Media Release

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For immediate release
August 28, 2006

World’s water conservation experts converge on The Banff Centre September 7 to 11

Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy – September 7 to 11, 2006
The Banff Centre – Banff, Alberta, Canada

In September, Environment Ministers from Canada’s western provinces, the former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, and 50 of the world’s experts in water conservation and management policy will arrive at The Banff Centre for the fifth biennial Rosenberg International Forum. They will be meeting to discuss water resource issues that affect every country in the world. With a focus on upland watersheds and the effect of climate change on dwindling resources, the Forum will explore the complex negotiations involved in managing water across borders and boundaries — provincial, state, and national.

“Not only is this world-class forum bringing together top scholars and world leaders in water policy, but it is an opportunity for Alberta to showcase what it is doing to protect our watersheds,” says Alberta Environment Minister Guy Boutilier. “The South Saskatchewan River Basin Water Management Plan clearly demonstrates Alberta’s leadership in water management.”

Set in Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies, field trips and case study discussion will encompass both the unique hydrological apex of the Columbia Icefield north of Banff (upland source of three major river systems), and the Columbia River basin west of the Rocky Mountains. Topics will centre on the effects of climate change on glacial recession, managing upstream and downstream water flow across multiple jurisdictions, and water issues in mountain regions including deforestation and flooding.

Forum participants will include former Deputy Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Herb Gray, chair of the Canadian section of the International Joint Commission (a treaty organization set up in 1909 to resolve transboundary water issues between Canada and the U.S.), Alberta Environment Minister Guy Boutilier, Dr. Bruno Messerli, vice president of the Swiss Academy of Sciences and author of Mountains as Water Towers, Moneef Zou’bi, director-general of the Islamic Academy of Sciences, and the University of Alberta’s Dr. David Schindler, one of the world’s foremost water experts.

The Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy was established in 1996 with an endowment from the Bank of America to the University of California Water Resources Center in honour of the Bank’s retiring chairman and CEO, Richard M. Rosenberg. Rosenberg’s lifelong interest and leadership in water policy is recognized through this ongoing global dialogue to enhance the environment and economic growth, reduce water-related conflicts, and improve water policy. Previous sessions of the Forum have taken place in San Francisco, Barcelona, Canberra, and Ankara.

Forum V of the Rosenberg International Forum is sponsored by The University of California, Bank of America, The Max Bell Foundation, Alberta Environment, Alberta Ingenuity Centre for Water Research, The Calgary Foundation, Alberta Irrigation Projects Association, the Columbia Basin Trust, and The Banff Centre.

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