A representative from the Fraser Basin Council attended a regular council meeting of the Village of Burns Lake last week to discuss an initiative that would help protect the Nechako watershed. Theresa Fresco, Program Coordinator for Watersheds and Water Resources Program at Fraser Basin Council, said the Nechako Watershed is facing significant challenges, including impacts of the mountain pine beetle epidemic and salvage logging, climate change and the diversion of water out of the watershed.
Concerned individuals began meeting informally in 2012 to brainstorm about actions needed to protect the watershed. The group adopted a roundtable governance structure in the spring of 2015 and its official launch and inaugural meeting took place in October 2015.
Fresco said the intent of her presentation to village council was to give an overview of the work the roundtable has been doing, as well as to open it up to any council involvement in the roundtable.
Representatives from a diversity of organizations are already part of the roundtable, including the Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council, Cheslatta Carrier Nation, Ministry of Environment, Northern Health, Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations and the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako.
During the council meeting in Burns Lake, Fresco also discussed the roundtable's strategy.
The roundtable is developing a comprehensive strategy to advance the early, medium and long-term actions to protect the watershed.
According to the Fraser Basin Council, which serves as secretariat for the roundtable, activities could be better coordinated and limited resources could be pooled more effectively. In addition, the Fraser Basin Council says decision makers and the public need more opportunities to become more aware and engaged with respect to the current status and desired futures for the watershed.
The strategy aims to engage the communities of Prince George, Vanderhoof, Fort St. James, Fraser Lake and Burns Lake as well as First Nations communities within the Nechako watershed.
Representatives of non-government organizations and the private sector will also be consulted.
The Fraser Basin Council says effective stewardship of the Nechako watershed today is critical to all future generations.
The Nechako watershed includes the eastern portion of the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako and the western portion of the Regional District of Fraser‐Fort George.
Located within the watershed are the communities of Burns Lake, Fraser Lake, Fort St. James, Vanderhoof and Prince George, as well as the traditional territories of several First Nations including the Wet'suwet'en First Nation, Cheslatta Carrier Nation and Lake Babine Nation.