The health of watersheds in northern BC and beyond is critical to the communities and the natural environment, including the plant and wildlife to which they supply freshwater. Critical challenges to the health of these watersheds range from local resource extraction impacts to global influences such as climate change. As such, watersheds are exemplar levels of analysis to understand the cumulative impacts of resource development. Momentum has been building among a growing number of collaborative initiatives and grassroots organizations which seek to engage in formal roles in watershed decision-making. This panel discussion will explore BC trends in freshwater governance, including British Columbia’s new Water Sustainability Act, which came into force in 2016. The Act outlines a process for designating responsibility for developing area-based water sustainability plans to local planning organizations.

Speakers:

• Jennifer Vigano, BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy
• Reg Whiten, InterraPlan Inc.
• Rosie Simms, The POLIS Project on Ecological Governance
• Deborah Harford, Adaptation to Climate Change Team

Moderator: Terry Robert, Fraser Basin Council