One of the most beautiful parks in southern Alberta is Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park.Situated on the Bow River, just east of Cochrane off Hwy. 1A, it boasts stunning scenery and more than 28 km of world-class trails.A joint project between the Alberta government and the Harvie family, it now protects upwards of 3,300 acres under permanent protection and conservation. A fantastic gem to be enjoyed by members of the public and tourist visitors — ideally, for generations to come.Alas, in a few years, this very park and Calgary’s Haskayne Park, could be under water — completely destroyed — because of the proposed East Glenbow dam project, one of three flood mitigating options being considered by the current UCP government of Danielle Smith.Things got moving on the project after the great Calgary flood of 2013 and were pushed along by several provincial governments. And as you can imagine, many Albertans including me, are shocked by the possibility we could lose this amazing parkland.This feeling is mirrored by that of former politician Jeromy Farkas, who was recently named the new Chief Executive Officer at the Glenbow Ranch Park Foundation — a non-profit charity with a mandate to protect and preserve the park.It also operates educational programs, summer camps, conservation programs and operates the visitor centre.“No formal decision's been made yet … we're expecting a final decision to come down the pipe later next year,” said Farkas.“Each of the options is challenging, but for our position, we're advocating as strongly as possible for a solution that serves everybody's interest.”“For us it just doesn't make sense to flood what's essentially a brand new park in Haskayne Legacy Park in the City of Calgary, several hundred acres there, as well as to flood a further thousand acres in Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park, it's just crazy to us.”Crazy indeed. It really makes no sense, in this columnist’s opinion..“There are so many options that can serve everybody's interest better. And this isn't about stopping a dam, it's about advancing a solution that serves everybody's interests well,” said Farkas.Since the park opened in 2011, the group has invested more than $15 million in operating and capital funding toward the park, he added.“We're a small but mighty charity. We have an incredible team here and we're going to be doing absolutely everything that we can to advocate on behalf of the park to ensure that it remains an incredible destination for Calgarians to enjoy, not just today, but remains for future generations, because that was really what the central vision of the park's establishment was in the first place.”The other two options on the table are a new reservoir between Seebe and Morley (on Stoney Nakoda Nations reserve lands) and a “Relocated Ghost Dam" — an expansion of the existing Ghost Reservoir.Glenbow East would potentially be between Cochrane and Bearspaw Dam, at the western edge of Calgary.”As far as just how we can live with the river and the long term, how we can manage it … it's so important for us to realize that this is a water issue, it's not a flood issue per se. It's sometimes too much water and sometimes not enough,” Farkas said.“So one of the challenges with this East Glenbow dam is, because the bathtub essentially is so shallow, it's a lot less useful for the permanent storage of water in the event of a drought, which is another reason that this approach is less than ideal.”According to Farkas, the issue has been studied for a long time, but it’s only recently there’s been the commitment to actually have a final decision, on which project to proceed with by the end of 2024.“So the big Calgary flood, rather, the big Southern Alberta flood happened (in) 2013. So it would've been the PC government at the time, which started the ball rolling on projects we could proceed with. And then it would've been the NDP, then it would've been the UCP.”“So this is sort of a file that many different governments have been looking at and advancing.”Building dams in prime areas, such as the Bow River valley, is never a popular idea. It usually runs into strong opposition.In keeping with this, I asked Farkas what the local reaction was to the possibility.“Well, I can't speak for everybody,” he said, “but I can say that for those of us who love the park and have invested in it, it would be absolutely heartbreaking to have this investment destroyed because it's not just the innate conservation value, it's also the hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer investment that's been put into this to build this incredible park.”“And we are not just trying to protect the park as it exists today, but we're also trying to protect its future.”“One of the most exciting prospects for us is completing the Calgary-to-Cochrane Trail connection. So one day soon with the construction of a new bridge into Cochrane, you'll be able to bike from Calgary to Cochrane.” “And having that connection as a central jewel on the crown of the Trans Canada Trail, it's going to be an incredible opportunity.”Farkas also raised the point about the impact on property values in the area.“A lot of the value for living in the area comes from great amenities like Glenbow Ranch and limiting that development potential in the area, it would have a catastrophic impact, I think, for not just local residents, but also taxpayer revenues in the future,” he said. “And then lastly, when you think of the goals from the government to perhaps double our population in 25 years, we need to have great amenities. We need to have great public spaces for people to enjoy as more and more people come to live in a great community like Alberta. “We have a lot of fantastic things to offer and Glenbow Ranch is central to that.”To his credit, Farkas and his group are not taking an adversarial approach.“What I think (is) central to our focus here is positive working relationships. We've really appreciated the feedback we've gotten from the government,” he said.“We've really appreciated our partnership with Alberta Parks. We've appreciated the reception that local politicians have had to this.”“Of course, there's a process and this is being reviewed, but we're going to do everything that we can to be a respectful partner in achieving a solution that serves everybody's interests,” he said.“Because at the end of the day, our problem of drought and flood isn't solved if we just stop a project like this. We need to make sure that we're on board to support the right project that serves everybody's interest well.”“So that's central to our push here, to build on the positive relationships that we have with our government partners to deliver a solution that makes sense for everybody and is a win-win.”Farkas is no stranger to challenges. The born-and-raised Calgarian, who lost to Jyoti Gondek in the 2021 Calgary mayoral election, has served in many community leadership roles, including as a director of the Weaselhead/Glenmore Preservation Society and a term as Calgary’s youngest and first openly (sexual minority community) City Councillor. He most recently led record-breaking fundraising campaigns by running the 4,300-km Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada for Big Brothers and Big Sisters and by summitting 25 consecutive peaks in 25 consecutive days for The Alex Community Health Center.As a result of his endeavors, hundreds of thousands of dollars went to these worthwhile causes.”Yeah, it's been incredible. A year or two after politics, I'm probably the first politician in history who got told to take a hike by the voters and took it literally,” he laughed.“But I've had an incredible journey so far and just the incredible support of so many people. And it's been fantastic to really just throw myself at a number of incredible challenges that I never thought I would've been capable of if you had asked me five years ago.”“But as I find myself here in Glenbow Ranch, I feel like I'm in the right place at the right time. Just really, really proud of the team that works here every day. So grateful for the volunteers and the visitors, and I think we found something worth fighting for.”
