Water & Flooding

The Bow River is relatively wide and shallow, causing its flood plains to be fairly far-reaching. The Bow River’s banks, islands, and flood plains continuously move with changing seasonal water levels and flood events. While this action can bring damage to the landscape, floods are part of the natural system and their effects are essential for a healthy ecosystem.

Inland water bodies, most of which are manmade, also characterize the site and are important to the Bend in the Bow habitat.

Almost every story told at Bend in the Bow features water as a theme. The river, lagoon, ponds, streams, wetlands, canals and ditches all tell their own tale about the interface of nature, culture, and education—each unique in its cast of characters, plot, themes, scene, and period.