Book Review	Posted February 2006

“Water and Our Way of Life”

B Bob Sandford, Photography by Steve Short
Rockies Network, 2003, $32.95 + GST

If water is the universal solvent, author Bob Sandford makes it clear in this beautifully illustrated book that water also infiltrates into every aspect of Canadian life. Water is not just a substance, it is an idea etched into our collective Canadian consciousness, defining who we are and how we live..

Sandform regales the wonders of water, reminding us that Canada is water. Water and Canadian identity are just as inextricably combined as water is physically and chemically combined with our bodies. Our bodies are 70% water, and our Canadian consciousness is also at least 70% water. But, Sandford warns, the percentage of water in our consciousness is not as high as it used to be. Water is being taken for granted, relegated to back allies and distant thoughts in the back of our minds. Our Canadian consciouness is getting polluted, and dehydrated. In our water-rich land, Canadians need to re-learn how to use water

The importance of safe, clean drinking water to civilization cannot be overstated. Although one out of three of the world’s people begin each day wondering if they will find enough water to drink, there is an urgent need for Canadians not to remain complacent about our abundance of clean, fresh water, which is not nearly as clean and abundant as it was, when we were growing up. The book is a wake-up call for Canadians to address our own serious water availability and quality problems. Because, as Sandford writes: “ whatever we do to water, we do to ourselves”.

Book Review	Posted February 2006

“Reading the River: A Traveller’s companion to the North Saskatchewan River

by Myrna Kotash with Duane Burton
Coteau Books, 2005

This book takes us on a voyage through time and distance, through the years and down the river from its source in the Rockies and the end of the last great Ice Age. Along the way we are joined by many characters, whose words and stories lead us o. First Nations legends, map-maker and traveller extraordinaire David Thompson, artist and adventurer Paul Kane, fur trader Alexander Henry the Younger, the Palliser expedition, Metis guides, and early “tourists”, including photographer and mountain traveller Mary Schaffer, get us started on our journey. Modern voices join in the journey, including Aritha van Herk, Tomson Highway, Hugh MacLennan and Heritage River traveller Max Finkelstein.

“Reading the River” encompasses much of the history of the Canadian west. The North Saskatchewan has been the main route connecting the Rocky Mountains to the rest of the continent for millenia. It is the essential river of the Canadian west, coursing through our history and mythology. And this book proves it.

Rivernews:	Posted August 2006

New legislation for clean water in Ontario

Ontarians deserve access to clean, safe water. This means keeping water free of pollutants and contaminants that could harm the environment and human health.

The Government of Ontario is moving forward on a series of initiatives to preserve water quality, including new legislation, regulations, standards and requirements.

This section contains information to help educate the public about the importance of clean, safe drinking water. It also helps those responsible for water quality understand the rules, regulations and standards currently in place.

To read more, click here.

World River Day

As part of th e UN Water for Life Decade is, river enthusiasts from around the world came together to participate in the inaugural "World Rivers Day" on September 25th, 2005 . In future, this event will take place annually on the last Sunday in September and is intended to be a celebration of the world's waterways.

World Rivers Day will highlight the many values of our waterways. It will also strive to increase public awareness, and hopefully, encourage the improved stewardship of rivers around the world. Rivers in every country face an array of threats and the better caring of our rivers and streams is an essential component of any effort to be better water stewards

There are lots of ways that groups and communities can get involved in Rivers Day. Consider planning a local event which can range from stream cleanups and fish enhancement projects to educational outings and community riverside celebrations.

Visit http://www.riversday.bcit.ca/update.htm for more informtion, and download the World Rivers Day poster.

Rivers Under Study	Posted February 2006

For a river to be included in the CHRS, a sequence of steps are carried out to ensure that it meets certain required criteria regarding its heritage values, water quality, and ecological integrity. Rivers are pre-screened to assess in a preliminary manner, their suitability for becoming a Canadian Heritage River, including an assessment of the public support for their inclusion in the system. This enables a jurisdiction to decide whether or not to seek funding from the CHRS Board for carrying out further studies.

If felt to be a worthy candidate, a background study is carried out to collect comprehensive information, including field verification, on a river's natural and cultural heritage, its recreational opportunities, and issues that could affect its management as a Canadian Heritage River.

The next step is the preparation of a Nomination Document that spells out how each CHRS criterium is met. This document is presented to the Canadian Heritage Rivers Board for formal review. The Board then recommends to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and the appropriate provincial or territorial minister, whether or not a river meets CHRS criteria. For a river to be nominated to the System, it must meet CHRS criteria and be approved by the aforementioned Ministers

Before designation to the CHRS, a management plan, or heritage strategy, must be submitted to the Board that describes the management area and the policies and actions to be put into place to fulfill CHRS objectives. This document is reviewed by the Board to ensure that there is a commitment to manage the river so that its heritage values are not degraded.

Once the management plan is accepted by the Board, the next step in the process is the formal designation of the river into the CHRS. Final approval for a designation rests with the Minister of Canadian Heritage. A designation traditionally involves a ceremony, the highlight of which is the unveiling of a bronze plaque. This, however, is not the end of the CHRS process. Yearly status reports must be submitted on the condition of the river, and every ten years a "State-of-the-River" Report must be submitted to the Board.

Two rivers, the Ottawa and the Mackenzie are of particular interest, as these rivers are legendary for their historical importance to Canada, and, of course, the Mackenzie is Canada’s longest river, and ranks first in Canada for its rate of flow.

Ottawa River Project

The Ottawa River is one of Canada's most historic water routes. Its rich heritage invites celebration. Pride and concern for the river reflect strong public interest in its values and its future. Along its full length, citizens are seeking to honour and respect the river by having it designated to the Canadian Heritage Rivers System. A citizens' committee is leading the initiative, researching the river's natural, cultural and recreational features and promoting the river's heritage, tourism and economic values. The committee believes strongly that the project presents an excellent opportunity for governments, stakeholders and the general public to showcase the benefits of intergovernmental cooperation, Aboriginal involvement and community empowerment. While efforts are still underway to involve the Quebec government in the initiative, the support of the Ontario government in nominating the Ottawa River as a Canadian Heritage River remains firm. The scheduled date for presentation of the nomination to the Canadian Heritage Rivers Board is May, 2006.

Mackenzie River Project

A prime candidate for nomination to the Canadian Heritage Rivers System (CHRS), the 4,241 km long Mackenzie River ( Canada's longest river) possesses an abundance of heritage features - natural, historical/cultural and recreational - that are outstanding from both a Canadian and Northwest Territories perspective. Committed to respecting and celebrating the river's distinctive history and geography, the Inuvialuit, Gwich"in, Sahtu, Dehcho and Metis of the NWT are working with the territorial government to have the Mackenzie honoured as a Canadian Heritage River. In preparation for nominating the Mackenzie to the CHRS, background research is currently being compiled identifying, describing and assessing the river's heritage and recreational/tourism values. This information will be summarized into a nomination document targeted for submission to the Canadian Heritage Rivers Board in May, 2007.

Rivers West continues to pursue the designation of the Red River as a Canadian heritage river as part of the Canadian Heritage Rivers System. The nomination document has been completed with the intent of having the Red designated by June 2007. The designation coincides with the 5th Canadian River Heritage Conference, also in June 2007.

The following list enumerates the studies recently carried out or on-going:

Prescreening Stage	none at this time
Background Study Stage Completed in 2005: Underway in 2006:	Ottawa River ( Ontario and Quebec) North Saskatchewan River ( Alberta) Mackenzie River ( Northwest Territories) St. John River ( New Brunswick) Adams River ( British Columbia) Shubenacadie Waterway ( Nova Scotia)
Nomination Stage	North Saskatchewan River ( Alberta) Ottawa River ( Ontario)
Management Planning Stage Completed in 2005: Ongoing:	Hayes River, ( Manitoba) Bay du Nord River ( Newfoundland) Red River , Manitoba Coppermine River ( Nunavut)
Ten Year Monitoring Reports	Seal River ( Manitoba) Boundary Waters/Voyageur Waterway ( Ontario) Seal River ( Manitoba) (completed?) others?

New Nominations and Designations	Posted February 2006

Red River, Manitoba
Nominated, 2006, 175 km
Designated 2004

The Red River, a river that has played a pivotal role in Canada’s development as a nation, has been nominated to the Canadian Heritage Rivers System from the point where it crosses into Canada from the U.S. at Emerson, Manitoba, to lake Winnipeg 175 km downstream.

Few rivers are so steeped in history as the Red. Archaeological evidence shows that Aboriginal Peoples lived on the banks of the Red over 6,000 years ago. More recently, the Red was a major fur trade route, and was the backdrop to events that helped shape Canada including the Red River Resistence led by Louis Riel, the creation of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the signing of First nation Treaties One and Two, which opened the door to European settlement of the west. Much of this history is commemorated at many historic sites on its banks, including Lower Fort Garry, St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, and the Exchange District National Historic Sites of Canada. At the Forks, where the Red and Assinibione rivers met, is considered to be a sacred place to the region’s First Nations people. No wonder a major city grew there.

The Red is the only major river on the Prairies that flows north, meandering in big lazy looping curves across the prairies. Lurking in its murky, silt-laden waters are record-sized channel catfish and walleye. On its banks, riverside parks, hiking and biking trails make the Red’s unique natural and cultural features easily accessible.

Pamphlet (PDF)

The Bay du Nord River
Newfoundland
75km
Designated 2006

One of Newfoundland’s most pristine rivers – the Bay du Nord – is now a member of the Canadian Heritage Rivers System (CHRS). Located in south-central Newfoundland, largely within the Bay du Nord Ecolgical Reserve and Middle range Wildlife Reserve, the section of the Bay du Nord included by its CHRS designation flows 75 km from Rainy Lake in the northeast to its mouth at Pool’s Cove in the southwest. This river passes through a land of barrens, bogs and boreal forest, one of the last remaining wilderness areas on the Island of Newfoundland. Its upper reaches include the calving grounds and winter range of the island’s largest caribou herd. The watershed contains Newfoundland’s largest populations of bald eagles and Canada geese. It is also of great geological interest. The lower Bay du Nord runs through the Hermitage Fault, which marks the juncture where North America, Europe and North Africa collided 120 million years ago.

For canoeists, kayakers and hikers, the Bay du Nord offers great beauty and great excitement, from gentle waters flowing through marshes where moose stand watch, to whitewater sections that challenge the most experienced paddlers. At Smokey Falls, the river plunges over a spectacular 20-metre granite ledge.

The watershed of the Bay du Nord is protected under the province’s Wilderness and Ecological Reserves Act, which ensures that the area is maintained in a natural state, and that recreational activities – including canoeing ,hunting, fishing and snowmobiling – are managed to ensure its ecological integrity.

Designation to the CHRS will help ensure that this river and its watershed is protected for all Canadians for all time.

Official Web Site: http://www.env.gov.nl.ca/parks/rivers/nord

Hayes River , Manitoba
600 km
Designated 2006

The Hayes was the principal fur trade and transportation route connecting western Canada to England via York Factory, the Hudson Bay Company headquarters on the coast of Hudson Bay. The entire 600-km route extends from Norway House National Historic Site of Canada and includes a short section of the Nelson River where it exits Lake Winnipeg, and the unique ‘two-way flowing” Echimamish River, and the entire Hayes River.

For almost three centuries, beginning in 1670, it was the main fur trade route to the west for the Hudson’s Bay Company. York Factory closed its doors for business in 1957, but the buildings have been preserved as York Factory National Historic Site of Canada. Visitors can still get a taste of the fur trade days here. The 171-year old Hudson's Bay Company Depot on the site is the oldest and largest wooden building in Canada standing on permanently frozen ground known as permafrost.

This water route, traversing a pristine landscape of boreal forest, stunted spruce and tamarack, and finally treeless tundra on its final run to Hudson Bay, is largely unchanged from when our First nations travelled it thousands of years ago. Wildlife is abundant and varied, from moose and wolverines and woodland caribou of the boreal forest to polar bear and beluga on the shores of Hudson Bay. A canoe trip along this route is a journey into Canada’s past. Ancient pictographs can be found at several locations, and the portages are the same as those trod by mocassined feet for millennia, and toiled over by men from the Orkney Islands of Scotland as they hauled heavy wooden York Boats laden with trade goods up the rapids en route to remote fur trade posts in the distant prairies.

Rivernews:	Posted February 2006

Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Stops Clear Cutting in Main River Watershed

The Corner Brook Pulp and Paper (CBPP) announced in 2001 that all clear cutting will stop in the Main River Watershed. The company Vice President, Kevin Sheahan, announced that the company is looking for viable alternative harvesting methods to use in the watershed, in light of its commitment to the ecological integrity of the Main River and its watershed. The company has also committed to protect the endangered Pine Marten by working with Parks Canada and the Wildlife Division of the Department of Tourism and Culture.

For further information, contact Lem Mayo, 709-635-4532; lemmayo@gov.nf.ca

Prince Edward Island Government honours former Canadian Heritage Rivers Board Chair, David Boyce, with Volunteer award

David Boyce, Board member from Prince Edward island, was honoured in 2005 as one of PEI’s outstanding volunteers. Most of David’s work has been in protecting the environment and educating Islanders on the importance of our environment.In addition to his work with the Three Rivers Heritage Association and the CHRS, David has been involved in the Environmental Farm Plan Steering committee, and assists sports teams in his home town of Poverty Beach. Way to go, David!!!

Fraser Basin Council Receives International Award

At the other end of the country, congratulations are also due to the Fraser Basin Council, which was honoured in March, 2005 with the “Watershed Peace Pathways Award for Sustainability Education” from IHTEC – the International Holistic Tourism Education Centre. The award recognizes the work of the FBC in advancing sustainability throughout the Basin with the hope that similar achievements will occur in every river basin around the world.

Toronto and Region Conservation Authority Receives Ten-Year Conservation Award:

In June, 2004, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority received the National River Conservation Award for its work to protect, restore and celebrate the Humber River. This award is given every ten years to the Public Agency that has made the greatest contribution to river conservation in Canada. The award was presented at the fourth Canadian Rivers Heritage Conference.

UN Water for Life Decade

The United Nations launched the"Water for Life Decade" in December 2003, proclaiming the years 2005 to 2015 as the International Decade for Action 'Water for Life' to bring a higher profile to global water issues. The primary goal of the 'Water for Life' Decade is to promote efforts to fulfill international commitments made on water and water-related issues by 2015. See http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/ for more details.

Wonder Of Water Web Site: http://www.wonderofwater.ca/

Supported by Environment Canada, Parks Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada and the Columbia Basin Trust, the Wonder of Water initiative used the United Nations International Year of Fresh Water as a vehicle for creating a network of some 85 partner organizations whose collective aim was to enhance public understanding and appreciation of how our country has been shaped by what water is and by what water does.

Though focused principally in Western Canada, partners across the country used the United Nations International Year of Fresh Water in 2003 as a foundation for a two-year celebration of the importance of water to our way of life. The initiative not only reached a great number of Canadians with important messages about how water shapes the land upon which we live, and how it defines us as a nation; it also taught organizers and partners a great deal about what has to be done in Canada to ensure that water availability and quality problems do not limit economic and social development in this country in the future.

Book Review	Posted January 2005

Water: Lauren Harris and the Group of Seven

By Joan Murray, McArthur & Company, Toronto, 2004, 136pp. $29.95

This is a most Canadian book. Rivers and the Group of Seven – you just can ’t get more Canadian than that.

Rivers have influenced the development of our country, leading the early explorers coast to coast to coast, defining our geography and history, and our sense of identity as a people and a nation. Rivers also have markedly influenced Canadian art and literature.

This book looks at the passion of the Group of Seven for painting the “flowing world”. Come along for the adventure. Follow the rivers of the boreal forest of northern Ontario to the western mountains and up north to the frozen Arctic as they take these artists on a voyage of discovery...not of new lands, but of new ways to portray the power and beauty of this land of rivers. The book is lavishly illustrated with colour prints, the products of countless hours travelling on the rivers of Canada. The paintings take us beyond geography, into the soul of this land we call Canada, and the artists ’ love for it.

Thank you, Joan Murray, for compiling and interpreting this collection of art. The book makes one want to re-trace the routes of these painters, to try to re-discover the wonder and joy that they portray so eloquently in their paintings, and to see if it is still there. I would be afraid to take the trip, for if the beauty and wildness that spawned these paintings has slipped away, then we would know that the very fabric and nature of this land will have been lost forever to us – except in the works portrayed in this book.

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