INTRODUCING THE FRESHWATER FRIENDS CLUB: A BCEC COLLABORATION WITH THE ELBOW RIVER WATERSHED PARTNERSHIP
Inspired in part by the success of the BCEC Bird Club, the Elbow River Watershed Partnership (ERWP) and Bragg Creek Environmental Coalition (BCEC) have collaborated to create the Freshwater Friends Club (FFC). ERWP is a non-profit organization founded in 2004 to promote and support good watershed management. At our first meeting it was decided that the Freshwater Friends Club should aim to be an informal, community-led social club that “provides a platform to share knowledge about freshwater friends and their habitat needs”.
So far we have met three times: The inaugural Freshwater Friends “fireside chat” in Bragg Creek Provincial Park took place in February 2025. We met on a sunny afternoon around a firepit, and enjoyed talks and discussions with three science/education experts who shared their knowledge of aquatic macro invertebrates, river otters, and the many fish endemic to the Elbow River watershed.
In March FFC met in Redwood Meadows where Hal Eagletail, a knowledge keeper with Tsuut’ina Nation shared his wisdom and perspectives. Thanks, Hal, for an inspiring afternoon.
On April 26, FFC joined Nature Calgary for the 7th annual Calgary City Nature Challenge. Fourteen enthusiastic volunteers gathered at the Elbow River in the Bragg Creek hamlet with nets, bins and pipettes under the direction of ERWP Executive Director Flora Giesbrecht and EWRP Environmental Educator Andi Antal. In the Nature Challenge, Calgary competes and collaborates with over 500 cities from around the world to document urban biodiversity.
Our contribution was inspired by the National Geographic funded MacroBlitz project. Our aim was to find and photograph aquatic macroinvertebrates and upload those photos to the iNaturalist App. This app allows citizen scientists to share their nature observations with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility*, which facilitates free and open access to biodiversity data worldwide for scientists and institutions. The data collected helps scientists and resource managers understand ecosystems such as ours.
ERWP ED Giesbrecht had this to say about the event; “By participating, we are gaining a better understanding of the biodiversity of our area and discovering who else is a part of the ecosystem. Macroinvertebrates can be wonderful indicators of how healthy a water body is. They are also relatable, fun to learn about, and engaging because you can see them with the naked eye (unlike species that we can only see on a micro scale).”
Dr. John Swann, a Calgary based entomologist and friend of ERWP reminds us that there are over 1200 macroinvertebrate species known in the province of Alberta, more likely over 3000. These little critters are integral to the proper functioning of running and standing water environments, like the creeks and wetlands we live among here. Because different species of macroinvertebrates respond to stressors like pollution, herbicides, climate change and habitat loss in different ways, they are extremely important in helping determine the overall health of our waterways. Indications are that macroinvertebrate populations are declining, which is a concern for biodiversity and ecosystem health.**
If you are concerned, like we are, about the health of the Elbow River watershed, there are things you can do to help. We can make important contributions by
- Protecting riparian areas (the vegetated areas along water bodies),
- using more natural management practices in our yards,
- making sure cars don’t leak oil,
- and picking up trash so it doesn’t get blown or carried into a nearby water body.
Follow this link to see some more easy ways to take action an help our watershed: www.erwp.org/pages/easy-ways-to-help
You can also join Freshwater Friends Club to learn more, and to help educate your family and friends.
To learn more and join the FFC, connect with us at BCEC: braggcreekenvironmentalcoalition.ca or ERWP: www.erwp.org
*www.gbif.org/
**according to a 27 year study done by the US Environmental Protection Agency www.epa.gov/eco-research.
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