the headwaters. Totally rained out and I mean POURING both days. The best I got was this little picture on my phone of a beautiful little creek when it had calmed down to a drizzle the end of the second day. Thanks to David McIntyre (star guest blogger) and Kevin Turner ("Mr. Turbidity") for their time in doing inside interviews with us. Both of these men donate much time and energy as eyes and ears for the watershed.

This little creek was bubbling and clear but all the others we saw these two days were straight brown sludge and the area up at Allison Creek has been ravaged by OHV use - and illegal felling of centuries' old trees.

Another day, another rained-out shoot, this time out at Piikani Reserve. I was truly honoured to have Evelyn Crowshoe, "Mother of the Oldman River", with us this day. She's here in the photo below with Randall Wolftail, who is on the OWC Board. It quasi-cleared up briefly, so we went to look out at the hard work that is being done to secure the pumps and equipment from the river - it has vastly changed its course. One of the saddest things I heard this day was that, not so long ago (both Evelyn and Randall remember this), the water was swimmable and the bushes were laden with berries. Over 100 people lived down near the water. The dam changed the nature of the river: it is too cold to swim in and moves far too fast to be safe. Evelyn said: "No one comes down here anymore".

Heartfelt thanks to Evelyn, Randall, the Piikani CEO Byron Jackson and Shirley Crow Shoe for their time and willingness to speak with us on this rainy day. You are going to be enthralled by the Napi stories they shared with us!

Evelyn Crowshoe is about to bless the river with a gift of tobacco once the cameras get out of her face and give her some solitude!

On the way down to Castle Ski Resort

Some other shots ... I went down to Castle Ski Resort for the AGM of the Alberta Southwest Regional Economic Development AGM to present the new Oldman emblem and talk about the Film Project ... no rain, but some really outstanding rolling clouds!

Our next shoot is June 16th down near Waterton - PLEASE pray for glorious sunshine and epic panoramas!!! I'll keep you posted...

The sun's just set on our beautiful watershed. Absolutely breathtaking.

To view April's E-newsletter, click here

Yesterday, in a fit of cynicism, I wondered whether designating one day as Earth Day made any difference. Here's what happened today:

I picked up the Lethbridge Herald on the way to work and began to peruse it as I sipped coffee at my desk. Would there be any local coverage of Earth Day, I wondered? Look no further than page A3, Hometown News. Tijana Martin's got a photo in there to accompany an article by Melissa Villeneuve. The photo shows Ty Marshall, 17, from Victoria Park High School. To compliment his very cool Black Sabbath T-Shirt and shades, his plastic gloves indicate serious business as he scours the coulees for garbage. So whoever said garbage-picking isn't cool?

Lethbridge Herald featuring the "Free the Children" Earth Day clean-up action.

It wasn't just him. 100 students were out there, cleaning up the mess we have left behind.

But there's more: in addition to participating in the Earth Day cleanup, they applied for, and were successful in procuring, $1,000 through the Telus "We Give Where We Live" program. These kids donated that money to the Lethbridge Food Bank. Environmental AND Social awareness?! Makes the Oldman just tear up at the thought of it. Seriously.

So who are the great teachers inspiring these kids? You don't have to look far - there is Mr. Sadlowski in the photo, bent over with garbage bag, right behind his student, camera slung over his shoulder, hoofing it up the coulee. Reading further, there is an additional teacher involved as co-facilitator - Karla Wright. Both teachers meet every Thursday at noon with the group, called "Free The Children".

It doesn't take the Oldman long to pick up the phone to thank the teachers and the students for their great work. A Thank You goes a long way - there is an endless supply of them, yet so few in circulation. Yes, you can quote me on that. I ask whether Mr. Sadlowski thinks the group would be interested in the OWC's Film Project. Part of the project involves reaching out to students. Donations from anyone under 18 to the Film Project are honoured with a professional photo opportunity with the OWC and a special blog posting (did you know our blog has had nearly 15,000 hits?!) Best of all, students will be invited to a free "How To Film The Watershed" seminar (to be offered in Taber, Lethbridge and Pincher Creek).

Follow #oldmangoestohollywood on Twitter for updates on the Film Project and great photos!

So next Thursday, the OWC is going to Victoria Park High School in Lethbridge to meet these outstanding watershed warriors and invite them to get involved with our Film Project. I am hoping to inspire them to create their own watershed videos and upload them to our new OWC You Tube channel.

Communication, after all, isn't only about "getting our message out there". It's also about supporting each other's efforts to make our watershed a better place to live, work and play - hearing each other's messages and acting on them.

(Editor's Note: The Oldman recently toured the wastewater and water treatment plants for the City of Lethbridge as part of our Film Project. Here's a little update. Do check out #oldmangoestohollywood if you are a Twitter user.)

The other day, we met with OWC's Chairman, Doug Kaupp, who is also the General Manager of Water and Wastewater for the City of Lethbridge. The City has generously sponsored the OWC Film Project as a Collaborative Partner. The OWC gets $5,000 to put toward the film-making, and the City gets three videos: one for kids, one for the public at large, and one for scientists. The Collaborative Partner gets the videos at a fraction of the commercial cost, and the Oldman gets to create invaluable educational material.

For the City's videos, we toured three main sites: the waste water treatment plant, the water treatment plant and some river locations for storm outfalls and other technology.

It's a good thing this is a story told in pictures and not in smells! ...but, here we go:

So this first picture ^^ is where all the toilet flushings and drainage from the city of Lethbridge is collected to ONE POINT. I know, it's not fluffy birdies and flowers, but it's high time you knew. Yes, it stinks to high heaven.

This is a very complicated process.  There are ten of these"sludge pools", bubbling and working away.

In fact, this process is was pioneered in Lethbridge. The gas created in this sludging process is actually captured and used for electricity to run the plant! How tidy!

And here's a photo of "Mr. Water", Doug Kaupp, who is taking the Oldman Film Crew on a tour of the facilities and explaining the wastewater treatment process to us. Doug has a lot of responsibility for taking care of us all!

There is not an alien living in this tank. It is actually ultraviolet light, used to treat the water once it's past the sludge stage. It has a green tinge due to the algae.

On to the next stage! There are several buildings, each with it's own function, and all connected with massive pipes.

Jim MacDonald, left, is the Wastewater Plant Manager in Lethbridge. A lot of people are involved in making sure our water is clean and healthy for everyone downstream.

Great chemistry brains aren't just found on TV! Brian Thomson is the brains at the water treatment plant.  Wastewater gets treated differently than water does than stormwater does. The difference? Wastewater is downstream. It's what we put down the drain. It must go through a careful cleaning process before it is put back into the river. It all goes to users downstream. The sludge removed is what powers the plant itself, but you can help by being more careful about what you put down the drain: use biodegradable soap and pour your cleaning water in the yard; don't put hair in the sink or toilet and keep cooking fats out of the drains.  Water treatment is upstream. It's what we take in from the river flowing into the City. It has come from the headwaters in the mountains and passed through the communities and landscapes to the west and we take a portion of it into the water treatment plant where we remove contaminants and treat for purity. That then, flows into your taps.  Stormwater is what falls as precipitation from above. It falls on your roof, your car, your yard. You could be capturing it from the roof in a rain barrel, making sure you don't wash your car in the driveway, avoiding the use of pesticides and herbicides in your yard (hey! dandelions are the first bee food!) - and keeping your storm drain clean. All this water collects in the gutters and is transported straight into the river. Whatever you do to your yard, fish drink. That's the concept of "We are all downstream". Luckily, more and more people are getting into gardening, permaculture and xeriscaping as beautiful - and useful - 'English lawn' alternatives. We do, really, live in a semi-arid climate.   Adding to this list, we also have groundwater, which is what you would use if you have a well.

Away from all the plants and pipes and down to the Oldman River for some fresh air!                We're going to see the weir (Get it?!!)

Nice shot, if I do say so myself. The lovely cottonwoods across the river are budding and waiting to leaf. We saw Spring's first butterflies and a few tiny flowers. Doug took us to a few different stormdrains that exit into the river. Yes - whatever is on your street- leaves, garbage, paint, soapsuds ... whatever your pour into the gutteror the street drain ... DOES NOT GET TREATED. It flows straight into the river and straight onto wildlife like beaver and trout. It is important for us, as neighbours, to keep storm drains clear. The City can't possibly come around several times a year to do this. We must have an interest in keeping our water wildlife healthy and care about human populations downstream.  The "Yellow Fish Road" program is a way for school kids to learn about storm drains and water. They paint on the little yellow fish on the storm drains as a way of reminding people that whatever goes down there directly impacts fish.

It was a beautiful day for filming and we had the best tour guide ever:                                          Thanks, Mr. Water - Doug Kaupp - and thank you to the City of Lethbridge! For more information about your drinking water, please visit http://www.lethbridge.ca/living-here/water-wastewater/Pages/default.aspx The OWC is seeking further Collaborative Partners who would like to showcase in video how they are making the watershed a better place to live, work and play. Please get in touch!

HERE'S HOW YOU CAN BECOME A SPONSOR OF THE OWC FILM PROJECT: