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Living in a place like the Bow Valley, it's easy to take this meandering watercourse for granted--except of course when various unpleasant substances make their way downstream from Banff's sewage treatment plant. However the Bow River is very much the lifeblood of this valley and it's about time we took a look at this amazing resource.

When asked about the Bow River and what it means to them, most people bring up the recreational aspects like fishing, canoeing and kayaking. However the river has much more important duties as it begins it's long journey to Hudson's Bay. The river is the giver of life to this valley as well as its sculptor. Providing the major watersource for all the animal life in the area, it also provides water to many communities (both animal and human) downstream.

Rivers generally begin rather unpretentiously. They are lazy, they follow the force of gravity until they find the most convenient way to flow downhill. This will be governed by the topography of the area in which they flow. However, in time, the river begins to modify this landscape until it becomes the focus of all valleys and water sources. The average river system, if viewed from above, looks much like a many branching tree. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of smaller rivulets flow into slightly larger branches, which in turn flow into tributaries. Eventually the water makes its way into the main body of the river.

What does all this mean? The significance of this is immense. While we patiently sit along the banks of the Bow, it's easy to imagine this single entity, lazily meandering eastward as it begins its long journey. However, exactly the opposite is true. This river is the product of thousands of miles of tiny rivulets that completely disect the surrounding terrain. As a result, anything that takes place within the Bow Rivers watershed can affect the quality of water carried within the river.

When the glaciers came into the valley, they merely adopted many of the pre-existing water courses. Since glaciers are little more than a slow moving river of ice, it seems logical that they would follow existing pathways. As they flowed down valleys like the Bow, they slowly sculpted and scoured until the valleys seemed very different from the valleys that had existed prior to the ice. As the ice melted, the Bow River reclaimed its valley and began to flow once again.

Over the past few years, we have had some serious flood alerts and this is something that should be carefully considered as we continue to develop in the valley. Rivers carry a certain amount of water based on an intricate relationship between average rainfall and runoff from the surrounding mountains. However, the forest cover on those mountains absorbs large amounts of that water long before it reaches the river. By bringing in excessive developments, and removing that large storage reservoir, we only risk increased flooding as the reduced forest cover allows ever increasing amounts of water to enter the river channel.