November 3, 2025
Dear Mayor and Council,
On behalf of the SAGE board of directors, we would like to take this opportunity to offer our congratulations on your success in the recent election. We acknowledge your hard work in achieving this office and appreciate your dedication to serving the residents of Lethbridge.
The Southern Alberta Group for the Environment (SAGE) is a leading voice for a healthy and environmentally sustainable community. Our mandate is to inform citizens, participate in public consultation processes and support sound environmental initiatives and actions. We recognize that you will make decisions that directly impact our local environment and the city’s approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation during your time in office. Therefore, we want to take this opportunity to express our full support for the principles articulated in the Municipal Development Plan (Bylaw 6265 approved June 29, 2021) that address increasingly urgent environmental concerns.
A critical issue for Lethbridge is the increased risk of drought and diminished flows in the Oldman River Basin, which are mainly a consequence of over-allocation in the face of growing demand. Mean summer flows through Lethbridge have declined by at least thirty percent since the early 1900s. The proposal for a reservoir on the Belly River and for major expansion of irrigated acres in the region are not an appropriate water governance response in an already over-allocated basin. Furthermore, decision-making has not been based on cumulative-effects modelling that adequately considers impacts of industrial activity and climate change on water availability and the high economic cost to the public in building, operating and maintaining water management infrastructure. Upstream storage and diversion may have deleterious effects during periods of low flows in the Oldman River at Lethbridge, which impact the river as a resilient and sustainable source of our drinking water as well as its ability to dilute urban stormwater and wastewater effluent.
For the past several years management of dams and diversions upstream have reduced the river to ‘minimum flow’ through Lethbridge. Failing to meet instream flow needs, that mirror a natural flow regime, threatens riparian health including biodiversity. Stressed and dying cottonwood forests and reduced recruitment of young cottonwoods are a visible symptom of this failure. Additionally, coal mine development, historical and proposed, in the Oldman River headwaters poses a risk to our water quality from selenium and other pollutants. We encourage this City Council to continue to provide a strong voice for water and watershed management that sustains high-quality, ecologically-appropriate flows for the river and the communities that rely on it.
In an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Lethbridge, we would encourage the City to promote green building including fundamental improvements to insulation and window standards. The City of Lethbridge can direct new developments to optimize solar potential and encourage low-emission technologies like photovoltaic generation and heat pumps. The City may also set higher standards in building projects that receive municipal grants and property tax incentives. A good candidate might be the two apartment buildings planned for the intersection of 6 Ave and 13 St South. The developer has indicated an interest in a lower emission future by foregoing typical parking standards and, during their open-house presentation, promised to build to higher standards. Confirming these promises contractually within agreements that involve public subsidies would be an investment in the performance of our built environment that will be operating well into the future.
Thank you for your time and attention. We look forward to the important contributions you will surely provide while in office and sincerely hope that our environment and the climate remain top priorities during your term. We at SAGE continue to offer our support and collaborative participation in environmental initiatives, as our organization has for the past 42 years.