Rain Event Strikes North Battleford

Flooding pictures from the rain event.

On July 22, North Battleford was struck by a massive hailstorm that caused damage and flooding throughout the city. Residents reported almost 50 mm of rain within an hour, with a grand total of 67 mm for the day. Mayor Ian Hamilton declared a state of emergency as reports flooded in. This event is one demonstration of how run-off can be caused by extreme amounts of rain. Should there be too much fertilizer on lawns, the excess can be carried off in this overland flow. More pictures will be posted as we receive them.

NSRBC Makes a Splash at Outreach Events

Last week saw us out at events in Lloydminster, North Battleford, and Prince Albert. We were at the Barr Colony Heritage Cultural Centre on Tuesday, handing out frisbees and showing off our surface water display model. You could have caught us at the Battleford Wildlife Federation Nature Centre Wednesday as well. Also exciting was our attendance of the 2010 Kidz Fest in Prince Albert. Lots of kids and their parents dropped by to check out our water models and pick up lovely NSRBC stickers. Students from the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority were on hand at these events as well, dispensing sage advice and constructing model aquifers with the kids. All in all, these events were a success. Check us out in last Friday's Meridian Booster as well!

The kids loved these two entertainers on the main stage at Kidz Fest
Event Co-ordinator Mathew Corrin shows off the surface water model to fascinated youngsters.

Really?!

That was a common response at our events last week any time we told someone that water entering storm drains flows untreated into the water supply. Last week's public outreach events highlighted a gap in the average citizen's knowledge about water treatment. The general feeling was that there needs to be some sort of treatment for this water, be it settling ponds or other methods. This could be a call for municipalities to take more steps to treat storm water, but until then, people will have to stick to keeping chemicals out of the storm drains.

Pictures from the Boreal Learning Network Conference!

Ron Plain, Elder from Aamjiwnaang First Nation

Gord got a new hat from former Chief Jerry Atache, so Katherine took the old one.

Red Cloud, Tour Guide.

Elders drum to kick off the event.

A petroleum slick on the Doig River, caused by nearby oil and gas development.

We went on a tour down to the Doig River.

Red Cloud shows us how to stretch a beaver pelt onto a frame.

Picture Time!

Volunteers participating in Yellow Fish Road in North Battleford.

Water testing done at Oscar Creek with students from Hafford School

These are the Hafford School Art and Essay Contest winners

Our new Events Co-ordinator, Mathew Corrin at Moosomin Treaty Day

Macroinvertibrate and water quality testing. This was an effort to test the health of Oscar Creek, and was performed with help from Hafford School.

Sweetgrass and RM of Lakeland Events

Two big events recently! On June 21, we went out to Sweetgrass First Nation to do some results reporting on their Source Water Protection Plan. They have made excellent progress, and are well on their way to awesome water! Their water treatment plant is running well, and they've identified the few problems they have left to solve.

Also, the RM of Lakeland had an event to discuss the impacts our activities have to lakes. Fisheries and Oceans Canada was on hand to speak about the ways we can minimize the damage we do to lakes. Gord Vaadeland was also on hand to present some of the ways we promote to minimize impacts. This event, held at Christopher Lake, showcases the interest this Rural Municipality has in protecting our water.

Kudos to both the RM of Lakeland and Sweetgrass First Nation for their efforts to protect our water. More updates are coming soon, so stay tuned for more!

Updates on Vandalism and Other News

Since our last post, we've had quite a few events and changes come through. Our first big event was our participation in the North Battleford Wildlife Federation's Yellow Fish Road, on June 5. We had a smaller turnout than one would have hoped, but the volunteers worked hard to spread our message about dangerous storm drain practices. One can only hope our flyer and vandalism campaign will change people's use of storm drains in the future.

Our next event came on Monday, June 7, when we attended Moosomin First Nation's Treaty Day events. It was fascinating to see the pipe ceremony and tipi raising, and we got to sample such delights as taco-in-a-bag (it was pretty good). We also got a great opportunity to spread some water quality knowledge, and hear about some of their local concerns. We were glad to hear that they are concerned with their water quality, especially in conjunction with their lagoon problems. We also received lots of help from some of the younger visitors in setting up and carrying out our demonstrations. In conclusion, it was a successful day.

We've also made a new addition to our organization. Mathew Corrin is our new events coordinator, and he'll be working with us to help plan events and raise watershed health awareness. Keep an eye out for him at events.

Stay alert for our newsletter, which comes out later this month, and follow us on twitter at nsrbc or on facebook for updates on upcoming events. Thanks for your interest in our group and our events.

Vandalization raises awareness about water protection!

May 14, 2010
The Battleford Wildlife Federation is ring leader in promoting Yellow Fish Road in the City of North Battleford. On Saturday and Sunday, June 5 & 6, school kids and volunteers will be out vandalizing the streets with stencils of yellow fish near storm water drains to raise awareness about storm water drainage. Information will be delivered to the local residents educating on why it is important not to let nasty things get into our storm water drains (because storm water is not treated and goes straight into the river)
It should be a good day of promotion and will hopefully enlighten a few people to be more careful in protecting their local water supply.
If you have any questions or want to come out to check out the action call Brad Dahl at 441-2312

A Success!

On April 21, Katherine and I set out to Hafford Central School to celebrate Earth Day with them a day early. We started out the day at 10 AM by setting up the ground and surface water models and projector for our presentation. Each class from grade 1 to 6 came in for a 20 minute presentation and explaination of our models. We gave away tote bags, stickers and "Water Use in Your Home" booklets. I think its safe to say not only students, but staff members also gained a bit of knowledge. The afternoon consisted of more presentations, and awards to the grade 5 winners of the Art Contest. The kids did a great job, but we could only pick 3 winners. We also brought a game of Recycle Jeopardy with us to play with the highschool students. After some moaning and groaning about how hard the questions were, and how uneven the teams were (students were put into teams based on odd and even birthdays...sounds pretty fair to me) the students finally started to get into it with team "Lemonade" winning. We also handed out some wordsearches that no team was able to complete by the time we were finished. Here we also handed out more stickers and booklets. It was a great day, both students and staff were happy, and Katherine and I were exhausted! It was well worth it and we were invited back for next year!