Discussion Paper 2 – Working Together: Growing our Capacity for Watershed Stewardship in the Kettle River Watershed

Discussion Paper 2 – Working Together: Growing our Capacity for Watershed Stewardship in the Kettle River Watershed (pdf, 500 kb).

Discussion Paper 2

This discussion paper is the second of several papers that provide ideas and options for strategies and actions to be included in the watershed management plan, which will be finalized by summer, 2014. The Advisory Group’s vision for the Kettle River Watershed was articulated in Discussion Paper 1:

“We envision a healthy, resilient and sustainable Kettle River Watershed, with a landscape that functions to meet community needs and values, and communities that act as stewards of the watershed.”

The community needs and values were expressed as a set of goals relating to healthy aquatic ecosystems, safe & secure water, and reliable supplies for community uses of water.

The Advisory Group understands that communities of the region will need to find new ways to work together to make progress in watershed management. Many of the constraints to achieving watershed goals in the Boundary relate to governance, including lack of money, resources, capacity, leadership, oversight, regulation and policy application.

So what can our communities do to meet the challenges?

Discussion Paper 1 outlined strategies and management directions relating to governance, collaboration and decision-making. The first overall strategy is to “increase community understanding, support and capacity for stewardship of the Kettle River Watershed,” and the first management direction is to “Develop capacity for watershed stewardship through the development of a governance framework for watershed decision-making, plan implementation and review.”

The purpose of this paper is to discuss needs for watershed governance in context of the development, implementation and updating of the KRWMP, and to outline strategies and actions for growing understanding about the watershed and support for watershed stewardship.


How do the ideas presented in this discussion paper resonate with you? What works, and what do you think needs more work?

What are additional actions to build support, understanding and capacity in the Kettle River Watershed?

Please provide your feedback to Graham Watt, Project Coordinator ([email protected] | 250.442.4111).