It was interesting!
Great water challenge
#3
#3
Assumption Grade 4/5
POWELL RIVER
Interview with Mayor Formosa
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Water System and Management
•Powell River owns its own water system.
•All of the city water comes from Haslam Lake with Powell River as a backup.
•We have lots of fresh water to drink.
•Our watershed is very safe and clean.
Powell River Dam
•The Powell River Dam was built for electricity in the early 1900s.
•The Dam stopped salmon getting up the river and the builders did not think much about this then.
•No animal or tree habitats were ruined, but sockeye and coho runs were lost.
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POWELL RIVER FALLS before 1911
Picture from Major Matthews collection of Vancouver City Archives
Haslam Lake watershed
•The local government does not allow people to go boating (with motors) or camping on Haslam Lake
•The watershed was managed by the Powell River Mill and the City of Powell River
•The watershed was monitored by the logging company
•Make sure no one dumps stuff in this lake
Haslam Lake
Picture from www.vanishinghistory.com
Powell River
•WE RESPECT OUR WATER VERY MUCH!
TLA’AMIN FIRST NATION
INTERVIEW WITH HEGUS
CLINT WILLIAMS
The Tla’amin People
•The Tla’amin people drink from the lake.
•Mike Williams manages the water source.
•They carefully monitor the stuff that goes in and out of the watershed.
•They are concerned if the lake gets polluted.
Sliammon Lake,
Sliammon Creek
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Shared History with Powell River
•The dam gives power to the Mill which makes paper.
•There were problems with delivering water from Powell River when the Tla’amin People lost their treaties and rights.
•There were lots of habitats lost: including sockeye and cohosalmon spawning sites.
All about the Powell River Dam at the
Powell River Mill
Powell River Dam
Used to make power for the Powell River Paper company
Early 1900s
Archives from Powell River Museum
Tla’amin Hatchery
•We built and use the Hatchery on our lands for the people to use and enjoy
•Rock slides and logging affected the animals and fish but we control our own hatchery and maintain it
Salmon hatchery
Tla’amin First Nation website
Photo use approved by Hegus Williams
Memories of the Hegus
•“My favourite memories of water activities as a child are fishing, swimming, and boating”
•Remember “recycle, don’t litter, never take more than you need. Enjoy all the wonderful things Mother Nature provides for us in a sustainable manner.”
Powell River
INTERVIEW WITH
PATRICK BRABAZON
(man in the middle)
Picture taken by Resource Recovery Centre,
Powell River
The Lois Lake Dam
and Regional District
and Regional District
•The plants that were lost were not unique to the area
•Many of the dam builders did not really think about damage to habitats back then
Lois Lake Dam
Eagle River
Management of District water sources
•The current upgrade plan was to make drinking water safe, but the cost of upgrades is $2 billion and this is a challenging cost
•Most of the land water use for homes is from local lakes or creeks or wells
•Texada Island has two large operations and most island homes are on wells
•Vancouver Coastal Health Authority is responsible to test it
Water safety
•Arsenic is a big problem in some parts of the district
•Sulphur also common
•When they drilled into bedrock they did not know what they would find
•When arsenic level was too high, people used bottled water or filter systems
•Even our school must now test water yearly for lead and other stuff
Climate Change
•All the government leaders were worried about climate change:
•Flooding in some low areas
•Erosion is a big problem
•Safe drinking water to meet demand in next 50 years
•Storms
From the class of Grade 4/5s
•Thank you to the government leaders of our area for your information
•Keep our water safe
•Keep our water clean and drinkable
•We promise to keep learning
•Keep the dams safe
•Protect the creatures of our area
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteI am a fellow Great Waters Challenge competitor, and it is was really wonderful to read about the different issues you are discussing with your Grade 4/5s. They are so lucky to have a teacher like you who cares about water and water issues! I learned a lot about your local watershed from your blog posts, from the history of local water management, to biodiversity loss and the impacts of climate change and pollution. Keep up the great work, and I look forward to seeing what you and your students discover in future posts!
All the best,
Stephanie