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SWC

SWC Advocacy Correspondence for Watershed Health

The Shuswap Watershed Council plays an important role as an advocate for the Shuswap watershed. The SWC has called on provincial and federal authorities to take steps to ensure a healthy watershed. Here is the correspondence from the SWC that addresses the issues and encourages preventative and corrective actions.

Water Quality Correspondence

SWC Letter of October 12, 2022 and attached images (below)

Letter from the Shuswap Watershed Council to the Hon. George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, to express concern about deteriorating water quality in the Salmon Arm of Shuswap Lake, and to ask for the ministry’s leadership in restoring and protecting this waterway. In particular, the SWC referenced the ministry's jurisdictional responsibility for ensuring environmentally protective agricultural practices through implementation and compliance with the 2018 Agricultural Environmental Management Code of Practice.

Letter attachments:

Reply (by email) of March 2, 2023 from George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy


 Letter of October 11, 2022

Letter from the Shuswap Watershed Council to the Assistant Deputy Minister of BC Parks and Conservation Officer Service Division to express concern about the lack of watercraft wastewater pump-out and disposal facilities around Shuswap and Mara Lakes.

Invasive Mussels Correspondence

For background, see Invasive Mussels.

Letter of November 15, 2022

Letter from the Shuswap Watershed Council to the Hon. Josie Osborne, BC Minister of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship to call for a greater investment of resources in the province’s Invasive Mussel Defence Program.


 Letter of November 26, 2021

Joint letter from the Shuswap Watershed Council, Shuswap Waterfront Owners Association, and Columbia Shuswap Invasive Species Society to federal Fisheries Minister, Hon. Joyce Murray, outlining concerns for the Shuswap and British Columbia, calling for more federal funding and resources to protect BC from aquatic invasive mussels, and for better containment of aquatic invasive species in infested waterbodies.


 Letter of April 16, 2021

Letter from the Shuswap Watershed Council to the Provincial Minister of Environment, Hon. George Heyman, calling for additional measures to protect British Columbia from invasive mussels and invasive freshwater clams.


 Letter of December 17, 2019

Joint letter from the Shuswap Watershed Council and the Okanagan Basin Water Board to federal Fisheries Minister, Hon. Bernadette Jordan, calling for more federal funding and resources to protect BC from aquatic invasive mussels, and better containment of aquatic invasive species in infested waterbodies.


Letter of March 26, 2019

Letter from the Shuswap Watershed Council to Hon. Ken MacDonald, Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, requesting the SWC appear as a witness in a national study on the federal Aquatic Invasive Species Program.


Letter of December 13, 2018

Letter from the Shuswap Watershed Council to MP Ken MacDonald, expressing support for a review of the federal Aquatic Invasive Species Program, and expressing concern about the threat of invasive Zebra and Quagga Mussels to BC and the Shuswap region.


Letter of September 25, 2018

Letter from the Shuswap Watershed Council to federal Fisheries Minister, Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson, calling for additional federal funding and resources to protect BC from aquatic invasive mussels, and better containment of aquatic invasive species in infested waterbodies.


Letter of August 30, 2018

Letter from the Shuswap Watershed Council to MP Mel Arnold, expressing concern about the threat of aquatic invasive mussels to the Shuswap and calling for more federal funding and resources to protect BC.


Letter of February 2, 2018

Letter from the Shuswap Watershed Council to Hon. Premier John Horgan and provincial Minister of Environment, Hon. George Heyman, requesting the Province to expand the Invasive Mussel Defence Program.


Letter of January 5, 2017

Letter from the Shuswap Watershed Council to Hon. Premier Christy Clark and provincial Minister of Environment, Hon. Mary Polak, requesting the establishment of permanent watercraft inspection stations at all highway entry-points to BC.


Letter of April 21, 2016

Letter from the Shuswap Watershed Council to Hon. Premier Christy Clark and provincial Minister of Environment, Hon. Mary Polak, expressing support for enhancements to the provincial Invasive Mussel Defence Program.

Our Vision

Social well-being supported by a vibrant economy and sustained by a healthy environment.

About the Fraser Basin Council

The Fraser Basin Council (FBC) is a charitable non-profit organization that brings people together to advance sustainability in the Fraser River Basin and throughout BC. Established in 1997, FBC is a collaboration of four orders of government (federal, provincial, local and First Nations) along with those from the private sector and civil society. We work with people in multiple sectors, helping them find collaborative solutions to today’s issues through a commitment to the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainability. Our focus is on healthy water and watersheds, action on climate change and air quality and strong, resilient communities and regions.

FBC Project and
Partner Sites

Plug in BC:
www.pluginbc.ca

Emotive:
www.emotivebc.ca

ReTooling for Climate Change:
www.retooling.ca

FBC Youth:
fbcyouthprogram.ca

Climate Action Toolkit:
www.toolkit.bc.ca 

Salmon-Safe BC
www.salmonsafe.ca

Contact Us

FBC has offices in Vancouver, Kamloops, Williams Lake and Prince George. We also have staff located in Abbotsford and Vernon.

To reach us, see FBC Offices and FBC Staff.

Our main office is:

Fraser Basin Council
1st Floor, 470 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC V6C 1V5

T: 604 488-5350
F: 604 488-5351
E: 

We are grateful at the Fraser Basin Council Society to live and work on the unceded ancestral
territories of the Indigenous Nations of British Columbia.