Exploring the Impacts of Effluent Release in the Little Bow River Watershed

Exploring the Impacts of Effluent Release in the Little Bow River Watershed

Presented by Matthew Bogard, Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair in Aquatic Environments

Broadcast virtually over Zoom

Thursday, March 9 7:00 - 8:00 pm

The release of municipal and industrial effluents in watersheds is a global issue with complex and somewhat undefined impacts on aquatic ecosystems and public health. The Frank Lake wetland in the Upper Little Bow River watershed in southern Alberta represents a complex management scenario. Despite its ecological, economic, and cultural importance, this watershed is faced with degradation of habitat and water quality due to its long history of intensive land-use, and inputs of agro-industrial and municipal effluent to Frank Lake, initiated in the late 1980s.

The impacts of effluent on the wetland and downstream river and multi-use reservoir are uncertain. This talk will introduce a new, multidisciplinary research program that explores organism- to-ecosystem scale responses to effluent loading in this model watershed. Our partnership brings together academic, industrial, and municipal stakeholders to generate novel research findings on effluent fate and impacts, while providing stakeholders with guidance in local water resource management.

Matthew is an Assistant professor and Canada Research Chair in Aquatic Environments at the University of Lethbridge. He has studied the ecology of lakes, rivers, wetlands, and coastal environments across North America, and is currently Associate Editor at Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. Matt’s research focuses on understanding how human activities impact our precious water resources in southern Alberta.