Protecting what matters most….
The West Kootenay Watershed Collaborative brings together community members, researchers, stewardship groups, and organizations to strengthen watershed stewardship across the West Kootenay region.
The collaborative provides a space for dialogue, knowledge sharing, and regional cooperation that helps communities better understand and protect the watersheds that sustain our region.
Acting informally between 2018 and 2021 and incorporated in 2022, the West Kootenay Watershed Collaborative ( WKWC) is a collective voice that advocates for resilience and restoration of the landscape, which in this region means the protection of consumptive watersheds, benefiting a diversity of ecological values. Forests, critical habitats for apex predators, agriculture and residents all gain through landscape protection. Understanding the critical historical, present and future landscape impacts on the sensitive slopes of the West Kootenay refocuses watershed protection to a macro scale. We are grateful for the group's initial work Community in Nature accomplished under the administration of Neighbours United, and are proud to have been a lead partner part of the Healthy Watersheds Initiative.
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.
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 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.
Why Watersheds Matter
Healthy intact watersheds provide many ecosystem services that are necessary for our social and economic well-being. These services include water filtration and storage, air filtration, carbon storage, nutrient cycling, soil formation, recreation, food and timber.
Water You Can Drink
Watershed protection costs 80% less than building filtration plants. New York City invested $1.5 billion in watershed conservation instead of $8-10 billion for a new filtration plant. Research across 27 U.S. water supply systems shows that watersheds with 60% forest cover have treatment costs of $297,000 annually—while those at 30% cover face costs of $586,000, a 97% increase.
Stability You Can Count On
Natural forests on steep slopes prevent an average of $8 billion in annual flood damage across North America. Intact wetlands store and capture excess water—wetlands surrounding the Boston area prevent an estimated $42,111 of flood damage per acre. Healthy watersheds reduce flood impact, minimize infrastructure burden, reduce erosion, and restore natural groundwater recharge.
Value You Can See
Properties near protected natural areas command 5-25% premiums. Conservation development provides economic benefits because it consumes less land, needs fewer roads, and requires less utility infrastructure. For every dollar received from residential development revenues, municipalities spend a median of $1.16 providing services—but conservation development costs far less per dollar of revenue.
Jobs You Can Build On
Recreation, forestry, and agriculture all depend on functioning watersheds. Healthy fish and wildlife habitats sustain multi-billion dollar outdoor recreation and tourism industries. Sustainable forestry requires intact watershed function for long-term timber productivity.
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.