The Oldman Watershed Council Board of Directors is comprised of 16 representatives from various organizations and four members at large. If there are any issues that you would like discussed at the meetings, contact Shannon at [email protected] at least two weeks prior to a meeting. The current Board includes the following members, each serving a two-year term.

OWC Board Executive Positions
Doug Kaupp, Chair
Andrew Hurly, Vice-Chair
Anne Stevick, Treasurer

Municipalities Reps

Doug Kaupp, OWC Chair
City of Lethbridge

Doug Kaupp is currently the General Manager of Water and Wastewater for the City of Lethbridge, Alberta. He holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Alberta (1986), and a Master of Business Administration from Athabasca University (2003).

After relatively brief assignments as a consulting engineer and technical sales representative, he joined the City of Lethbridge in 1990. Originally, Doug worked as a process engineer at the wastewater treatment plant, and later served as the manager of the water treatment plant prior to advancing to a general utility management role. He is a member of the Western Canada Water - Alberta Provincial Council and the Alberta Environment Municipal Water and Wastewater Guidelines and Standards Advisory Committee.

Doug is a long-time member of the Oldman Watershed Council and has participated on the Urban Team, the State of the Watershed Team, and the Core Team for the Integrated Water Management Plan. He also served on the Oldman River Basin Advisory Committee for the South Saskatchewan River Basin Water Management Plan.

Brian Brewin
Mayors & Reeves Association of Southwest Alberta
Reeve, Municipal District of Taber

Blair Painter
Mayors & Reeves Association of Southwest Alberta
Mayor, Municipality of Crowsnest Pass

Health Rep

Robert Rippin
Alberta Health Services
Robert lives in Fort Macleod and works as an Environmental Health Officer for Alberta Health Services. He has an Honours Chemistry Degree from the University of Victoria and is a federally registered Environmental Health Officer (EHO). In his 20 year history as an EHO he has developed a passion for water; for five years as a Senior Drinking Water Officer in BC, he was responsible for addressing foreshore development and water quality issues in the Thompson Shuswap Region. In addition to his work with Alberta Health Services he is a distance education tutor with the Water and Wastewater Treatment Programs at Thompson Rivers University and is a member of Alberta’s Technical Advisory Committee on Potable Drinking Water.

Robert would like to see the Oldman Watershed thrive as a healthy ecosystem. One that supports diversity of animal and plant life, and can be enjoyed, utilized, and protected by all.

Federal Government Rep

Claudia Sheedy
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

I am a research scientist in environmental chemistry with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Lethbridge, Alberta. My main scientific interests consist in water quality and trace residue analysis of agricultural contaminants such as pesticides, veterinary antibiotics and natural estrogens in water. My current projects focus on the presence of pesticides in irrigation waters of southern Alberta, the development of novel analytical methods for determining the impacts of agriculture on water quality and modelling of the fate and transport of pesticides in surface waters across Canada. I love the outdoors and activities such as paddling, climbing, hiking and skiing.

Provincial Government Reps

Rod Bennett
Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development

Rod is a soil scientist by training and obtained BSc (1977) and MSc (1979) degrees in agriculture from the University of Alberta.

He has more than 34 years of experience with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development and is currently Head of the Irrigation Management Branch, Irrigation and Farm Water Division. His responsibilities include management of the Alberta Irrigation Technology Centre near Lethbridge; applied research and extension to enhance irrigation water management, water use efficiency and crop productivity; and evaluation of new irrigation system and irrigation management technologies.

Work experience includes support for provincial government policy development related to irrigation water and land resource management, e.g. the Rural BMP Team under the Oldman River Basin Water Quality Initiative; the Year 2000 Water Management Review (Irrigation in the 21st Century); the South Saskatchewan River Basin Water Management Plan; the Water Allocation Transfer System Upgrade Project for the Alberta Water Council; the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan under the Land-Use Framework; and Alberta’s Irrigation Strategy.

Heather Sinton
Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development

Heather Sinton is the Director of Integrated Resource Planning (with ESRD) for the Red Deer and South Saskatchewan Regions. She and her team work with partners to develop sub-regional plans under the Land Use Framework Regional Plans. In the Oldman basin, these will include linear footprint and recreation plans. Her team will also be working with provincial colleagues to develop guidelines for source water protection plans and strategies to manage and protect native grasslands. Heather has a technical background in biology and agrology, with an M.Sc. in range management. Over the course of her 30 year career, Heather has had a particular interest in improving reclamation and revegetation practices on natural landscapes through the use of minimum disturbance practices, erosion control and the application of native plant materials. She has authored a number of publications and has won several awards for her work.

Academia Rep

Andrew Hurly, OWC Vice-Chairman
University of Lethbridge
Andy is a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Lethbridge where he has taught and conducted research since 1991. His research interests involve two areas - animal behaviour and ecosystem ecology. Andy's interests in ecosystem ecology concern the health of bird and plant communities and how they are affected by activities such as cattle grazing and alterations to river flow.

Andy and his wife live on the banks of the Oldman River near Fort Macleod, and thus he is interested in maintaining healthy and economically viable ecosystems for his family and his neighbours.

Not-for-Profit Organization Reps

Cheryl Fujikawa, Treasurer
Southern Alberta Group for the Environment (SAGE)
Cheryl's training is in medical science, microbiology, zoology and botany. She came to Lethbridge in 1978, and currently is teaching at Lethbridge Community College. She has also worked for the University of Lethbridge, the Provincial Government, the University of Alberta, CUSO and for Alberta Environment. Cheryl has been a member of the Southern Alberta Group for the Environment for
12 years.

Richard Burke
Trout Unlimited Canada, Oldman River Chapter
As a father, grandfather, I want for my future great grandchildren, the quality of water within the watershed, to remain good, along with reasonable quantity, so that they can remain within the Oldman watershed to live and enjoy this region and all its bounty.

As Trout Unlimited Canada Oldman River Chapter co-chair for the last 10 years, I initiated and helped develop 25-year stewardship leases to restore and maintain Crown land along about four km of the Crowsnest River and assure public pedestrian and equestrian access. The chapter has also contributed through fund-raising efforts to conservation efforts on Pincher Creek and the Upper Oldman and Castle systems as well as watershed-related research. The chapter functions in line with TU’s mission, to “conserve, protect and restore Canada’s freshwater ecosystems and their coldwater resources for current and future generations.”

I also write an outdoors column for the Lethbridge Herald, with a definite bias toward the environment, water, stewardship and conservation in southern Alberta. More than anything, it’s about highlighting, appreciating and protecting all that makes our corner of the world special. I am also a keen gardener in Lethbridge constantly seeking ways to use less water.

Irrigation Sector Rep

Keith Francis
Taber Irrigation District
Keith was born in 1929, raised in the Taber area and has been farming on irrigated land his entire life. In 1969 he was elected to the Taber Irrigation District (TID) Board of Directors and was elected as Vice-Chairman of the TID Board in 1973, and served as the Chairman of the Board since 1975. He has also served on the Alberta Irrigation Projects Association and the Oldman Watershed Council board.

Agriculture Producers Rep

LeRon Torrie
LeRon Torrie is a third generation farmer who, with his family, operates a grains and oilseeds farm at Grassy Lake in southern Alberta along the Oldman River. In 2021, it will be 100 years since his grandfather acquired the family land. LeRon’s grandfather obtained, and the family still holds, an irrigation license on the Oldman River dated in 1921.

The farm consists of 2000 acres of center pivot irrigation and 1000 acres of dryland. The main crops are wheat, durum, peas and hybrid canola seed. LeRon’s three sons are now taking over the operation.

LeRon is the Chairman of the St. Mary River Irrigation District, which services about 380,000 acres of irrigation making it the largest irrigation district in Canada. He has served on that Board for 12 years.

As an irrigator who pumps with electricity, utilities issues are a prime concern for him and he served for 2 years on the Alberta Utilities Consumer Advocate Advisory council.

First Nations Rep

Randall Wolf Tail
Piikani Public Works
Randall is a Civil Engineering Technologist graduate for the Lethbridge Community College in 1999. He works with the Piikani Public Works Department on the Piikani Nation as the Maintenance Management Officer. Randall Is a Level One Water operator and is a member of the Alberta Water/ Waste Water Association.

Members at Large Reps

Anne Stevick, OWC Treasurer
Anne was born and raised in the Trout Creek Watershed, in the Porcupine Hills, West of Claresholm. She and her husband now ranch 17 miles S.E. of Pincher Creek, within the Waterton Watershed.

Anne is keenly aware of the importance of water to agriculture, and sat as an Alberta Beef Producer delegate on the Environment and Animal Welfare Committee. She has also served 9 years on the Pincher Creek Chamber of Economic Development, and the Cowboy Poetry Committee of the Agricultural Society, and has worked on the “Blueweed Pull” put on by the Pincher Creek Watershed Group. Anne has her B.Sc. in Zoology and worked as a Park Interpreter in Waterton Park, before taking on her lifelong passion of ranching. After dispersing her purebred herd of cattle, Anne worked for the Nature Conservancy of Canada for five years in the Waterton area. She and her husband are now semi-retired on their ranch in the MD of Pincher Creek.

Lori Brave Rock
My name is Loreena (Lori) Brave Rock and I reside on the Blood Reserve where I was born and raised. My grandmother, and mother, instilled in me from a young age the traditional knowledge of our Blackfoot culture which encompasses every aspect of our natural environment with an emphasis on water.

Our culture recognizes that every part of the environment has a spirit and represents life. Over the years I have witnessed drastic changes to my childhood home on the Reserve where we enjoyed living nearby the waters that run through Bull Horn Coulee. We can no longer fish these waters or enjoy them they way we used to as they have been reduced to a near trickle and no longer provide the lush greenery and life they once supplied.

Today we recognize the need to learn more about our waters that extend throughout and beyond the Blood Tribe and how we can help preserve their quality and all the life that they support. In the spirit of our people as the true stewards of these our traditional lands, I have become active in the protection of that which we hold most dear for all of our future generations. I look forward to any opportunity to help me achieve this goal and it is in this spirit that I put forth my name to become a member at large for the Oldman Watershed Council.

Larry Mitchell

I was born in Pincher Creek, raised in Claresholm and moved to the Crowsnest Pass in 1980.

After 34 years of service, I retired as District Supervisor of distribution for natural gas for Crowsnest Pass and Area in 1988.

I have attended several one-day and two, two-day seminars for the Oldman Watershed Council, first as a municipal councillor and then as a member at large.

As I have resided in the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass for the last 34 years I am well aware of the necessity for the protection of the Crowsnest River from pollution, over use, degradation and mismanagement of this resource.

As the Crowsnest River is the headwaters and one of the main tributaries of the Oldman River drainage systems, I feel that I have a great deal to offer toward the protection and enhancement of the Oldman Watershed and its tributaries.

One Member-at-Large Position - vacant

INDUSTRY

Kelly Scott
Atco Power

Kelly has actively participated in water related environmental initiatives in both business and community activities throughout his career, including Alberta’s Water for Life Strategy. He has been active in the energy industry for 33 years and has broad experience in planning, development, operations and regulation. With the ATCO Group of Companies, commercial and regulatory experience has been gained in the supply and demand sides of both regulated and unregulated businesses.

He holds a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alberta and an M.B.A. from the University of Alberta. He is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta and the Professional Engineers of Ontario.

Tourism, agriculture and industrial opportunities are all important to the growth and diversification of the Oldman Watershed. Sustainable communities require a healthy local economy, which translates to jobs and prosperity. Population and the associated demands on water continue to grow and industry must play an active role in managing water, which is a limited and essential resource for all.

Board of Directors and Staff Retreat - January 2013

From left to right:
Andrew Hurly, Robert Rippin, Ryan Kasko, Bill Dolan, Connie Simmons, Anne Stevick, Ian Dyson,
Bev Bellamy, Richard Burke, Cheryl Fujikawa, Andrea Vaxvick, Shannon Frank, Terry Kerkhoff, Keith Francis

Missing from Photo: Randall Wolf Tail, Shirley Pickering, Jeff Coffman, Paulette Fox, Tony Bruder, LeRon Torrie