Province asking for feedback on watershed protection measures

NORTHERN BC- The BC government recently announced it will be responding to the call for stronger wetland and watershed protection caused by extreme weather events by developing its first Watershed Security Strategy and Fund. It will explore issues such as governance, climate change, ecosystems and sources of drinking water as well as community and economic stability, through the release of a discussion paper for public feedback.

Input from Ducks Unlimited Canada is being utilized, and the province is also developing the strategy with Indigenous Peoples and in collaboration with other levels of government. Sarah Nathan, Provincial Operations Manager for Ducks Unlimited BC, says this public feedback will be a very important tool when creating future plans for wetland and watershed protection.

“For them to outline an approach and invite feedback early on is really helpful instead of just people making assumptions about what might be important so I think that engagement process is the place to start,” she stated.

Nathan says the flooding and wildfires have really emphasized how vulnerable our wetlands are and how important it is to implement protective measures soon. However, wetlands and watersheds have also been quite useful in these extreme conditions. For flooding, wetlands increase the lands capacity to absorb water. This means developments that are at risk of flooding due to their proximity near hardened shorelines could benefit from them.