Working with Calgary area municipalities to ensure the resilience of the Bow River watershed is one of the major thrusts of a workshop of the Bow River Basin Council (BRBC) at the Cochrane RancheHouse this Friday, Feb. 22.

Entitled, “Collaborating for Resilient Watersheds” the workshop starts at 9:00 a.m.and it's free to attend, but tickets must be booked ahead on Eventbrite. There are currently about 20 tickets remaining.

Every spring, the Bow River Basin Council (BRBC) hosts a workshop on emerging policies, legislation or implementation tools that may have significant impacts on sustaining the resiliency of the Bow River, which provides water for our needs in the Calgary region explains Judy Stewart, chair of BRBC's policy and legislation committee

"This year, BRBC's policy and legislation committee decided to partner with the Calgary Metropolitan Region Board (CMRB) to discuss conservation priority maps and other emergent conservation tools that municipalities might want to use to sustain the Bow’s resilience," she writes.

Discussions will heavily centre upon new decision-making tools for land-use planning and development that promote and conserve identified priority landscapes for watershed resilience.

Speakers include Dr. Ryan McDonald, Suzanne and Justin Thompson, who will introduce and demonstrate how the hot-off-the-press conservation priority maps may be used as support tools during land development decision-making processes. 

Dustin Pate will speak about land trusts and the long-term maintenance and management of conservation easements and reserves.

Kate Churchill, Heather Zararuk and will explain how newly-developed biodiversity targets are being implemented in Calgary, where Manderson is implementing a pilot project.

 Scenarios will be presented in both Cochrane and Okotoks, where workshop participants will be asked to work collaboratively and recommend how the tools may be employed should an application for land development be presented to a development authority. A panel discussion will follow. 

To book your ticket go to Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/brbc-february-22nd-collaborating-for-resilient-watersheds-tickets-54934166571?fbclid=IwAR3SOpaB6UONldn8CQOq-5yTIWJHvIjx8UthqwXpAcQsNkxCuvbTjO8SdwE.