Wilderness and Waterpower

Alberta’s need for electricity deeply affected and shaped Banff National Park. This is a story of the quest to balance hydroelectric demand with entrepreneurial greed, and of the importance of water for tourism, rural electrification, and the diversion to coal-powered electricity.

This engaging book explores how the need for electricity at the turn of the century affected and shaped Banff National Park. Today’s conservationists and energy researchers will find much to think about in this tale of Alberta’s early need for electricity, entrepreneurial greed, debates over Indigenous ownership of the river, moving park boundaries to accommodate hydro-electric initiatives, the importance of water for tourism, rural electrification, and the ultimate diversion to coal-produced electricity.