Pacific Streamkeepers Federation Roundtable
Feb 3 2025
Funding through PSSI has allowed us to purchase the insurance for SEP volunteer organizations. Groups have been able to easily add new volunteers to their policy as we prepaid for extra spots. This allows them to just go onto their profile and add the extra names without having to send in a (2 signator) cheque to pay for the new recruits.
Groups are still finding it difficult to solve the problems they find in the watershed.Im not sure it was ever meant for them to have to find the problems, report the problems and then solve the problems. Through using Streamkeepers protocols for monitoring and being on the stream so often they are finding the problems, then digging deeper into the concern whether through flowlink, additional testing, 6PPD studies etc but then when they try to find solutions, well this is where the problem still lays. A single FOI came in with a draft invoice of 2000$ to get more info on a local water quality concern. When a municipal report came in they stated that the allowable turbidity levels are limited to 200 and yet they only pulled together any discharge reports where the readings were over 500 and these happen all too frequently. Its not enough to know the pollution events are occurring we need to get them stopped.
After quite a bit of effort we now have a Metro Vancouver plan for water and waterways. By 2050 they plan to stop allow raw sewage from entering our freshwater ecosystems. At this time they diligently report out where the sewage spills are occurring and they tell me they report the spills to the appropriate agency - but then what??
(new zoom meetings do not allow for transparency - questions only go to the panel and only the ones they want to read are read loud so other participants know the question was even asked)This also makes it that only a few have the attempt of an answer.
SEP volunteers get their hopes up every time a new program comes in that DFO will find a way to bridge the gap between water, habitat and fish so our salmon can have a chance at survival.
The Fisheries Act 5 year review was underway but unfortunately this came to a halt when government was perogued.
SEP Workshop 2025 - groups are anxiously awaiting the registration package fore this workshop. A part of the SEP community calendar.
Groups calling in to get their dates set for Streamkeepers training for 2025, 1st Nations are getting in on these planning sessions. We are tweaking the workshops to allow for training in the suite of modules that best suit where the group has chosen to focus as well as offer the Set Modules 1,2,3,4,7, and 11 two day course. getting the information to the SC's and CA's in a standard format has again been brought out. Sending in a spread sheet or a written report is not as easy for people to make use of. The Module 12 spawner surveys show quickly the overall season and stock info we have worked with groups again over the season to make some changes to the entry system to assist in the use of this tool. Database writing is not a one and done process.