On December 19th 2014, Alberta WaterSMART released the Room for the River Pilot in the Bow River Basin – Advice to the Government of Alberta and asked stakeholders and the general public for their comments, concerns, thoughts and feedback.

The Room for the River Pilot report was distributed online through the Alberta WaterPortal and the Bow River Basin Council website, and received further public attention from presentations, newspaper articles and radio interviews. Public feedback on the report was accepted until January 31st, 2015. Feedback was received in writing through the Alberta WaterPortal, direct emails, verbally through one on one discussions and public meetings, and through publicity sources such as newspapers.

3065484213 64419e5408 o
 “Landscape in Bragg Creek Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada (HDR)” by Doc List is licenced under CC BY 2.0. No changes were made to photograph.

The comments and feedback received in response to the Room for the River Pilot report were compiled into an addendum which summarized the feedback received. You can download the Room for the River Pilot in the Bow River Basin Advice to the Government of Alberta With Addendum using the link below. To protect the privacy of those who contributed, the feedback was presented without attribution, in bullet point form and arranged in the same format as the original report. The content found in the addendum does not necessarily reflect the views of other participants or the project team.
There are two points that should be noted:

  1. Please note that the Room for the River pilot process applied in the Bow Basin and the subsequent Room for the River report are not government policy. The advice in this report will be taken under consideration by the Government of Alberta to help inform sound water management and policy decisions.
  2. Secondly, this was not a public consultation process. This was a pilot project carried out with a technical working group and the WPAC to provide advice to the Government of Alberta. It will be a first step to gaining a comprehensive inventory of flood mitigation projects.

As we mentioned in January, this addendum was forwarded to the Government of Alberta as advice. The comments have been compiled in their original format and have been submitted to the Government of Alberta.
Lastly, we would like to thank those who took the time to send emails, leave blog comments and engage in dialogue about flood mitigation in the Bow River basin. This is an important process and we sincerely appreciate your contributions.
 
Click the link following to download Room for the River Pilot in the Bow River Basin Advice to the Government of Alberta With Addendum.   Room for the River Pilot in the Bow Basin Report with Addendum 2015 02 27
 

Photograph of WaterPortal Board Member Ross Douglas

Ross Douglas

Board Member

Ross has extensive executive experience in Operations, Governance, Information Technology and Strategy at the board and senior management level including Mancal Corporation, Mancal Energy, Highridge Exploration and Atlantis Resources. He has worked in Oil and Gas, Coal, Commercial Real Estate, Portfolio Management, Recreation, Retail and Water and Wastewater Treatment. His experience is also geographically diverse having overseen operations in Canada, the United States, United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. Additionally, he has been on the board of companies with operations in Argentina, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Kazakhstan, and Russia. He has served on numerous Public, Private and Not for Profit Boards across a number of industries.

Ross has been active on several industry Boards and committees including the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) and The Schulich School of Engineering Industry Advisory Council at the Schulich School of Engineering.

Photograph of WaterPortal Board Member Brian Mergelas

Brian Mergelas, PhD, ICD.D

Board Member

Brian is a seasoned Cleantech entrepreneur with a proven history of successfully bringing complex water technologies to the market.   With over 25 years of experience, he has led various organizations to achieve significant milestones in the industry. 

Having started as the founding CEO of the Pressure Pipe Inspection Company (PPIC) and later taking the helm at the Water Technology Acceleration Project (WaterTAP), Brian’s entrepreneurial spirit has been instrumental in driving innovation and growth within the sector. 

He is an active investor in the cleantech sector and has served on many boards including the Ontario Clean Water Agency. 

Actively engaged in industry associations like AWWA, WEF, IWA, and ASCE, Brian enjoys collaborating with fellow professionals to promote advancements in the field. 

Brian holds an undergraduate degree and a PhD in Physics from Queen’s University, which has provided him with a solid technical foundation.   As a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors, he brings valuable insights to corporate governance.