Board of Directors (as of November 2025)
| SECTOR | REPRESENTATIVE |
| Public Member at Large | Hannah Anderson |
| Public Member at Large | Audrey DeWit |
| Conservation/Environment Director | Dave Walty |
| Research Education | Bin Xu |
| Watershed Stewardship | Cathy Newhook |
| Recreation/Tourism/Fisheries | Brian Lieverse |
| Agriculture | Kate Winterford |
| Forestry | Wayne Thorp |
| Utilities | Ashley Rowney |
| Oil & Gas | Vacant |
| Mining | Vacant |
| SECTOR | REPRESENTATIVE |
| Métis Nation of Alberta | Vacant |
| Metis Settlements General Council | Vacant |
| Upper Watershed First Nation | Vacant |
| Lower Watershed First Nation | Jim Webb |
| Middle Watershed First Nation | Vacant |
| Rural Municipalities | Vacant |
| Small Urban Municipalities | Vacant |
| Federal Transboundary Relations | Abdi Siad-Omar |
| Large Urban Municipality | Chris Thiessen |
| Provincial Government | Bonnie Segal |
Member Biographies
Catherine Newhook (Watershed Stewardship)
Catherine Newhook was born in Nova Scotia and raised in Prince Edward Island by the water. Family brought her out West and in 1984, she found her forever home in Goodfare, Alberta. Cathy and her husband have four children together.
Cathy is a natural resource technician and her love for nature and conservation began in 1984 when her and her partner started a tree planting company, Next Generation Reforestation. Today, NextGen plants an average of 22 million trees a year in the Boreal Forest.
Cathy was a founding member of the West County Watershed Society and has been president for the last 10 years. West County Watershed Society represents the communities and watersheds West of Grande Prairie, Alberta including the Beaverlodge Red Willow and Wapiti River.
Cathy is driven by the idea of ensuring communities have access to clean, sparkling rivers for fishing, kayaking, recreation and resource use for generations to come.
Ashley Rowney (Utilities)
Ashley relocated from Southern Saskatchewan to the Peace Region nearly 15 years ago upon graduating from the University of Regina. She has since put down roots in Grande Prairie, and is the Regulatory and Compliance Specialist with Aquatera Utilities, a full-service utility corporation. Ashley has been involved with the MPWA since its inception in 2011 as a board member and at times as part of the Executive team.
Abdi Siad-Omar (Federal-Transboundary Relations)
Abdi works with Alberta Environment and Parks and brings the connection between the Transboundary and Ministry work to the Watershed organization.
Dave Walty Conservation/Environment)
David Walty lives in a log house that he built himself on a small farm just outside of the Town of Peace River. The view from his house looks down the valley of the Mighty Peace. “I can view the many faces of the river, its furry, it ever changing flows and its radiant beauty form my front door.” Dave recently retired from 40 years of managing the Fish and Wildlife resources of the Peace Region. Dave is a fisheries biologist by training. His experience with management, planning, aboriginal relations, stakeholder relations, communication, education and working in a team environment are many. Dave has an intimate knowledge of most lakes and rivers in the Peace Watershed. Dave is a founding member and a director of the East Peace Water Co-op, the largest water co-op in the province.