Rivers Day is about “getting back to our roots,” Scott Tanner said Sunday on the banks of the Little Qualicum River.
“The river really is the lifeblood of our community,” said Tanner, a Qualicum Beach town councillor and a member of the Wilderness Committee that organizes this day every year.
Much has been done by councils past and present to protect the watershed of the Little Qualicum, the source (through nearby aquifers) of the town’s drinking water — to the tune of $800,000 through purchases of land, timber rights and fish enhancement projects. “I never get a single complaint about it (the expenditures),” said Qualicum Beach Mayor Teunis Westbroek.
After a few words from a number of politicians and dignitaries, a group of about 25 people went on a hike near the river’s edge and through the forest, which thrives because of the river and the salmon that run up it every year.
“This is such a jewel in our midst,” said Gary Murdock. “We have stopped it from being a subdivision and we did stop it from being logged.”
What’s next for the river and the people who want it protected?
“The vision is to create a protected corridor (right to the source),” said Tanner, filling in for his wife Annette, who is usually the host for this event but was in hospital on Sunday.
Westbroek said the next step in the protection of the river, the shoreline and the watershed in general is battling erosion, something that may be done by employing methods other than seawalls.
“This is an expensive proposition; it ill take years,” said the mayor. “But without the beach, we’re not much. We have to protect it.”
“This is not something we wish to do, it’s something we have to do.”
Tanner was asked what makes the Little Qualicum so special compared to the other rivers in the district. He said the Little Qualicum is the only river in the area that is host to the runs of all seven salmonoid species. He said he was also proud of the fact his community gets its water from aquifers and not surface water from the Little Qualicum, “which makes Qualicum Beach’s water far superior to Parksville’s.”
