Hello POLIS Colleagues, Partners & Friends,
World Water Day is coming up this Saturday and, as usual, here at POLIS we’re starting our celebrations early. (We just can’t help ourselves.)
Plus, we need celebration these days. We are living in such uncertain times, and joy and thinking and acting locally can be powerful acts of resistance. If you’re on our POLIS mailing list, I’m guessing you know that fresh water in B.C. and Canada has been making international headlines recently. When the never-ending scroll of news — threat, anxiety, fear — becomes too much, I often find it helpful to refocus my attention away from the global and towards the local.
Celebrating at a Watershed Scale
Here at POLIS, our work has always focused on the watershed as an effective scale for change. In watershed governance, we ask: How can those who live and work in a watershed, with their different, and sometimes conflicting, priorities, needs, and opinions, work together to share responsibility for keeping water and surrounding lands healthy and resilient?
The answer isn’t the same for each watershed. Every place is unique. But, when individuals are open to working together, working collaboratively, and sharing common ground, answers can — and do — emerge. Given the current global tumult, this may sound idealistic. But, again, when I refocus my gaze towards the local, I see a lot of hope. A few recent examples immediately come to mind, and there are many, many more:
💧Do you remember when Cowichan Tribes and the Province of British Columbia signed the Xwulqw’selu Watershed Planning Agreement (S-xats-thut tst—We Agree) in May 2023? With this signing, Cowichan Tribes and the provincial government launched a historic multi-year watershed planning process, including work to develop (and then implement) the first Water Sustainability Plan in B.C.
💧In the Nicola watershed, the Nk’eʔxép (Drought) Management Committee is driving changes that are building greater security and resilience for ecosystems and people alike, and which must inform a modernized approach to the provincial drought program. The committee is boldly shifting away from the status-quo towards an approach based on shared decision-making informed by Indigenous and Western knowledge and science.
💧And what about the work of the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources and its Collaborative Leadership Initiative (CLI)? This facilitated process provides resources and expertise to support Indigenous and municipal leaders as they find solutions to shared water challenges. And it’s seen real success. The CLI Manitoba process gathered elected leaders from 11 Indigenous governments and 16 municipalities for the first time in 154 years, which led to the signing of an historic intergovernmental agreement and numerous joint initiatives.
💧In March 2023, the B.C. provincial government and B.C-First Nations Water Table made an historic announcement about the creation of a $100 million provincial Watershed Security Fund. This investment signals a tangible commitment to create enduring change and significantly advance watershed security in B.C.
💧And then there’s our POLIS work, too. This past year, we broadened our focus by launching the new POLIS Wildfire Resilience Project, a sister project to our ongoing POLIS Water Sustainability Project. We recognize the importance of wildfire as a natural ecological process in healthy watersheds and as a threat when catastrophic fires take hold and endanger our communities. This new project initiates transformative change towards a better future by offering innovative solutions to advance wildfire resilience in watersheds across B.C.
💧And back in the fall, POLIS’ Oliver M. Brandes was selected to co-chair the International Joint Commission’s International Elk-Kootenai/y Watershed Study Board. This board, including Indigenous and non-Indigenous members, will advance and develop a robust understanding of the ecological impacts and paths forward for decision-making in the Elk-Kootenai/y watershed.
Why World Water Day?
What does all this have to do with World Water Day, the annual UN observance that started in 1993?
Well, here at POLIS, we’ve always seen World Water Day as an opportunity to pause, reflect, and celebrate the many individuals and organizations doing tangible, good work for water and watersheds. Across B.C. and beyond, there is a truly mighty force of passionate people working to maintain, restore, or improve our watersheds. Did you know the full economic impact of B.C.’s watershed sector was mapped for the first time in 2021? This study revealed that the sector contributed 47,900 jobs and $5 billion annually to the B.C. economy. This is important and necessary work.
This year, the official theme for World Water Day is “Glacier Preservation.” While we don’t do direct work on glaciers or the cryosphere here at POLIS, we are deeply aware of the interconnectedness between glaciers; the hydrologic cycle; climate change; human laws, policy, and governance; and ecological and human well-being.
After a recent conversation with my colleague and work study student, Kamilla Hindmarch, she wrote the following beautiful words, which will appear in this year’s issue of Ripples (set for release in the coming weeks):
“Ice is more than a physical entity: it is a storyteller, a timekeeper, and a crucial component of our watersheds. It shapes our land, influences our climate, and sustains communities and ecosystems that countless beings depend on. As climate change accelerates, these frozen storytellers are changing rapidly, encouraging us to listen and learn.
At POLIS, water governance is done through understanding and respecting the interconnectedness of water systems, including ice. Glaciers and snowpacks are integral parts of watershed function and health, influencing stream flows, community activities, and ecosystem function. POLIS approaches water governance through collaboration with a variety of communities, experts, governments at all levels (local, Indigenous, provincial, federal), and non-governmental and Indigenous organizations. In our work with such strong leaders, we are like tributaries, together, connecting and flowing into greater waters. We strive to work and learn together and to honour knowledge systems that have long understood these connections. This year’s theme resonates with our belief in collaborative water stewardship, where diverse voices and experiences are essential in addressing the complex challenges we are facing today.”
Celebrate with Us!
On March 20th, we are hosting a water sustainability resource fair, screening of The Spirit Who Swims, and expert dialogue in Victoria B.C. and there are many other World Water Day events happening across the country.
From our team to you, happy World Water Day!
Laura Brandes (she/her)
Communications Director, POLIS Water Sustainability Project
