Hello ,

How amazing is it that EVENTS can be #1 on the list again!

July is shaping up to be a lot of fun on the water. Festivals are getting going in a big way, after an 18month hiatus, and Athlete Development continues for all disciplines. 

Strategic Planning

What's your One Wish for paddling in Alberta? 

Stage 1 - Scanning [completed]

Stage 2 - Vision - Survey 

AWA is continueing our comprehensive Stategic Planning process and we want your input!

You will have an opportunity over the next few months to provide input through surveys and/or through moderated Zoom meetings. The second Vision survey is open now with two online engagement opportunities in July:

Go to the Strategic Plan Webpage

 New Club - Welcome Jasper Kayak Club!

Jasper Kayak Club is the newest club in Alberta! If you're in the Jasper / Hwy 16 corridor, consider joining and support them. They even have 4 new instructors trained up already, thanks to Jim Myers.

JKC Facebook

Member Registration

Whitewater Parks, Facilities and Access

National Park Watercraft Pass

You are now required to register your boat daily in Banff and Waterton. Links available here

Kananaskis Park Pass

The new Kananaskis Conservation Pass has come into effect. The annual pass is good for two vehicles and is applicable in most crown areas from HWY 1 south to Cataract Creek. AWA has applied for exemptions for club-owned and club employee vehicles through our non-profit guiding permit.

Conservation Pass Link

Kananaskis Whitewater Park

Wave modelling is now complete and we saw some great designs for the perfect playboating wave at the Kananaskis. The next step will be to secure funding to upgrade waves and do other maintenace needed after 6 years of high spring flows.

The next round of maintenace is slated for 2023 at which time AWA & ARSA are looking to repair six years worth of degradation and significantly improve at least one feature based on the modelling information. We expect the combined project to be around $500,000 which will be funded with a combination of grants, rock donation, and community funding. If you'd like to help AWA rebuild the park, you can Donate Here.

Canoe Meadows

Individual sites and the Group Site are open!

There is now a Cell Phone Booster at the Canoe Meadows cookshelter. It bounces off the mountain behind and gives a few bars of reception for emergency calls and other needs. It runs off the solar system so we can't guarantee that it is always on, but you can test it out the next time you need to post to Instagram real-time ;)

Cochrane Whitewater Park

The Cochrane Whitewater Park steering committee meets twice per month. We are starting a public engagement process for the park this month. Keep your ears open for opportunities to provide input soon.

Whitewater & Facility Page

Grants Received

AWA received a $3000 grant from the Sport Information Resource Centre (SIRC) to work towards Safe Sport Policy adoption. Stay tuned for contest information. Take the Safe Sport Training and Fill out the Safe Sport self-screening form to win big in the near future!

We'd like to tip our hat to Canadian Tire and the Jumpstart Grants for providing much needed funding to member organizations in recent months. Over $45,000 has been recieved to date. The next round of funding starts June 4th. If your organization needs help with ideas, contact Mike. admin@albertawhitewater.ca

Olympics! 

For the first time since 2000, Canada has a full Whitewater team going to the Olympics. We have Haley Daniels of Calgary; Michael Taylor from Ottawa who was born in Calgary; Cam Smedley of Ottawa, who is our Slalom Head Coach, Liam's, brother; and Florence Maheu of Valleyfield, competiting August 26-29th. Watch Haley Daniels race on the 28th/29th. 

Also going to the games is Haley's dad and Alberta's chief judge Kimberly Daniels. She will be the first transgender judge in Olympic history. We wish the whole Daniels family an amazing experience in Tokyo!

If you have any articles to publish or topics you'd like to see in the newsletter, please let us know!