Annual Report 2013-2014

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN – John A. Ross

We were very excited to announce the completion of our second State of the Watershed report this year. This one is a real break-through because it’s our first transboundary SOW report, combining information from our friends in Montana and Saskatchewan. We have also been analyzing the results we’ve gathered after two years of data from our Microbial Source Tracking study. Our Integrated Watershed Management Plan (IWMP) is also nearing completion. It will outline best management practices and processes that could be adopted to preserve and increase economic health and development as well as sustain environmental health and protection within our basin. We are continuing to monitor water quality along the Milk River, which adds to our understanding of the river, allowing us to see trends. This gives us the ability to tailor our future projects to the needs of the watershed.

We are looking forward to releasing our completed IWMP in 2014, the plan is a guidance document for watershed managers and we are working hard to ensure the recommendations reflect our communities values, needs, and priorities. We are also excited to continue our partnership with Alberta Agriculture and the local municipalities to continue to further our Microbial Source Tracking project, with research into the relationship of bacterial counts and pathogenic ecoli. The goal is to continue to better understand the relationship of naturalized ecoli and potential health risks to make wise landuse and water quality decisions.

Many thanks go out to the directors and especially our staff, Tim Romanow, Mary Lupwayi, and our new Education Outreach Coordinator, Cyd Cunningham, welcome aboard. Sandi Riemersma who has been with us since day one will now be working with us in the future on an individual contract basis. Thanks for all the hard work you have done. I couldn’t be happier to work with this group of people, as I’ve said before; these people make me look good.