Hot Off the Press! Adaptation Stories in the Bow Basin
We're excited to introduce this new platform for sharing adaptation work in the Bow River Basin. Adaptation Stories in the Bow Basin serves as a snapshot of climate adaptation efforts, inviting you to explore diverse themes and stories. By sharing methods, successes, challenges, and opportunities, we aim to enhance awareness and foster collaboration for comprehensive climate adaptation across sectors and help to increase our watershed's adaptive capacity.
Since 1994, the BRBC has published State of the Watershed (SOW) reports, with the latest update in 2015. The upcoming report, set for release later this year, will provide updated insights into the Basin's health, focusing on key areas such as riparian health, biodiversity, human impacts, and emerging issues. By addressing water quantity, quality, and natural ecosystems, this report aims to enhance public understanding, support informed decision-making, and foster stakeholder engagement for better Basin management.
In collaboration with the Adaptation and Resilience Training (ART) program (2022-24), the BRBC has undertaken extensive research on climate change and adaptation. Two ART interns made significant contributions to the 2024 SOW, particularly in the Climate Change chapter. Building on this foundation, the 2023/24 ART intern, Tenaya Lynx, launched the Adaptation Stories in the Bow Basin initiative. Through qualitative interviews across various sectors, she explored adaptation-related projects in the region, weaving together insights from these interviews with a literature review.
Alesia Cameron and Tenaya Lynx, the two ART Interns
Storytelling is a powerful tool for communication, capable of bridging gaps in understanding and fostering empathy by connecting audiences with real-life experiences. This project combines personal narratives and academic research, offering a holistic view of climate adaptation efforts in the Bow River Basin. By making complex concepts more accessible and relatable, these stories provide valuable insights into the challenges and successes of adaptation initiatives, inspiring informed action and collaboration toward building resilience in the face of climate change.
Here are some of the topics covered in our story maps:
Beaver coexistence
Bioengineering
SSROM for watershed scale adaptation planning
Hanging culvert replacements
Drainage infrastructure
MD of Bighorn Adaptation & Resilience Plan
Regenerative agriculture
And so much more!
Join us as we dive into these stories, learn from the experiences of others, and work together to create a more resilient Bow River Basin.
“We try to stay solution-focused, even though we’re highly sensitive to the problems. It’s not doing anyone any good unless you are solutions-focused. And I think bioengineering is one of those solutions.”
“Partnerships were really key for us... I can’t emphasize enough how much this [project] was a coming together of partners, all seeing a common problem and all being like, ‘yeah, let’s work together to fix it.”
Thank you to all the storytellers for their gracious contributions!
Read the stories here:
The BRBC will continue working on the full Bow Basin State of the Watershed report, with an anticipated release later in 2024. We look forward to sharing more details about the report as they become available. If any members wish to contribute to the project, please reach out to Mike or Brooke: https://brbc.ab.ca/contact-us
All sub-watershed reports will be published in the online interim State of the Watershed until the full report is complete.