News

Whirling disease has arrived in B.C. The tiny parasite kills about 90 per cent of young fish that it infects, such as commercially important salmon and trout species. 

Fish showing symptoms of whirling disease were found in Emerald Lake, located in Eastern B.C.’s Yoho National Park. The parasite has the potential to spread far and wide – unless everyone helps to contain the threat. 

There’s no cure – so prevention is key to preventing the invasive parasite from killing fish, and the jobs and food security they support, throughout B.C.

A “sleeping giant” sounds like something out of a terrifying fairy tale.

But that’s how Bowinn Ma, B.C.’s Emergency Management Minister, just described the record drought that has parched B.C. When the drought is over and the rains return, she told a news conference, the province could be at risk of catastrophic flooding like B.C. saw two years ago.

Check out the full CTV story to learn more. 

If anyone had listened years ago to concerned citizens pleading for a new weir on the Cowichan River, would the fish kill this summer have occurred?

Check out the full news story from West Coast Now here, otherwise read on for our recap and thoughts.

Today the province of B.C. announced in Budget 2023 $100 million to kick start a Watershed Security Fund. This fund will support “wild salmon health, clean drinking water, biodiversity, flood resilience, economic opportunities, and reconciliation with First Nations.”

Stoney Creek Environment Committee needs your help to defend Stoney Creek – home to one of the last urban salmon runs in the Lower Mainland. In July 2021, a construction waste dump killed over 300 fish. Unfortunately, the threats continue today with spewing sewage and pollutants continuously threatening this precious waterway.

Watershed security is necessary to protect our drinking water sources, support sustainable local economies and food supplies, protect key habitat for fish and wildlife, maintain our natural defences against fires and floods, and support First Nations culture. Given how healthy and secure watersheds are essential for maintaining our day-to-day lives, a Watershed Security Strategy and Fund seem like things that should have been developed ages ago. But we’re just getting started now and we really can’t afford to wait any longer. 

Watersheds are the source of BC’s most precious resource – our freshwater. Our watersheds provide us with freshwater for drinking, agriculture, recreation, sanitation and also support many local economies in BC.

To bring a spotlight on the importance of BC’s watersheds, in 2021, Canadian Freshwater Alliance, in collaboration with Watershed Watch Salmon Society and CodeBlue BC launched the first season of The Freshwater Stream — a podcast about BC’s watersheds and the people who care about them. 

We launched CodeBlue BC launched back in January of 2020 and our efforts to secure and restore BC’s watersheds have taken big strides ever since — despite unforeseen hurdles, like global pandemics. We accomplished some pretty great things this year, but at the same time, the stakes have never been higher. Check out some highlights from 2021.

Gene Allen is a fifth-generation logger, born and raised in the Skeena Valley. From a lifetime of working in the cutblocks, Gene knows what current logging practices are doing to our watershed.

In the Cowichan Valley, a watershed-wide community with members across all occupational sectors and of all ages is taking a stand for water security in the Warmland.