CBWN Webinar Recordings

Webinar: Columbia River Treaty Update

Kathy Eichenberger, Lead, Columbia River Treaty Team, BC Ministry of Mines

Key Question: What is happening now with the Treaty Review

The Columbia River Treaty is one of the most influential pieces of diplomacy and policy for the watersheds and ecology of the Columbia Basin. In this webinar, we welcomed Kathy Eichenberger to lead us through a review of the Treaty, the preparations for renegotiation, and the current status of the treaty and the timeframe for possible change. Kathy is the Executive Director of the Columbia River Treaty Review Team.

Webinar: Reading a Water Chemistry Report – Relating Water Chemistry to Basin Geology and Land Use Activity

Richard Johnson, Slocan Lake Solutions, and OPUS Engineering

Key Question: When should we be concerned?

Watershed stewards and drinking water users test water, and monitor water quality parameters. Most of us are not water chemists, and we really want to know: When should I be concerned? When do we need to investigate further?
Richard Johnson led us through a basic water chemistry report and explain how the qualities of watershed geology, soils, and land use are related to the attributes of our water.  Using reports from different watersheds across the Basin, we compared different watersheds to help us understand how to use our own data.  Participants should expect to understand their own water chemistry report better, and to be able to identify the parameters that are most important for them to monitor, and to be able to identify when they should be concerned.

Webinar: Understanding Basin Water Resources

Dr. Martin Carver, Aqua Environmental Associates

Responding to a growing interest in current information about water resources and water monitoring efforts, Columbia Basin Trust released a report about the current state of water knowledge in the Columbia Basin Trust region “Water Monitoring and Climate Change in the Upper Columbia Basin.”

Since climate change can influence the quality, quantity and timing of flow of Basin water resources, understanding relevant changes and trends is increasingly important for Basin communities and resource managers. The report includes:

* an overview of Columbia Basin water resources, from glaciers to groundwater, and pressures on them
* anticipated effects of climate change on various types of water resources in the Basin
* status and scope of water monitoring efforts in the region
* an outline of opportunities to fill knowledge gaps about water resources to support a range of activities such as ecosystem stewardship and community water supply planning.

Webinar: Engaging the Private Sector in Watershed Restoration

Todd Reeve, CEO, Bonneville Environmental Foundation

How can we engage the private sector in watershed restoration?

In this webinar, we heard from an innovator in the field of sustainable private sector funding for community based watershed restoration. In developing the first 10-year Model Watershed Restoration program, he also developed BEF’s Water Restoration Certificate® (WRCs) Program, and is currently working nationally on corporate water sustainability. Todd will relate his experiences and discuss the opportunities and challenges particularly for the context of rural watersheds.

Todd Reeve is CEO of the Bonneville Environmental Foundation where he pursues innovations at the intersection of corporate sustainability, renewable energy, and environmental water restoration. Todd created BEF’s Water Restoration Certificate® (WRCs) Program—the only national program that enables corporations and businesses to balance their water footprint by supporting projects that restore environmental flows to benefit depleted rivers, wetlands, and aquifers. Todd has overseen the development and funding of over 40 water restoration and Model Watershed projects across 11 states and Mexico. Todd is the co-creator of Change the Course, a national water restoration campaign founded in partnership with National Geographic and Participant Media. He is the Director of the Business for Water Stewardship, a network of businesses focused on securing water for business, nature and communities.

Click here for the recording of Engaging the Private Sector in Watershed Restoration

Webinar: Sustainable Funding for Watershed Health: Theory and Practice

Gerry Nellestijn, Salmo Watershed Streamkeepers Society, and Tara Lynne Clapp, Columbia Basin Watershed Network

Key Question: What are the ways to establish clear community and user support for our stewardship efforts?

Sustainable funding is a concern for watershed stewardship groups across the Basin. Most watershed stewardship groups rely on volunteer effort to accomplish the basics, with grant funding the go-to source for needed equipment, supplies, and larger project efforts. In this webinar, we re-examined some of the fundamentals of ‘value’ in watershed stewardship, and look at different approaches to matching the values we protect and provide to sources of funds. Tara Clapp introduced ‘value frameworks’ that are used to create funding opportunities, and Gerry Nellestijn related his experience from the Salmo watershed with a encouraging a user-pay framework.

Click here for the recording of Sustainable Funding for Watershed Health

Webinar: Emerging Issues in Mountain Watershed Management

Presented by Hans Schreier, Faculty of Land & Food Systems, UBC, Vancouver

Mountain watersheds are very sensitive to changes in land use and increased climatic variability and recent extreme events show that we are experiencing significant changes in streamflow regimes, sediment transport and water quality. The session will showed how land use activities and climate are affecting the availability of water, flooding problems, summer droughts and its effect on environmental services. Increased climatic variability combined with changes in forest cover, recreational activities, and agriculture are impacting watersheds. Innovative land use management practices can minime some of these impacts. Community groups can play a role to protect streams and reduce risks.

Hans Schreier is a professor in the Faculty of Land & Food Systems at the University of British Columbia. His research focuses on watershed management, land-water interactions, soil and water pollution, stormwater management and virtual water issues. He has worked extensively in watershed studies in the Himalayas and the Andean regions, and in Brazil, Honduras, Vietnam, Mongolia, as well as in British Columbia. In 1996 he was recognized by the International Development Research Centre for his contribution to improve water resources management in the developing world. From 2003-2007 he was Co-Leader of the Watershed Program of the Canadian Water Network National Centre of Excellence and was a member of the Water Advisory Panel for the Columbia Basin Trust. For more details see: http://ubclfs-wmc.landfood.ubc.ca/

Webinar: Freshwater Storytelling

Presented by David Minkow, Canadian Freshwater Alliance

The language of science and policy can be difficult to connect with, yet to be successful in our work we need to be able to engage new and existing audiences on our projects and campaigns. Our stories and how we tell them are key. This session explores storytelling as a way to build meaningful connections with your audience(s).

David Minkow is communications specialist with the Canadian Freshwater Alliance. He is a veteran print and broadcast journalist, including more than a decade as a producer with KQED Public Radio in San Francisco. Most recently, David was editor for Climate Access, a network for climate communicators trying to engage the public and influence policy. He has a masters of science in journalism from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University.

Webinar: History of salmon in the Basin and challenges for restoring salmon to the headwaters

This session gave a description of the historic distribution of Sockeye and Chinook salmon and Steelhead in the Columbia Basin in Canada and their role in the ecosystem. Following precipitous development of hydroelectricity after salmon were extirpated, the ecosystem of the Columbia basin changed markedly. Learn more about these changes, as well as challenges and potential for restoring salmon all the way through their historic range.

Will Warnock works for the Ktunaxa and Secwepemc First Nations through the Canadian Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fisheries Commission. He provides expertise in aquatic resource management and delivers fisheries research programs to evaluate and minimize impacts of hydroelectric facilities on aquatic ecosystems and restore anadromous fish to the Canadian Columbia River basin. Will holds a Ph.D. in Biosystems and Biodiversity from the University of Lethbridge. He resides in Kimberley, British Columbia.

Webinar: Columbia Basin Watershed Governance

We returned from 3 amazing days at the Watersheds Forum in Duncan/Cowichan Tribes territories and wanted to share our experience. The CBWN, Living Lakes and Lake Windermere Ambassadors hosted a webinar to discuss Watershed Governance in the Columbia Basin. This webinar built on the momentum of the 2013 “Think Like a Watershed” Columbia Basin Symposium and discussed our key learning outcomes from the 2014 Watersheds Forum.

Special thank you to Natasha Overduin and Oliver Brandes of the POLIS Water Sustainability Project for participating in the webinar.

Additional Resources and background reading, click here.

Watch on YouTube: Columbia Basin Watershed Governance Webinar

Note: There’s a short 30 sec delay at the beginning. Please be patient.