“Of the sportfish species (rainbow trout, brown trout, and mountain whitefish), 33 per cent of the fish exceeded Alberta’s threshold for the protection of aquatic life. This also has implications for people who consume these fish.”
That disturbing finding comes from a Mount Royal University analysis of fish sampled from an irrigation canal downstream of the Piikani Nation. Piikani citizens regularly catch and consume fish caught below the dam and in reserve waters.
The fish showed selenium tissue concentrations “greater than the Alberta threshold for protection of aquatic life of 4.0 µg/g (micrograms per gram), as well as the guideline for fish consumption.”
The fish samples were collected by retired Alberta aquatic biologist Lorne Fitch who co-authored the report with Dr. Jon Mee, chair of the Mount Royal University biology department. The analysis was conducted in the university’s biology lab.
Titled “Analysis of Selenium Tissue Concentrations in Multiple Fish Species of the Oldman River”, the report urges comprehensive examinations of water and fish quality in the Crowsnest/Oldman River system which is the source of water for Lethbridge residents and southern Alberta’s farm and food industries. (Selenium accumulates in agricultural soil and farm animals. As as an elementary heavy metal, selenium does not decompose and there is no known way to remove selenium from municipal water supplies.)
“This reconnaissance level study assessed selenium concentrations in fish tissue of species found in the Oldman River, downstream of the Oldman Reservoir and a reach through the Piikani Nation. The data form a partial benchmark of selenium concentrations in fish lower in the watershed and an indication of the need for a greater scope of study to evaluate the issue.”
Motivation for the study originated with the late Piikani elder and conservationist Harley Bastien who for 30 years led the Piikani community’s rescue of fish trapped by the seasonal closing of the main canal of the Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District.
Harley, shortly before his unexpected death in the fall of 2025, had initiated legal proceedings against Evolve Power’s Tent Mountain and the governments of Alberta and Canada for depriving the Piikani People of their constitutional right to the healthful harvest of fish from ancestral waters. Harley’s demand letters were limited by scientific evidence to Crowsnest Lake, for which the Alberta government’s own science proved the resident trout were unfit for human consumption.
It was Harley's wish that a comparable analysis be completed for fish caught within the Piikani reserve. To that end, Crowsnest Headwaters secured the donated services of Lorne Fitch and Mount Royal University to carry out the study in Harley’s honour.
The study fish were taken during an irrigation canal rescue operation by Freshwater Conservation Canada in October 2025. Significantly, these fish were likely life-long residents of waters downstream of the Oldman Reservoir.
“It seems likely that the Oldman dam is a barrier to downstream fish movement and the fish collected were resident in the reach of the river downstream of the dam.”
Crowsnest Headwaters calls upon provincial and municipal authorities to urgently undertake their own comprehensive analyses of water and fish throughout the Crowsnest/Oldman watershed.
The full report is available here for download in PDF format.
Crowsnest Headwaters is a purely volunteer group of citizens committed to the protection and recovery of the Crowsnest/Oldman watershed from decades of coal mining and clear cutting. We rely on your donations to continue our work in the field, in the laboratory and in the courts. Please donate what you can by Interac eTransfer to funding@crowsnestheadwaters.ca
Leadership of Harley’s legal action has been taken up by his son Trevor. The case is a crowd-funded effort, managed by a partnership of Crowsnest Headwaters and Chinook Water*Shed Crew. To donate directly to Trevor Bastien’s legal action, please address your Interac eTransfer to trevorstrust@thewatershedcrew.org
The fact this isn't huge news shows how utterly screwed up everything is.