Category Archives: Kettle River Watershed Advisory Council

The Kettle River Watershed Advisory Council (KRWAC) was initiated in 2012 (previously known as the Kettle River Watershed Authority) to support the creation and review of the Kettle River Watershed Management Plan (KRWMP). In 2014/2015 saw the publication of the KRWMP, shifting the KRWAC’s new role towards supporting the implementation of the KRWMP through an advisory role, providing recommendations to the RDKB Directors.

There are nine sectors making up the voting membership with two people per sector. These include: Agriculture, Forestry (Sm/Med), Forestry (Lg), Industry, (Community) Members at Large, Mining, NGO/Stewardship Groups, Tourism/Recreation, and Water System.

Non-voting members may include the RDKB Directors, Government staff (Federal, Provincial, Local, First Nations), US representatives, Kootenay Boundary Farm Advisors, etc. All meetings are open to the public.

Meeting: Mar 28, 2023

Kettle River Watershed Advisory Council

This year’s spring KRWAC meeting will be held at the Christina Lake Community Hall; public are encouraged to attend. The agenda can be download from the link below. The Zoom registration link is located at the bottom of each agenda, and on the main KRWAC 2023 page. Any questions, please contact Kristina Anderson at [email protected].

KRWAC-Agenda_Mar28_2023Download

At each meeting we work to hold a presentation on a watershed topic pertinent to the Boundary Region. This meeting’s presentation will be on the upcoming prescribed burn proposed for a block in the Sutherland/Italy Creek watershed, presented by Interfor (Jamie Hibberson) and BC Wildfire Service (James Ritco and James Katasonoff) – see map and presentation description below. For information on an ecosystem restoration prescribed burn that happened last year in the Rock Creek area, please check out the webinar from BC Government (Lindsey Dewart and James Katasonoff) kettleriver.ca/2022/03/prescribed-burn/.

Sutherland-Cr-prescribed-burn-overview-mapDownload

Presentation Description: Broadcast burning was once a widely employed treatment for preparing harvested cutblocks for tree planting.  The treatment provided significant benefits beyond site preparation, including improved forage for wildlife, reduced forest fire fuel loading, and replication of the natural wildfire regime. The practice has been severely curtailed for the past 2 decades and there is an attempt by government and industry to reintroduce it as a wildfire management and silviculture tool.  A joint project involving Interfor and the BC Wildfire Service for a prescribed burn is scheduled for spring 2023, in a cutblock located in the Italy-Sutherland watershed. The benefits of broadcast burning in general and for this project in particular will be discussed at this presentation.

Meeting: Jan 31, 2023

Kettle River Watershed Advisory Council

Kettle River Watershed Advisory Council Winter meeting:

This Tuesday’s presentation focused on mining in the Boundary Region. Linda Caron presented a general introduction to mining and mineral exploration activities, then provided a look at what’s happening here in the Boundary Region. She’ll discussed what these activities mean in terms of water usage, risk, and watershed management, followed by a glimpse of what the future might hold in terms of opportunities and adjustments as we all look to managing our resources in a changing climate.

Mining in the Boundary Region. (42 min presentation)

Agenda below….

KRWAC-Agenda_Jan31_2023Download

Any questions, please contact: [email protected]

Membership Drive

Kettle River Watershed Advisory Council

Looking for new members to join the Kettle River Watershed Advisory Council (KRWAC).

Do you live in the Boundary, are very involved in your Sector and want to work with others towards improving our resiliency for all Boundary communities? If so, have you considered joining the Kettle River Watershed Advisory Council?

We have openings in the KRWAC in the following Sectors: Mining, Agriculture, Industry and Tourism/Recreation. We are looking for members that are keen to work together with other Boundary Sectors to towards improved watershed management and resiliency for all of our communities. If you are interested in learning more, or think this might be a good fit, please reach out to [email protected].

We will be finalizing the list by January 10th, and presenting our recommendation to the RDKB Board. If we have more than one person interested in one spot, the decision will be made based on their location in the Boundary and involvement in their Sector.