Watersheds 2016 Building Capacity for Collaboration and Watershed Governance in British Columbia A forum for water practitioners, watershed groups, First Nations, and other decision-makers SEPTEMBER 30–OCTOBER 1, 2016 SFU HARBOUR CENTRE & SFU WOSK CENTRE FOR DIALOGUE Held in Vancouver, B.C. on the unceded Coast Salish territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations Edited Proceedings #WATERSHEDS2016 Watersheds 2016 Opening Speakers. Top, left to right: Elder Margaret George, Dr. Vicki Kelly, Dr. Kelly Bannister. Centre: Audience. Bottom, left to right: Merrell-Ann Phare, Ta’Kaiya Blaney, Dr. Zafar Adeel. photos: active ingredient creative studio Watersheds 2016: Building Capacity for Collaboration and Watershed Governance in British Columbia A forum for water practitioners, watershed groups, First Nations, and other decision-makers SEPTEMBER 30–OCTOBER 1, 2016 SFU HARBOUR CENTRE & SFU WOSK CENTRE FOR DIALOGUE Held in Vancouver, B.C. on the unceded Coast Salish territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations Edited Proceedings Edited by Megan Spencer, Natasha Overduin, Kelly Bannister, Rosie Simms, Oliver M. Brandes, and Laura Brandes ii Acknowledgements Sponsors These proceedings provide a written record of the one-and-a-half day forum Watersheds 2016: Building Capacity for Collaboration and Watershed Governance in British Columbia. The forum was held from September 30th to October 1st, 2016 on the unceded Coast Salish territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations at Simon Fraser University’s Harbour Centre and Wosk Centre for Dialogue in Vancouver, B.C. The event was made Partners possible with the support of a number of sponsors and partners; the forum strategic advisors; and the organizing efforts of the Watersheds 2016 Planning team, which was comprised of members of the four co-hosting organizations. Hosts Field trip and workshop organizers, staff, contrac- tors, and volunteers were invaluable to the success of Watersheds 2016. The creation of this proceedings re- port was based on the efforts of the team of volunteer note takers who diligently captured the presentations and discussions at each of the sessions at the forum: Joseph Gothreau, Kate Hewitt, Natalya Melnychuk, Kevin Ngo, Maria Nguyen, Kelly Schnare, Megan Spencer, and Nicole Wilson. Advisors The editors thank all of the above, as well as those Nadia Joe B.C. Legacy Fund presenters who took the time to provide peer-review Jon O’Riordan Simon Fraser University’s Adaptation comments and suggestions during the development to Climate Change Team; University of Victoria’s of this report. Thank you also to Arifin Graham POLIS Project on Ecological Governance and Centre (Alaris Design) for layout and design work. Megan for Global Studies Spencer led the compilation and editing of this report, Brian Riddell Pacific Salmon Foundation Natasha Overduin, Kelly Bannister, Rosie Simms Anna Warwick Sears Okanagan Basin Water Board and Oliver Brandes provided substantial review and revisions, and Laura Brandes provided copy-editing. Planning team It is through the collective efforts of this large team University of Victoria’s POLIS Project that this proceedings has been made possible. on Ecological Governance Kelly Bannister (Conference Chair) Citation Oliver Brandes, Natasha Overduin & Rosie Simms Spencer, M., Overduin, N., Bannister, K., Simms, Canadian Freshwater Alliance R., Brandes, O.M. & Brandes, L. (Eds.). (2016). Lindsay Telfer, Christine Mettler, Susi Porter-Bopp* Watersheds 2016: Building Capacity for Watershed & David Minkow* Governance in British Columbia—Edited Fraser Basin Council Proceedings. Victoria, Canada: POLIS Project on Theresa Fresco & Steve Litke Ecological Governance, University of Victoria. First Nations Fisheries Council Deana Machin & Geneviève Layton-Cartier *formerly with Canadian Freshwater Alliance iii Introduction and Context orking together for watersheds parallel, Indigenous laws, title, and rights are being was the foundational theme for asserted in powerful new ways, further shaping how Watersheds 2016. Deceptively simple, water is governed. it reflects both the great challenges Despite these positive advances, challenges remain. Wand tremendous opportunities facing citizens, Although the WSA is an important step towards better communities, and governments, as they grapple with decision-making for B.C.’s water, the legislation con- increasing changes and challenges in their home tinues to assert Crown ownership of water. As such, it watersheds. The conversations at Watersheds 2016 fails to recognize Indigenous rights, and does not yet took place within the context of accelerating climate represent a truly robust and inclusive legal framework. change and increasing water pressures and demands, Continued capacity and commitment is needed in and the collective understanding that urgent change communities, regions, and institutions to embrace is needed in how we manage our relationships with new, collaborative ways of working together, and to water—and with each other. build or re-build trust and relationships—including The one-and-a-half day forum Watersheds 2016: our ethical relationships with and through water itself. Building Capacity for Collaboration and Watershed Watersheds 2016 aimed to equip participants Governance in British Columbia was held on the with awareness, skills, knowledge, and networks that unceded Coast Salish territories of the Musqueam, will build their capacity and enable progress towards Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations at Simon developing meaningful collaborative governance Fraser University’s Harbour Centre and Wosk arrangements and realizing the full potential of the Centre for Dialogue in Vancouver, B.C. The forum WSA. More broadly, the forum demonstrated to was co-hosted and organized by the POLIS Project decision-makers that B.C.’s freshwater movement is on Ecological Governance, First Nations Fisheries real, sophisticated, and not going away: It must be Council, Fraser Basin Council, and Canadian taken seriously. Freshwater Alliance. Watersheds 2016 dovetailed with Throughout the forum, community watershed the Canadian Freshwater Alliance’s national Living champions shared stories about changes being expe- Waters Rally 20161. Over 150 practitioners and water rienced first-hand and the solutions and partnerships champions from B.C. attended the event, bringing being created in response: their knowledge and experience from local, provincial, • Tim Kulchyski shared the concerns for salmon and federal government; First Nations; academia; whose upstream spawning passage has been and the not-for-profit and philanthropic sectors. obstructed by low flows in consecutive years, Given how the freshwater movement in British and the response of the Cowichan Tribes and Columbia is evolving, it was timely to bring together the Cowichan Watershed Board to co-create B.C.’s freshwater leaders, thinkers and doers for Wa- governance solutions. tersheds 2016. Dozens of water stewardship groups, • Lana Lowe showed us how her nation’s once- Indigenous-led initiatives, local and regional govern- pristine traditional territory is being heavily ments, and watershed boards are taking action to impacted by resource extraction. But, Fort Nelson protect our fresh water. At a provincial scale, British First Nation exemplifies courageous leadership Columbia’s new Water Sustainability Act (WSA) offers by continually pushing for recognition, and new opportunities for formal shared or delegated spearheading solution implementation and decision-making and watershed-based planning. In meaningful collaborative partnerships. iv WATERSHEDS 2016: EDITED PROCEEDINGS • Anna Warwick-Sears described the researching or working on implementing innovative transformational power of extreme drought new decision-making practices and processes and flood events for vulnerable ecosystems and within their watershed in the pursuit of healthy, communities, and illustrated steps communities functioning aquatic systems and communities. Along can take to build resiliency. with resource materials, videos, and PowerPoint • Michael Miltenberger and Merrell-Ann Phare presentations, these proceedings will also be offered the Mackenzie River Basin agreements made available online through the POLIS Water as a model for “divorcing” from the adversarial Sustainability Project’s website. decision-making model of the past 150 years and This report is organized by session type, with the moving towards a nested, collaborative consent name and affiliation of each speaker and moderator approach with Indigenous governments. listed at the beginning of each section. In some sec- tions, the narrative weaves together the presentations Organizational Note About the Proceedings with the discussion that followed; in other cases, the These proceedings contain a synthesis of themes, distinction between the presentation and discussion perspectives, and accounts of first-hand experiences is more pronounced. This was done purposefully to heard at Watersheds 2016. They are based on the recreate the different approaches used by presenters at presentations given, questions raised, and discussions the various panels, workshops, and keynote presenta- held during the keynotes and concurrent breakout tions at the event. Biographies of all the presenters can sessions. We hope that this written record is not be found in Appendix 1, and a list of participants who simply a summary for those who attended, but attended the forum can be found