The Oldman Watershed Council, a two-decade-old non-profit, says it is carrying out some of its most consequential work yet.

From planting thousands of willows along eroding streambanks to restoring wetlands and fencing sensitive areas, dozens of annual OWC stewardship projects add up to millions of dollars in ecosystem benefits across southern Alberta, according to the organization.

OWC says those efforts are part of its broader mission to improve water security across the Oldman River basin through collaboration and hands-on restoration.

Founded in 2004 and based in Lethbridge, OWC describes itself as a neutral forum that brings together municipalities, Indigenous nations, industry, government and landowners to tackle water security across southwestern Alberta — roughly from High River south to Grassy Lake west.

Chief executive officer Shannon Frank says the organization’s role is rooted in collaboration rather than advocacy.

“We bring people together to discuss complicated issues and find practical solutions so that we can maintain our water security,” she says.

Frank presented to Pincher Creek town council at its regular meeting on May 25.

The organization recently crossed its 150th project milestone under its Watershed Legacy Program, a cost-sharing initiative that funds boots-on-the-ground stewardship work with landowners, First Nations, agricultural producers and government.

In the fiscal year ending March 31, OWC completed 39 such projects, enhancing 5,600 acres of land.

Frank said the organization works across four main areas: convening and collaboration, education and literacy, monitoring and assessment, and on-the-ground planning and implementation.

One of its most visible tools is the Ecosystem Services Calculator, an online platform that assigns a dollar value to natural landscapes based on the services they provide, such as water filtration, flood mitigation and drought resilience.

“Nature does have a lot of value,” Frank says. “If we had to replace those services — water filtration, for example — and build a water treatment plant to do that for us, it would be much more costly than trying to work with nature.”

The free calculator, available on OWC’s website, allows anyone to enter the number of hectares of land they manage — whether grassland, forest or wetland — and receive an estimate of the annual dollar value of ecosystem services provided.

“It’s only been on our website for a few weeks,” Frank says. “We wanted to test it out and make sure everything was working well before we launched it publicly.”

Among the trends OWC is tracking closely is a surge in virtual fencing — a technology that uses GPS collar systems to manage livestock movement without physical fencing.

Frank says the organization saw a notable uptick in virtual fencing applications among ranchers last year, alongside a rise in requests for help drilling deeper groundwater wells as drought stressed existing water sources.

OWC offers grants covering roughly 50 per cent of eligible project costs. Applications for its current funding intake are open until July 1 and the organization says anyone with land — municipalities, ranchers, First Nations, food producers — can apply through its website.

Alongside data tools, OWC is also expanding hands-on habitat restoration. One current program supports publicly accessible pollinator gardens helping bumblebee populations, which researchers warn face extinction risk.

The organization plants about four such gardens per year, covering the cost of plants, soil and mulch, and prefers locations on public land where educational signage and community tours are possible.

“When pollinators go extinct, we will go extinct,” Frank says. “It matters and there are a lot of efforts underway to improve pollinator populations.”

Frank says town councillor Bernice Cyr expressed interest at the meeting in situating a pollinator garden in a local park and OWC plans to follow up.

OWC also runs stewardship programs that include willow planting, erosion control, wetland restoration and fencing projects designed to protect sensitive water areas from livestock.

Frank says willows are especially critical for stabilizing streambanks. The organization plants between 5,000 and 10,000 willows annually.

The organization also plays a major role in water monitoring across the region. Frank said OWC currently monitors about 20 sites annually, focusing on stream health and aquatic insects that act as indicators of water quality.

“We haven’t seen any huge issues flagged there,” she says, noting that results have generally shown good water conditions in monitored areas.

Groundwater monitoring is another growing priority as drought conditions persist across southern Alberta. OWC is working with Living Lakes Canada to expand well monitoring in the region, with funding to track nine additional wells on top of the 13 already monitored by the provincial government.

“This is really going to help us with drought management,” Frank says, adding that better data is needed as more communities report dry wells and deeper drilling requirements.

OWC is also preparing a new “state of the watershed” report card, expected in 2027, which will update data last compiled in 2010. The new version will expand beyond environmental indicators to include socioeconomic data and Indigenous perspectives.

Education is another key pillar of the organization’s work. OWC runs programs that include outreach in recreation areas, where staff speak with backcountry users about responsible land use, and agricultural literacy initiatives that connect urban residents with farms and ranches.

The goal, Frank says, is to reduce misconceptions about food production while building public understanding of how land use connects to water health.

At the governance level, OWC operates with a 19-seat board representing municipalities, Indigenous partners, provincial and federal governments, health, environment and industry sectors. The structure is designed to ensure representation across the watershed’s roughly 200,000 residents.

The Town of Pincher Creek supports OWC’s operations through a voluntary per-capita funding model. Frank says the town contributes 49 cents per resident, for about $1,700 annually.

As drought pressures continue and water security becomes increasingly uncertain, OWC says its focus remains on practical, collaborative solutions rooted in science, land stewardship and community engagement, all aimed at keeping the watershed functioning for those both upstream and downstream.