We should celebrate our rivers
Water warrior: Founder reflects on B.C. Rivers Day and its evolution into a global event
B.C. Rivers Day, set for tomorrow, is especially timely this year given the warm, dry summer we just experienced and the extent to which many rivers were affected by low flows and high water temperatures. These events illustrate just how vulnerable rivers can be and highlight why we should never take them for granted.
These are key messages Rivers Day strives to promote. This weekend, festivities will occur across our province. As final preparations are being made, I’ve found myself thinking back to the origins of this event and, while this provincial celebration has a remarkable 35-year history, its goes back much further.
I’ve been drawn to rivers since childhood and as far back as I can recall I’ve been captivated by moving water. I wasn’t very old, however, before I gained an appreciation of the many threats that confront our waterways.
Living beside the Los Angeles River as a boy, I spent a great deal of time along this once-productive stream, now almost lifeless and largely encased in a massive concrete culvert.
I soon realized this was not the way a river was meant to be. Moving to Montana as a teenager, I lived close to the Milltown Dam on the Clark Fork River, an area widely known at the time as a toxic site due to contaminants from an upstream mine.
In my youth, I also became an avid paddler and flyfisher. Upon deciding to move to British Columbia in the early 1970s, I eagerly anticipated living in a place so renowned for its waterways.
After settling in Vancouver, I began paddling many local rivers and, in 1975, I travelled the full length of the Fraser for the first time. That particular trip was a non-stop highlight reel. It reinforced my belief that I was now so fortunate to live in this glorious province.
In the years that followed, I explored rivers across British Columbia and eventually came to believe in the need for an event that would commemorate just how special our waterways were. Consequently, I and some like-minded friends approached the provincial government in 1980 about endorsing an inaugural B. C. Rivers Day event planned for the last Sunday in September.
For that first event, we organized an extensive cleanup along the Thompson River, a major tributary of the Fraser. With the help of the Outdoor Recreation Council of BC, 40 volunteers with a flotilla of rafts collected a massive amount of garbage while also working with local towing companies to remove abandoned cars. The event was a great success!
That evening, we gathered to reflect on how rewarding the day had been. Eager to do it again, more activities and cleanups were planned for the following year and the event soon took on a life of its own.
B.C. Rivers Day, thanks to the support of sponsors such as the Pacific Salmon Foundation, has grown to include an array of festivities around the province involving tens of thousands of people. Events range from stream cleanups and habitat enhancement projects to educational outings and community riverside celebrations.
Given the success of B.C. Rivers Day, there seemed to be great potential for a similar international event. When the United Nations announced they would embark on the “Water for Life Decade” in 2005 to increase awareness of the importance of global water resources, the establishment of World Rivers Day, using our B.C. experience as a template, seemed a complementary fit.
We approached various agencies of the UN about the idea and received their blessing. In September 2005, the first World Rivers Day was celebrated and the event has since grown in leaps and bounds. This year, millions of people in more than 70 countries will participate in World Rivers Day celebrations and I’m proud that the roots of this global celebration are found here in British Columbia.
The growing interest in both B.C. and World Rivers Day is timely in that rivers around the globe are facing increasing pressures, ranging from pollution and urbanization to industrial development and the excessive extraction of water. Climate change, as witnessed this past summer, is also increasingly taking its toll. If B.C. Rivers Day helps to profile these issues, and create a greater appreciation of the importance of our waterways, that can only be positive.
Just as importantly, B.C. Rivers Day is a wonderful time to simply get out and enjoy a nearby stream and contemplate just how much they contribute to the quality of life we enjoy in this breathtaking part of the world.
Rivers around the globe are facing increasing pressures, ranging from pollution and urbanization to industrial development and the excessive extraction of water