A water source is crucial to any habitat as life depends on it for survival. A river receives its water from direct precipitation, runoff from the land, below ground sources and glacier melt. River ecosystems perform many important functions such as trapping sediment, filtering water, and providing habitat for aquatic organisms. Glacier retreat will lead to abnormal fluctuations in river characteristics, which may have serious impacts on aquatic species and the food web they are part of. Humans may also be affected because a reduced flow will put serious restrictions on the amount of water that can be diverted for municipal, industrial, and recreational use. An increased human population will require more water and create more sewage that must return to the river eventually.
- Rivers are the source of 85 % of the water that is allocated in Alberta.
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- The Bow River basin drains water from more than 25 000 km2, eventually joining the South Saskatchewan River, which then empties into Hudson Bay.
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- Approximately 80% of Alberta's wildlife uses riparian (stream side) habitat for some part of their life.
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- Aquatic organisms are important parts of any food web because many higher forms of life depend on them for a source of energy.
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- Future climate change may disrupt normal river flow patterns resulting in impacts to wildlife and smaller volumes of water available for human use.
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- Fish species, such as the “threatened” Bull Trout, have been forced to endure fluctuating river characteristics and loss of habitat due to human activities, which severely limits their abilities to survive.
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- Changes in the sediment content of streams and rivers can harm fish.
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- Rivers receive water runoff from nearby lands that may contain harmful substances such as fertilizers, pesticides, sewage, and chemicals used in industry or municipalities.
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More about water allocation in Alberta:
Water is needed for many human activities such as irrigation, power generation, industry, municipal use, and storage. Licenses for water allocation are issued from Alberta Environmental Protection, although careful attention must be paid to the amount of water withdrawn and the amount required to maintain adequate stream flow. Since not all the water issued will be consumed, the water returning to the river systems must also be regulated to protect natural ecosystems.
Resource: An 18 page PDF document produced by Alberta Environment, How We Use and Influence Aquatic Ecosystems.
More about the Bow River basin:
The Bow River begins at Bow Lake, a glacier-fed lake situated in the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of 2000 m. It then travels down the eastern slope of the Rockies, passing through Banff National Park, and meanders through deep valleys until it joins the South Saskatchewan River at an elevation of 740 m.
Resource: A web page produced by the Bow River Basin Council, About the Basin.
More about riparian habitat:
Riparian areas consist of strips of vegetation that connect aquatic habitat with those further inland. They serve many functions including slowing river flow, which reduces the impacts of erosion on the banks, providing shelter for aquatic organisms, and reducing the amount of soil runoff from the land. The vegetation also provides nutrition to many forms of wildlife.
Resources: A web page produced by the Water Institute for Semi-arid Ecosystems, Environmental. A 4 page document produced by the Cows and Fish organization, Biodiversity and Riparian Areas: Life in the Green Zone.
More about the importance of aquatic organisms:
River conditions must be kept at a level that is suitable for species survival. Different factors such as dissolved oxygen and nutrient levels, water temperature, sediment levels, flow rate, and pollution levels all give a river its characteristics. Any great change in these characteristics can potentially impact the species inhabiting the water, which in turn can affect the rest of the food web.
Resource: A 22 page report produced by Alberta Environment, Alberta’s Aquatic Ecosystems.
More about changing river flow patterns:
The size of mountain glaciers will decrease as global temperatures increase resulting in less meltwater to replenish river volumes. The speculated result is earlier spring flows and smaller summer flow volumes. Combining these effects with a growing human population equals a highly unsure future for the quality of Alberta’s rivers and the quantity of freshwater resources available for human use.
Resource: A web page produced by Natural Resources Canada, The Winds of Change: Climate Change in Prairie Provinces.
More about the impacts on Alberts's wildlife:
Bull trout are included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals as they face many difficulties throughout their lives (Schindler, 2000). These include migratory barriers, such as dams, stream siltation, habitat degradation, overfishing, and competition with non-native fish species. Bull trout are forced to compete with introduced brook trout, a species that inhabits 100% of its range (Schindler, 2000). In addition, future climate change will impose further difficulties on the already-vulnerable population. Humans are responsible for these lifestyle changes that the fish must endure and it feared that, unless change is underway, many species such as the Bull Trout will face extinction in the near future.
Resources: A web site produced by Alberta Sustainable Resource Development and Alberta Conservation Association, Status of the Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus) in Alberta. A 22 page document produced by Alberta Environment, Alberta’s Aquatic Ecosystems.
More about sediment:
Suspended sediment refers to small particles, such as rock or clay that are present in water. This can increase water temperatures and make the water less than ideal for organisms that require clean environments. The overall health of aquatic organisms decreases because the sediment acts like sandpaper, scraping plants and aquatic insects from the riverbed, and removing the protective mucous that covers the eyes and scales of fish. Sediment can also irritate gills, causing fish to secrete additional mucous.
Resource: An 18 page document produced by Alberta Environment, How We Use and Influence Aquatic Ecosystems.
More about river pollution:
Excessive nutrient inputs to water bodies encourage plant growth, but may also result decreased dissolved oxygen contents and increased competition between aquatic organisms. Other chemicals such as pesticides from agricultural fields or industrial chemicals can have serious negative impacts on all forms of life. Possible effects include impaired reproduction and development, or an increased incidence of mortality. Unhealthy inputs to rivers and streams create the need for expensive water treatment facilities and monitoring programs to ensure the safety of humans and wildlife.
Resource: A web page produced by Environment Canada, Key Reports.
Schindler, D.W. 2000. Aquatic problems caused by human activities in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. Ambio 29(7): 401-307.
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