Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you very much for this opportunity to participate in this important study on fresh water.
I'm joining you today from the traditional territory of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples in Vancouver, British Columbia.
My name is Miki Eslake. I am a program coordinator with the Rivershed Society of BC and I am here today with Rivershed's executive director, Justine Nelson.
Rivershed was founded in 1996 by Fin Donnelly after he swam the entire length of the Fraser River. He did this to raise awareness of the critical role that the Fraser plays in supporting salmon, people and the economy.
We have an ambitious vision: to see the Fraser as a resilient watershed with salmon, people and economies flourishing in rivershed communities.
The Fraser is truly the heart and soul of British Columbia and its watershed is the cornerstone of our ecological, cultural and economic vitality, but it faces significant challenges.
One of those challenges is the alarming decline of salmon returning to the Fraser. Historically, 50 million sockeye return to the Fraser every year. In 2022, despite it being a dominant year, only 5.5 million returned. Salmon are both key elements of a healthy watershed and key indicators of it, so it's important to take this decline seriously.
The climate crisis is a water crisis, and the health of our watersheds plays a critical role in providing natural defences against climate change impacts including droughts, wildfires and floods.
To effectively advance the freshwater agenda in Canada, the government must uphold its commitment to invest $1 billion in the freshwater action plan. This investment must support watersheds like the Fraser and prioritize actions in collaboration with indigenous peoples.
The Fraser is listed by the government as a priority watershed, but funds allocated under the freshwater action plan have been disproportionately spent elsewhere, leaving the Fraser watershed underfunded and vulnerable.
Communities here are still grappling with the aftermath of the devastating 2023 wildfire season. Many parts of the watershed are still experiencing severe drought conditions, and in some cases are also now under flood watch at the same time.
Rivershed's board member from the Nechako region, Wayne Salewski, has stressed that ongoing drought and devastating wildfires have dried out critically important salmon streams across the region that are crucial to salmon recovery efforts.
We know that these extreme weather events are not anomalies and can be expected to happen more frequently with climate change.
I'll pass the rest of the time over to Justine.