The Municipal District of Rocky View virtually engulfs Calgary, covering approximately one million acres of land that stretch west toward Kananaskis country, north to the town of Crossfield and east onto the open prairie. Wetlands and water bodies in the district are many, which makes Chad Willms (MSc '05) one very busy guy.

As the municipal ecologist for Rocky View, Willms is responsible for devising management recommendations that protect the water supply within the expansive region.

"The main issue we're facing is scarcity," Willms says. "Rivers are experiencing reduced

flows – a problem that's been compounded by increased population and the corresponding demands of development. The challenge is to find a balance between water consumption and conservation in order to maintain a healthy, sustainable supply."

Willms works with several watershed planning and advisory councils and watershed stewardship groups, all of which operate under Alberta's Water for Life strategy – a plan developed in 2003 to proactively safeguard the province's water sources. Willms is also involved in best management practice policy development for Rocky View's riparian areas and wetlands. Although he believes that water-related issues are more widely understood now than ever before, Willms maintains that many people don't know what a watershed is or why it's necessary to monitor and protect it.

"What most people don't realize is that every one of us lives in a watershed area," Willms says. "The most basic, everyday decisions we make affect the quality and quantity of our water."

By definition, a watershed is an area of land that drains into a river, river system or other body of water. A healthy watershed will actually improve the quality of water and run-off entering water bodies by filtering out pollutants and sediments, maintaining the water balance and supporting the organisms – including humans – that depend on it. Conversely, a polluted or damaged watershed will not function properly and water quality deteriorates.

"Awareness is key," Willms says. "Once people have the vocabulary and the facts about protecting their water supply, they get motivated to do it."

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