Nechako Watershed Roundtable expands water monitoring through local training program

Several First Nations and non-Indigenous community members gathered in Nakaz’dli Whut’en territory yesterday (Monday) near Fort St.
James in the first of several water quality monitoring sessions.

It’s organized by the Nechako Watershed Roundtable’s (NWR) Lakes Monitoring Working Group.

The group developed the Large Lakes Monitoring Strategy, which guides long-term monitoring of the watershed’s lakes so partners
can better understand how the water quality is changing over time.

The Roundtable and the BC Lakes Stewardship Society are holding two-day water quality monitoring training sessions in four participating First Nations’ territories between yesterday (Monday) and Oct. 23.

Natural resource staff, guardians and youth will learn how to sample water quality in lakes and streams near their communities.

“Understanding changes in our lakes takes consistent monitoring and the knowledge of people
who live and work in the watershed,” said Gina Layte Liston, chair of the Nechako Watershed
Roundtable.

“By working with First Nations to offer training at lakes in their home territories, we can
support locally relevant monitoring and build a stronger picture of watershed health over time.”

Data shows the water quality of lakes in the Nechako Watershed has progressively worsened
since the 1940’s, leading up to a rapid spike in degradation around 2017 when wildfire activity
increased in the region.

The field skills certification training is part of the NWR’s Large Lakes Monitoring Strategy (LLMS). That strategy focuses on long term monitoring to compare current water quality trends with historical data and determine change over time.

Early detection is vital to prevent further water quality degradation in this exceptionally large and varied watershed;
therefore, the LLMS intends to identify environmental and ecosystems changes and emerging
threats.

In addition, the roundtable advances key priorities identified in the 2025 Mandate Letter to the Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship:

• By convening First Nations, stakeholders and relevant interests in dialogue to consider local
priorities for conservation, land use planning, tourism, industry, water use, and resource
development;
• By developing collaborative strategies that directly support data and training to better
understand risks to aquatic ecosystems critical for healthy salmon populations and clean
water;
• By working together to ensure economic development does not compromise a healthy
watershed.