Advocates call on province to address Medicine River watershed concerns

CENTRAL ALBERTA -- The Medicine River Watershed Society is rallying local municipalities in support of the local watershed.

This comes as the organization is seeking a face-to-face meeting with provincial officials at the upcoming Rural Municipalities of Alberta convention in March. They say that their goal is to express their concerns relating to the overall health of the Medicine River watershed, noting various issues resulting from the past ten years of drought conditions.

Some of these issues include the lowering water levels of lakes, rivers, and streams, the drying up of sloughs and dugouts, and the number of individual family water wells drying up or needing to be dug deeper.

"We all rely upon fresh water for drinking and everyday use and during this time we need to be extremely cautionary with its use so that we have water for our households and communities into the future," said the Medicine River Watershed Society's Chair Dana Kreil in a statement. "There has been a water shortage advisory in place since May 15, 2025, yet industry continues to have water diversion licenses approved."

They're seeking a meeting with the Minister of Energy, Minister of Environment, and their respective MLAs; Jason Nixon, Jennifer Johnson, and Devin Dreeshen, to request the establishment of a balanced approach to the approval of water diversion licenses, and the immediate stop in industrial water diversion from the Medicine River and the Paskapoo aquifer until such time as the provincial water shortage advisory has been lifted.

The Medicine River Watershed Society is asking that elected officials in Ponoka County, Rimbey, Bentley, Sylvan Lake, and other Central Alberta municipalities agree to support their meeting request and attend the meeting sometime during the RMA convention March 16 to 18.