Dear Editor,
I have read Masha Scheele's article about the suggested plans to improve water quality in brackish Cochrane Lake (Jan. 16 Eagle).
Here are a few facts about the water course (Horse Creek) that should be brought into the discussion. In 2005 the non-profit group - Little Creeks and Rough Fescue Appreciation Society, a.k.a. LCARF, raised funding to do five years of water quality monitoring at four sites on Horse Creek. Palliser Environmental was engaged to do the monitoring. They are currently engaged in WQ (water quality) work for both the Nose Creek and Jumpingpound watershed.
One of the most important discoveries was the presence of three types of trout in the lower reaches of Horse Creek (between 1A and the hanging culvert that goes under the rail line near the mouth of the creek). A call to Ms Mulrooney has not yet been returned at time of writing.
A partner in Palliser Environmental is a fisheries biologist so was able to electro fish to prove this. Redds (spots favourable for fish to lay eggs) were also identified.
LCARF's programme ended in 2017 however Mark Bennett from the Bow River Basin Council and Jim Stelfox (formerly employed with Alberta Fish and Wildlife) continued to take an interest in the health of the creek and support LCARF's position that brackish discharge from the Lake had negative affects on WQ in Horse Creek.
In 2016, in spite of representation to Rocky View council and its Engineering Dept. the decision was made to install a pipeline down the road allowance to the creek to mitigate flood risk. Has this proved detrimental to the trout population,smaller fish and benthic organisms? No-one knows.
A fresh water line exists to bring water up to Monterra from the Bow so I believe that if the grandiose Improvement Plan which involves 1,260 hectares at the very least another round of WQ testing should be done above and below the present discharge point.
Ideally, the plan to increase discharge should merit the installation of a pipe directly into the Bow river. Sandi Riemersma from Palliser Environmental is willing to be contacted for more data and Matt from RV Ag Services has been updated.
S. Leete,
Cochrane, AB
