Interim State of the Watershed Report Released
The BRBC is excited to announce the release of the interim Bow River State of the Watershed (SOW) report and the completion of two, online sub-watershed State of the Watershed reports!
Sub-Watersheds
The interim report links to detailed State of the Watershed reports for sub-watersheds in the Basin
The interim SOW marks a significant step towards completing the full report, which is expected to be finalized in Fall 2024. As part of this process, the BRBC is working with local Watershed Stewardship Groups to update existing sub-watershed reports and host them online. The BRBC’s newly released State of the Watershed page will house these sub-watershed reports until the final SOW report is released, upon which time they will be incorporated into the final report.
Over the past year, the BRBC has collaborated with partners at the Ghost Watershed Alliance Society (GWAS) to publish the Ghost River sub-watershed report in an online format. As the original Ghost River State of the Watershed Report (2018) was in pdf format, this meant re-formatting the report to an ArcGIS-compatible version and it also included incorporating a few updates. Through BRBC partnership support, this version was published online in March 2023. GWAS Executive Director, Marina Krainer, has this to say about the project:
“Incorporating the Ghost River SOW Report in the online SOW Report for the Bow River Basin provided an excellent opportunity to GWAS to publish the report in an interactive, easy to use online format. This had been on our wish list ever since the report was completed in 2018. Collaborating with staff and volunteers at the BRBC was a tremendous help in getting this project accomplished.”
The BRBC also supported the Elbow River Watershed Partnership (ERWP) in the completion of the Elbow River State of the Watershed Report in 2021. We are excited to host this report on the ArcGIS Online platform as well! ERWP Coordinator, Flora Giesbrecht, has this to say:
“We are thrilled to have the Elbow State of the Watershed report available in an online interactive format on the BRBC’s shared platform. There is great value in this centralized GIS-based approach to displaying data and information. On an almost daily basis, I reference this report and send direct chapter links to folks.”
The Bow River State of the Watershed project is an exciting opportunity for the BRBC to continue collaborating with local Watershed Stewardship Groups across the basin in support of furthering our understanding of the Bow River Basin. Mike Murray, BRBC Executive Director says that he “is excited for this opportunity to showcase the great work our Stewardship partners are doing in the watershed!”
View the Elbow River and Ghost River SOW reports directly: