The Urban Team promotes good practices for the home and yard because the river starts in our own backyards. Herbicides, fertilizers and other chemicals used in yards are showing up in our waterways, affecting aquatic life as well as downstream users. The Urban Team also promotes water conservation because we live in a semi-arid environment where water is scarce and drought is common. We have an opportunity to be leaders in demonstrating good water management.
Urban Team Members
Andrea Vaxvick, City of Lethbridge
Barton Atwood, Town of Cardston
Cheryl Bradley, SAGE
Cheryl Fujikawa, SAGE/OWC Board Member
Davin Johnson, Discover Green
Don Wentz, Town of Coaldale
Dorothy Lok, Alberta Environment
Doug Kaupp, City of Lethbridge
Heather Gowland, Member at Large
Jenna Montgomery, Alberta Environment
Joanna Fraser, Member at Large
Karen Armstrong, City of Lethbridge
Laura Istead, Discover Green
Leta Pezderic, Oldman Watershed Council
Mike Gervais, Alberta Health Services
Sean Robison, Alberta Health Services
Shannon Frank, Oldman Watershed Council
Projects and Activities
Prairie Urban Garden
The goal of the Prairie Urban Garden (PUG) project is to demonstrate the beauty and benefits of having a xeriscaped garden in Southern Alberta. Xeriscapes fit in with the dry prairie environment we depend on and allow homeowners to have beautiful yards. The Urban Team's PUG subcommittee has developed a website, brochures, signs and have hosted two Prairie Urban Garden Tours in Lethbridge. Through the PUG committee, the Urban Team also supports the creation of new Xeriscape gardens in our communities. Their first project is to partner with the Birds of Prey Centre in Coaldale to create a beautiful Xeriscaped space in which visitors will not only be able to enjoy the garden visually, but will also learn about the benefits of a native garden.
Visit www.prairieurbangarden.ca for more information.
Prairie Urban Garden Tour
The PUG sub-committee decided what better way to get people excited about gardening than getting out into people's gardens! Xeriscaped gardens around Lethbridge were chosen to be showcased in a self-guided tour in which the purpose was to educate people about Xeriscaping and inspire them to make changes in their own garden practises.
2010 Tour
2009 Tour
Lethbridge Home and Garden Show
The Urban Team organizes a booth at the Lethbridge Home and Garden Show every March. Their displays feature good gardening practices such as using less water and chemicals, composting, using rain barrels and choosing native plants.
2010
2009
2008
Yellow Fish Road
The Yellow Fish Road program, developed by Trout Unlimited Canada, aims at increasing community awareness about our storm drains by having youth volunteers paint yellow fish symbols next to storm drains and distribute door hangers to nearby households. This reminds residents that anything on the street or dumped into storm drains ends up in their local water body. The Urban Team support the communities that partner with Tour Unlimited to host this program in their area. Participating communities within the Oldman basin in 2010 include Lethbridge, Pincher Creek and Cardston.
2009
Municipal Relations
The City of Lethbridge is a strong supporter of the OWC and an important partner as the largest urban centre in the watershed. Smaller communities in the basin are also important partners in projects such as Prairie Urban Garden and Yellow Fish Road. One of the Urban Team's first projects was to identify residential practices within the City of Lethbridge that impact the watershed. A survey of residents was conducted that set a baseline and direction for the team and provided a framework for education - see The River Starts Here report. All projects of the team are related to improving residential practices in all communities that will benefit the watershed. The Urban Team also provides input to support City of Lethbridge Council environmental policy and plans, assists the Environmental Subcommittee of the Lethbridge City Council with water related initiatives (i.e. water conservation or stormwater quality) and provided input on the new drainage bylaw which was passed June 29, 2009. This bylaw regulates what can and cannot be put into the stormwater system.
City of Lethbridge Bylaw 5594 (14 pages)
Bylaw 5594 Summary (1 page)
Drainage Bylaw FAQ
The River Starts Here - Lethbridge Stormwater Education Program Design and
Evaluation Report - November 2004 (149 pages)
Municipal Conservation, Efficiency & Productivity Planning Workshop 
On October 25th, 2011 The Urban Team of the Oldman Watershed Council organized a workshop to assist urban municipalities in our basin in understanding and addressing their roles and responsibilities in contributing to the water conservation outcomes of the Water for Life strategy, the South Saskatchewan River Basin Water Management Plan and the Oldman Integrated Watershed Management Plan.
25 people attended this workshop with representatives from more than 10 municipalities and water management related organizations. We ended the day with a break-out session where we asked people the following questions:
- What is currently being done in your municipality or within other municipalities in the Oldman River basin to conserve water?
- What opportunities are there to increase water conservation?
- What barriers are there to achieving an increase in water conservation?
- What suggestions do you have for OWC’s Urban Team that would assist municipalities in the Oldman River basin with water conservation planning?
View the Group Discussion from that session.
View the Agenda
View the Background Information: what led the Urban Team to host a Municipal Conservation, Efficiency and Productivity Planning Workshop?
Presentations
Town of Okotoks: Sustainable Management of Our Finite Water Resource: Incentives, Disincentives and Educational Programs Dawn Smith, Town of Okotoks
Resources for Water Conservation, Efficiency and Productivity Planning Rachel Bocock, AUMA
Water Loss & Leakage Index Michael Boh, City of Lethbridge
Water Metering and Pricing Doug Kaupp, City of Lethbridge