Remember when a handshake used to be a handshake? It actually meant something — especially if it was with a great man like Ralph Klein, one of the most trusted and respected premiers Alberta has ever had.Now, it appears that the government of Alberta may be about to renege on a handshake-deal. If it does, it will set a dangerous precedent going forward.I am talking of course about the Bow River reservoir options, which are now focusing on Glenbow East, or Ghost Dam — two options with very different outcomes, and massive impacts.Astonishingly, the former option would destroy large sections of Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park and the newly-created Haskayne Legacy Park. These lands were donated by the Harvie and Haskayne families for Albertans to enjoy for decades. In other words, forever. A gentleman's agreement with the government... forever.This morning I spoke with Jeromy Farkas, CEO of The Glenbow Ranch Park Foundation (GRPF) — a group doing everything in its power to make the government see reason. While the government has done very little to inform Albertans, the GRPF has nobly filled the gap. It has held meetings in Calgary, in Cochrane and Springbank on the issue, to get valuable feedback... to let Albertans voice their concerns.Understandably, the meetings have been well attended, tense, and the reactions "universally negative," says Farkas. "Glenbow Ranch is an incredible treasure for Cochrane, for Calgary, for Rocky View. It's a jewel in the Trans Canada Trail.""We have upwards of 200 or 300,000 visitors per year. When the connections into the town and the city are done, we're going to see about a million visitors per year."Glenbow Ranch and Haskayne Park in southern Alberta are among the best kept secrets — but it may not be a secret for long, says Farkas."What has surprised me the most has been the sheer level of shock amongst the public. So many people had no idea that the government was even thinking about these parks being flooded.""Seriously, it was just seven months ago that the Haskayne Legacy Park was opened. The thought of breaking a promise within seven months, let alone say 15 years after Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park came to be.""It's shocking. It's stunning. It's appalling to everyone that we speak with, but we're doing everything that we can to try to be a constructive positive voice. But yeah, the mood is not good out there. People are demanding answers from the government."It is a government that appears to be shying away from its responsibility.It has been almost two weeks now, since GRPF requested a meeting with Minister of Environment and Protected Areas of Alberta Rebecca Schultz. "To date, we haven't been able to have that meeting where we're still looking for the opportunity to be able to tour the minister, to be able to show that we want to be part of the solution and we want to contribute to helping the government get this right," said Farkas.So, what is the deal, I ask him. What are we talking about here? "Well, look, I've been in government before. I've seen hundreds of different consultations. I have never seen something this short and limited to online only."Red flag. Major red flag."So for us, we're doing everything that we can. We're standing on the hilltops, shouting, letting, as many people know this is going on.""We've mailed every single person in Cochrane. We're going to be mailing every single person in Calgary. We're going to mail every single person in southern Alberta because there's really three things that are going on here.""The first thing is that they're trying to solve the flood problem, which we acknowledge is an absolute problem for Calgary. But what we've learned is that the problem isn't just flood, it's also drought.""The second thing is they're trying to solve a problem just for Calgary, but this Glenbow Dam will actually flood Cochrane in order to protect Calgary.""So we think the problem is to be solved isn't just Calgary. We think it's Calgary and Cochrane.""And then the third piece is what is the value of the handshake? In Alberta, you had the provincial government and the city of Calgary government telling the Harveys and the Haskaynes that these lands would be protected in perpetuity and perpetuity means forever. But it turns out that forever didn't last very long, did it?""So we're calling on the government to show us that a handshake still mean something in Alberta of all places.""When you think of the drought versus flood issue, it's very clear that Glenbow is a solution for flooding, but it's not a solution for drought because the bathtub is just so wide and shallow and warm."The impacted river channel is about 15 kilometres wide, but it is not useful in the even of a drought, he explained, because of the greater potential of water lost due to evaporation.Whereas in the Ghost option, it's only about three kilometres of river channel that's impacted. This means that it's a tight, narrow and deep river channel, which keeps the water cooler, and thus much more effective in the event of a drought."It also has the benefit of being upstream of Cochrane. So both Calgary and Cochrane are protected," Farkas said."Our position is that (the option) needs to be both flood and drought protection for both Calgary and Cochrane, which makes the Ghost reservoir the much better alternative of the two."There are other factors at play, says Farkas.The Glenbow option would have a huge financial cost, greater than Ghost because of the loss of the environmental lands, as well as the significant complexity of relocating several kilometres of the railroad mainline up into the escarpment.The Ghost is also better from a timeline process, as fewer landowners would be impacted, which means that it could be built quicker in order to get more protection to Calgary and Cochrane faster.All good points, of course."It also has the benefit of actually enhancing property values around the area rather than hurting it, because the shoreline at Ghost will remain the same," Farkas said."And then another piece to that is that it also helps replace that century old existing dam with a modern structure downstream.""So it checks a number of different boxes. We have to think on the merits based on the social, the environmental, the economic, the engineering factors, that it should be a slam dunk for the government to go with the Ghost option."Modern research has shown us that water security, healthy watershed management, this isn't just a bricks and concrete and steel problem to be solved with dams, he explained."When you think about the natural features, the wetlands, the grasslands that exist at Glendale Ranch, that native fescue grass, there's about 10 times more underground than you see above ground.""Long story short, a lot of this underground forest acts as a sponge does, it helps absorb water in the events of a flood. It helps release it in the event of a drought.""So the bottom line is that we know now that protecting these wetlands and grasslands exist within Glenbow Ranch and it Haskayne Park actually help us to be able to solve this problem."So the ball is now firmly in the government's court. A government that tends to be a little shy, when it comes to consultations (ie. coal mines).But will they listen to Albertans? Or will they steamroll us, rob us of this great legacy, and destroy two amazing parks, donated by two great Alberta families.A promise made. A promise broken?"I think they (the families) thought that in Ralph Klein and the people of Alberta, they found a partner that they knew they could trust," Farkas said."For me, that's really the three things. It's we need to solve for both flood and drought rather than flood alone. We need to solve for Calgary and Cochrane rather than Calgary alone.""And for me, as a Calgarian, I find it appalling, the thought that our neighbours in Cochrane would have to be flooded in order to protect my city, there has to be a solution that saves both of our communities."Amen to that.Despite everything, Farkas remains optimistic, admitting to me that he has hawks and doves in his camp."I have to believe that our government wants to get this right. That's really why our foundation wants to be a constructive partner. We're not lighting our hair on fire. We're doing everything that we can to make a data-driven, educated case for why the Ghost is the better option."(In 2006, the Harvie siblings donated 3,247 acres of land to the Alberta Government so that it could become a Provincial Park and remain protected for generations to come. To this day, Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park is an extraordinary place for research, education, public recreation and enjoyment. — Alberta Parks.)
