Like many water sources across BC, the Glade Creek Community Watershed is under threat from proposed logging. The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources (FLNRO) neatly sliced the Glade Community Watershed in half, and granted tenure to two licensees. On this public land, ATCO Wood Products gets the top half and Kalesnikoff Lumber Company gets the bottom half. After investigation, the Glade community became concerned for our water quality. Could anyone help us to protect our water? We began asking…
We asked the Minister of the Environment, Interior Health Authority, the government’s “Living Water Smart” and of course, we asked FLNRO. They all said they were already protecting our water sources. Maybe we hadn’t noticed.
The lack of public confidence in water protection in BC is well earned. Ask the folks in Ymir, where their tiny watershed is slated to be logged, or the folks in Shawnigan Lake, where they had to fight to get contaminated soil dumping out of their water source. Ask the folks in Slocan Valley, who have been fighting for decades to protect their water sources. Ask us.
Ironically, the Drinking Water Protection Act makes the citizens of BC water users and suppliers “…ultimately responsible for ensuring users are protected from drinking water health hazards.”
So, as many citizens and communities across BC have done over the years, we will, out of necessity, protect our water. Water is life and without clean water, nothing can live. Where our elected leaders and decision makers aren’t stepping up, we need the media and the public to take action – before it’s too late for yet another small community.
Heather McSwan
Glade Watershed Protection Society
