Academic Review to Provide Fish Entrainment Solutions for the Bow River Watershed.

The Cause

Entrainment (the stranding of fish in irrigation canals) of trout and native fish species in irrigation canals is a long standing stressor on the ecology of the Bow River watershed. The Trout Trust believes its mission is to draw attention to and to advocate for the minimization of entrainment in the Bow River Watershed. The Trout Trust wants to have a comprehensive academic literature review of existing entrainment solutions world-wide, to elucidate the complexities around the technical solutions and the problems that were overcome around the world, to obtain the best applicable solutions for the Bow River watershed, and lastly to fully understand responses to entrainment by the various governments, the public, and conservation groups in order to create a successful path to minimize entrainment in the Bow River watershed.

Who Will it Benefit?

Irrigation uses 76% of the water licensed in the Bow River watershed. This water is shared with the trout and native species of the Bow River. Currently entrainment kills thousands of trout and native species every year. trout Unlimited fish rescue data confirms this. Minimizing fish entrainment in the Bow River will help the Bow River ecology, which in turn will help in maintaining and preserving it as a world class fishery and tourism destination along with contributing to the Alberta and Calgary area economy.