CRAZ & CASA
The Calgary Region Airshed Zone Society (CRAZ)is a non-profit association comprised of government agencies (federal, provincial and municipal), non-government organizations, industry and the public.
CRAZ’s mission is: to monitor, analyze and provide information on air quality in the Calgary Region Airshed Zone.
Currently Alberta Environment and the City of Calgary financially support CRAZ. Bow Valley Clean Air Society is a member of CRAZ and have a representative on the CRAZ Executive Board.
As a multi-stakeholder advisory group, CRAZ’s objectives are to:
- develop and operate a comprehensive, reliable and trustworthy air quality monitoring program within the Airshed zone
- analyze and manage air quality data and ensure the data is easily accessible
- identify and prioritize air quality issues in the Airshed zone
- develop strategies and action to achieve protection and continuous improvement of air quality in the Airshed zone
Website: www.craz.ca email: information@craz.ca Executive Director: Jill Bloor
Boundary of the Calgary Region Airshed Zone
There are 9 Airshed zones in the province, with the largest Airshed being the Calgary zone.
CRAZ has taken over the 3 monitoring stations in the City of Calgary and will move toward establishing a fourth station in Calgary.
The Calgary Region Airshed Zone (CRAZ) encompasses an area that approximately follows the boundaries of the Calgary Health Region except for the northern border which is defined by the southern border of the Parkland Airshed Management Zone (PAMZ).
The current proposed airshed boundaries include the cities of Calgary and Airdrie; the Municipal Districts of Rocky View, Bighorn and Foothills; Willow Creek, Vulcan and Wheatland Counties; the Improvement Districts of Kananaskis and Banff; and the Town of Canmore. The Siksika, Eden Valley, Tsuu T’ina, and Stoney First Nations are also located within the CRAZ area.
- CRAZ represents 40% of Alberta’s population.
- There are 37 municipalities and 3 First Nations in the CRAZ region; 15 are members. 14 of these municipalities are in the Calgary Regional Partnership.
- Still working on a long term funding for CRAZ. Industry has agreed to a funding allocation for industry’s share of emissions.
- CRAZ has recently updated the emission inventory for the air shed. Look for it on the CRAZ website - www.craz.ca/monitoring/aqhi. Surprisingly the split between industry emissions and other emissions (e.g. transportation, etc) was 30%/70%. Other air sheds have a much higher industry contribution. This could be a function of the bow river corridor being such a major transportation corridor.
Clean Air Strategic Alliance (CASA)
The Clean Air Strategic Alliance (CASA), a non-profit partnership of government, industry and NGOs, is developing a new Clean Air Strategy for Alberta. Since this is the air we all breathe, your thoughts on air quality in Alberta are an essential part of the dialogue.
Air quality monitoring information is provided to Alberta Environment and in some cases is provided by industry to CASA data warehouse. All data at the CASA data warehouse is available to the public www.casahome.org There is work in progress to make all this data in useable format and available from one source (CASA).
For more information on Air Quality Monitoring Zones in Alberta, visit the Clean Air Strategic Alliance website or Alberta Environment www.environment.alberta.ca.
Phone: (780) 427-9793 Fax: (780) 422-3127
