NEW! The Kiskatinaw Watershed Program Atlas
Greetings from The Watershed Steward!
To all water users in the City of Dawson Creek and surrounding rural areas:
In mid October 2010, I joined the team at the City and Water Plant to serve as Watershed Steward—a position created the previous year to coordinate watershed management in the Dawson Creek Domestic Watershed. For many people, this starts with understanding just what a watershed is, and how our water (hydrological) cycle works. Alot of excellent work has been undertaken since 1990 by the Water Management team. I am pleased to continue supporting recent achievements which include:
- Completion of Integrated Watershed Mgmt and Source Water Protection Plans (1991, 2003, 2007)
- Initiation of a Watershed Research Program (2010-2013)
- [NEW] Preliminary Results of the Montney Water Project
- [NEW] Year One Progress Report: Kiskatinaw River Watershed Project (1.2MB)
- Approval and development of a waste water re-use system (2010-)
- Installation of the Bearhole Lake weir and reservoir (2009)
- Expansion of water supply storage capacity (2011-)
- Support for water/sewer utility measures and practices to promote conservation and sustainability in the City
- Input to various water policy and regulatory regimes to foster stewardship and ensure environmental compliance
- Water management best practices to encourage cost-effective innovation by all resource industries
- Promoting community education and extension on watershed stewardship with local organizations such as Dawson Creek Watershed Stewardship Society
- Groundwater characterization and monitoring in the Upper Kiskatinaw
“Watershed Stewardship” is an ethic and responsibility shared by all people that live, work, or recreate within our watershed. We must all understand what impact our daily household, commercial and industrial activities have on the water resource, and think of ways to minimize any negative impacts on flows or quality. By practicing good water stewardship we all do our part to protect this essential resource. This webpage serves as an educational portal to provide background information on the Kiskatinaw Watershed as well as recommended solutions, beneficial management practices and partnership opportunities.
Should you have an interest in learning more or getting involved with our water stewardship program, we invite you to contact my office (toll free 1-855) 782-1793. Keep a lookout for our Watershed Signs being placed at the boundaries of the Dawson Creek Domestic Watershed in the upper Kiskatinaw River drainage system at various points around the watershed. We always welcome enquiries and observations about possible water-related impacts such as contaminant spills that may occur. You can also keep up-to-date on our work on the PlanningforPeople.ca website, periodic newsletters, media articles and brochures.
Thank you for doing your part to care for our watershed, because after all… we all live downstream!
Reg C. Whiten, P.Ag MCIP
Watershed Steward, City of Dawson Creek
