Challenge 1

Hello Great Waters Community!  My name is Kaylyn Jackson, I'm from High Prairie Alberta, I've only been up here for about a year but have lived in Alberta for almost my whole life.  I'm a settler and second generation Canadian with my family originally immigrating from the Czech Republic.  The Land I'm currently living on was originally Cree territory and is now a part of Treaty 8.





As a scuba diver, paddler, fisher-woman and environmental educator I have always felt a strong connection to freshwater and my watershed.    For the Past 3 years I have been working on scuba diving as many of Alberta's lakes as possible,  Last summer I had a chance to get up close and personal with Waterton Lake in Southern Alberta.  As Alberta's deepest lake and arguably one of the best diving lakes in the province I was ecstatic.  One on of my dives we decided to go deep and decided along the rocky wall of a shoreline to a depth of 117 feet.  all around me I could feel the cold pressure of the water and looking to the surface all I could see was a distant glimmer of sunlight peering through the blue green gloom.  looking out ahead a three foot long lake trout swam through the meager beam of my flashlight completely unconcerned that we strange creatures had invaded its underwater world. As we began our assent and got closer to the surface I scanned my flashlight along the silty rock covered bottom to be greeted by a fantastic sight.  wriggling in the beam of my flashlight were thousands of fry, young newly hatched fish, covering the bottom of the lake. The whole swim back up to the shore I was amazed my the shear volume of fry that were present in the lake and honored to have been able to see such an amazing sight.



I signed up for this challenge to help get more in touch with my watershed and local water issues.  I currently work as the Watershed Coordinator with the Lesser Slave Watershed Council and am always looking for new and exciting ways to learn about our water and help pass on the knowledge and excitement to those around me.

I live in the East/West Prairie Rivers Sub-Basin of the Lesser Slave Watershed.   Our headwaters originate in the Swan Hills and we are unique because we have no glacial headwaters and are based around a lake rather than a river system.  All of the water within our watershed eventually travels out the east side of the lake and flows into the Lesser Slave River traveling roughly 75km before leaving our watershed and joining up with the Athabasca River and making it's way North.

We have a multitude of issues and challenges surrounding our local watershed; from lake levels,  degradation of shoreline, fishing and recreational usage, nutrient loading and sedimentation.  Sedimentation is one of the challenges I am most concerned about because its been an ongoing issue due to the channelization of many of our rivers and streams back in the 1970s.

I look forward to participating in the Great Waters Challenge and Learning more about my own local waters along with water and watershed's across Canada.