Photo credit: Postmedia 2004
The Rise and Fall of Edmonton's Great Divide Waterfall
On September 1st, 1980 the Great Divide Waterfall on Edmonton’s High Level Bridge, created by artist Peter Lewis, flowed for the first time to mark Alberta’s 75th anniversary. The waterfall — funded to the tune of $100,000 in provincial anniversary money and $500,000 more in donations of time and equipment — created a carnival atmosphere amid the throng of spectators and officials gathered for the event.
“This is Edmonton Water’s finest hour,” said a jubilant Mayor Cec Purves who, with other civic officials, fired off flare guns as the waterfall began to flow. Thousands of people gathered in the river valley, whooping and cheering as they waited for the water to flow. Campfires dotted the bank of the North Saskatchewan River. Small boats and kayaks hovered under the bridge. One skeptical constable on duty said: “Isn’t this something. We don’t have a hospital east of 97th Street, but we’ve got a waterfall over the High Level Bridge.” It started with a trickle but within minutes, as the pressure in the pipes began to build, the waterfall streamed forth.
The falls lasted in the city until 2009, when the city stopped running the waterfall over concerns the chlorinated water could be affecting the river below. In 2012, Edmonton city councillors considered upgrading the falls to meet environmental standards, but the equipment needed to de-chlorinate the water was deemed too expensive. The debate about restoring the waterfall was again raised in 2014; however, the city council voted to shut it down for good. Today, we are all very familiar with the High Level Bridge art installation added to the bridge in 2013. Called “Light the Bridge,” the piece contains 60,000 LED lights installed along the bridge, lit up in different colours each evening.
Photo credit: Macleans.ca
"Icy": A New Citizen Science Program for Glaciers
Science is all around us. It plays a part in getting us to work, powering our buildings, and making sure the food and water we consume is safe. Every day, researchers are working to improve our society and discover new things about the world in which we live. There are science projects and science experiments happening in your community that you can get involved in. Some may only be available at certain times of year or in certain areas, but with a little exploring you can find exciting ways to take part in science.
Parks Canada, British Columbia Parks, and the University of Waterloo’s GeoReach are launching “Icy”, a citizen science program that invites you to help monitor glacier changes! The program is rolling out in British Columbia and Alberta in two national parks and four provincial parks. More Parks Canada sites might participate in the future. Your photos will support vital scientific research, tracking glacial changes like retreat, thinning, and even disappearance.
Joining this initiative is a great way to support glacier and mountain ecosystem research while learning about the natural world. By taking regular photos of glaciers and surrounding areas, you’ll help track changes over time and uncover patterns like glacier recession. Your data will inform conservation efforts and help make decisions. By taking part in this initiative, you’ll also get access to the collected data, offering a chance to learn more about glaciers in your area!
Photo credit: Internet Archives
From Depression to Destination: Building the Miette Road
The Great Depression broke Canada. In the years following the stock market crash, its gross national product dropped twenty-five percent. Personal income in Alberta fell by forty-eight, farm wages by fifty. The value of farmland itself plummeted by forty percent, while nationwide unemployment rose to thirty. Everywhere dust hounded crops and fires plagued town. And yet, nothing was done. Cities, provinces, the Dominion, each squabbled, passing the buck from one party to the other. No-one wanted the responsibility — and price-tag — associated with Depression-relief.
Fortunately, J.B. Harkin’s Dominion Park Branch took a more proactive approach. Where all other levels of government saw the country’s increasingly radicalized unemployed as an unwanted problem, the Park Commissioner saw opportunity. If a series of work camps were erected across Canada’s national parks, he argued, these men’s unused labour could transform them into revenue-generating tourist attractions. “In return,” Eric Strikwerda writes, “the men would get three square meals a day, a warm bed, and a healthy, natural setting in which to wait out the hard times.”
One of the most ambitious projects was building a road to the secluded Miette Hot Springs in Jasper National Park. For years, the springs were only accessible by a pony trail, but the Parks Branch aimed to transform it into a proper road for vehicles. Beginning in May 1930, workers toiled seasonally through difficult conditions, including heavy rains and harsh winters, to carve a 17-kilometer path. Despite a halt in funding in 1931 due to a new federal act, the project received renewed appropriations in 1932. By November 1933, the road was usable by vehicles, and its formal opening on June 1, 1934, was a success, attracting tourists and locals who had never been able to visit the springs before. Workers completed the final stages of the project by November 1934, after four summers of labor. The Miette Road not only became a popular scenic route but also provided over a million days of work for thousands of men during the darkest days of the Depression.
For the full story by Dane Ryksen go to https://www.forgottenedmonton.com/blog/miette-road.
Bear with Salmon 2014 by Dean Drever
Location: Epcor Tower, Edmonton, Alberta
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