Activists call for legislation to protect North Saskatchewan River from gravel pits
'We have to take a firm stand' says protest organizer
Activists concerned about the health of fish swimming the North Saskatchewan gathered at the Legislature on Sunday.
They are calling for legislation to regulate riverside gravel pits.
Steve Madsen is a founding member of the North Saskatchewan River Valley Conservation Association.
He says change needs to happen before it's too late.
"If you mine that side (of the river) and think 'Well, I'm not touching the river' you are disturbing the distribution of water that comes in that connection area," said Madsen.
"There are a lot of connections between the river and the surrounding land.
"Just saying 'I'm going to have something on the side of it and it's not going to bother it,' that's not how it works. You can't go in and dig up the area around it and expect the river not to be affected."
The group had previously blocked a proposed gravel pit near the river in 2008, because they believe gravel pits can have a negative effect on the river's eco system.
They're not alone.
According to Duane Radford, the former head of fisheries management for Alberta, a 2013 incident with a gravel pit adjacent to the North Saskatchewan may have led to a drastic reduction in fish stock in the river.
In June of that year a flood caused the river to cut a side channel through a gravel pit owned by Mixcor Aggregates causing equipment to become swamped. To ensure similar incidents would not transpire the company built berms separating the pit from the river.
The construction project caused a large amount of sediment to wash into the river.
I hope this would be a wakeup call to the gravel mining industry, the government, and regulators.- Duane Radford
Radford calls the sediment a "death warrant" for fish.
Keith Rae, the owner of Get Hooked Fishing Adventures, runs fish counts every year and has seen a significant decrease of fish in the area.
"I hope this would be a wake up call to the gravel mining industry, the government, and regulators," said Ranford.
Both Rae and Ranford are calling for an independent investigation of the incident and the activists gathered today agree with them.
Madsen believes the health of the river is directly related to the health of the land surrounding it.
He believes the health of the river valley needs to be more important than developments.
"Because of the complexities of the waterway, the fish, and the desire to keep that environment healthy, we have to take a firm stand about the legislations around the river and move the gravel pits away, so it's not disturbing the river," he said.