Empowering communities in the defence of watersheds and land resilience
We are the West Kootenay Watershed Collaborative
Our collaborative network seeks to support and create a community of land and water defenders focused on consumptive watersheds and the people who rely on them.
Our Vision
A resilient and thriving West Kootenay region where communities are empowered to protect and restore their watersheds, ensuring sustainable water resources for future generations.
Our Mission
Actively championing watersheds in West Kootenay communities through collaborative governance, forward-thinking policies, committed local stewardship, and the application of cutting-edge science by leading experts to strengthen and evolve government water protection policy frameworks.
Our Goal
To cultivate a unified, community-driven network of watershed stewards, empowered by sustainable government policies, to strengthen ecosystem resilience and ensure the long-term protection and responsible management of the West Kootenay’s water resources.
“Water is the driving force of all nature”
Leonardo da Vinci
Indigenous Acknowledgment
The West Kootenay Watershed Collaborative Board of Directors acknowledges that the watersheds and waterways we endeavour to defend are central to the Inheritance of the Regional First Nations. The Kootenay and Columbia Rivers and their watersheds nurture all of the traditional unceded and current territories of the sn̓ʕay̓ckstx (Lakes) and the Ktunaxa Yaqan Nukiy (Lower Kootenay Band) peoples.
We acknowledge interconnected systems of understanding and respect relationships that have existed here since time immemorial. We share dreams for the future. We must work together to understand and preserve relationships that make life so incredible in the Kootenays.
While protecting our shared watersheds, we also seek reconciliation based on reciprocity with regional Indigenous Nations, each other, the land, water and All Our Relations.
Join us as we actualize a commitment to continued education and empowerment. We are learning more about our shared responsibilities and possibilities regarding Truth And Reconciliation, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the B.C. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, First Nations priniciples of Ownership Control Access and Possession, and broad social justice.
Let’s meet up in real life to share in the beauty of the natural world.
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