Tell your local representatives to VOTE YES for wild salmon at UBCM 2020

September 14, 2020

By: Meghan Rooney

The Union of BC Municipalities are holding their (virtual) AGM from September 22 – 24, 2020 and we need your help. A resolution is coming forward and for the sake of the salmon we need it to pass!

Resolution NR16 – Flood Risk Mitigation Through Green Infrastructure and Natural Assets asks the federal and provincial governments to to require and fund nature-based solutions in flood management. We have an opportunity to rebuild endangered wild salmon populations, while securing good local jobs and protecting our communities from floods. Can you help us get there?

Over 1500 km of streams, sloughs and side channels in the lower Fraser River are impacted by archaic flood control structures that kill fish or block their access to these vital habitats. These structures need to be replaced or upgraded to protect our communities from flooding. We can’t just replace these fish-killing structures with more of the same. Will you ask your elected representative to VOTE YES for investments in proven, salmon-safe flood control and habitat restoration projects?

This resolution is especially important right now because we succeeded a few weeks ago in getting the provincial budget committee to recommend salmon-safe flood control for Budget 2021. A “yes” vote at UBCM from BC’s mayors and city councillors could tip the scales and ensure wild salmon get some love in the next provincial budget.  We can do this!

Use our letter writing tool to send your elected official the message that flood control structures need to be upgraded using green infrastructure solutions that protect our salmon and our communities at the same time.

It only takes a minute! Read Resolution NR16 below the letter tool.

Resolution NR16 – Flood Risk Mitigation Through Green Infrastructure and Natural Assets

WHEREAS: the side channels, tributaries and sloughs of the Fraser and other large rivers have deep value to First Nations as historic transportation corridors, sites of food cultivation and harvest, refuge and gathering places; many of these same waterways are or were valuable recreational fishing, boating and swimming sites but are no longer safe and accessible for these activities;

AND WHEREAS: these waterways provide moderating effects for localized and riverine flooding and valuable habitat for wild salmon and other important species;

AND WHEREAS: there is no current requirement or standard practice for treating these natural and manmade waterways as valuable natural assets for their provision of the aforementioned ecosystem services;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Federal and Provincial governments remove constraints and implement requirements for incorporating green infrastructure and nature-based solutions in flood management to ensure effective flood risk mitigation while maintaining or restoring social, cultural and ecological co-benefits for these systems;

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: that the Federal and Provincial governments promote natural assets as a viable emergency planning solution and provide appropriate funding through the Disaster Mitigation Adaptation Fund, Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, Community Emergency Preparedness Fund, Emergency Management B.C. and other similar emergency planning and mitigation funds.

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Tell your local representatives to VOTE YES for wild salmon at UBCM 2020

September 14, 2020

By: Meghan Rooney

The Union of BC Municipalities are holding their (virtual) AGM from September 22 – 24, 2020 and we need your help. A resolution is coming forward and for the sake of the salmon we need it to pass!

Resolution NR16 – Flood Risk Mitigation Through Green Infrastructure and Natural Assets asks the federal and provincial governments to to require and fund nature-based solutions in flood management. We have an opportunity to rebuild endangered wild salmon populations, while securing good local jobs and protecting our communities from floods. Can you help us get there?

Over 1500 km of streams, sloughs and side channels in the lower Fraser River are impacted by archaic flood control structures that kill fish or block their access to these vital habitats. These structures need to be replaced or upgraded to protect our communities from flooding. We can’t just replace these fish-killing structures with more of the same. Will you ask your elected representative to VOTE YES for investments in proven, salmon-safe flood control and habitat restoration projects?

This resolution is especially important right now because we succeeded a few weeks ago in getting the provincial budget committee to recommend salmon-safe flood control for Budget 2021. A “yes” vote at UBCM from BC’s mayors and city councillors could tip the scales and ensure wild salmon get some love in the next provincial budget.  We can do this!

Use our letter writing tool to send your elected official the message that flood control structures need to be upgraded using green infrastructure solutions that protect our salmon and our communities at the same time.

It only takes a minute! Read Resolution NR16 below the letter tool.

Resolution NR16 – Flood Risk Mitigation Through Green Infrastructure and Natural Assets

WHEREAS: the side channels, tributaries and sloughs of the Fraser and other large rivers have deep value to First Nations as historic transportation corridors, sites of food cultivation and harvest, refuge and gathering places; many of these same waterways are or were valuable recreational fishing, boating and swimming sites but are no longer safe and accessible for these activities;

AND WHEREAS: these waterways provide moderating effects for localized and riverine flooding and valuable habitat for wild salmon and other important species;

AND WHEREAS: there is no current requirement or standard practice for treating these natural and manmade waterways as valuable natural assets for their provision of the aforementioned ecosystem services;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Federal and Provincial governments remove constraints and implement requirements for incorporating green infrastructure and nature-based solutions in flood management to ensure effective flood risk mitigation while maintaining or restoring social, cultural and ecological co-benefits for these systems;

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: that the Federal and Provincial governments promote natural assets as a viable emergency planning solution and provide appropriate funding through the Disaster Mitigation Adaptation Fund, Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, Community Emergency Preparedness Fund, Emergency Management B.C. and other similar emergency planning and mitigation funds.

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5 Comments

  1. Thomas Munson September 15, 2020 at 8:12 am - Reply

    Wild salmon should always be a priority in BC watershed discussions and decisions.

  2. Yi Pang September 16, 2020 at 1:22 am - Reply

    Please do the right thing for salmon and the whole ecosystem they’re a part of (including humans), vote YES on Resolution NR16 and let’s bring balance and vitality back into our natural systems.

  3. Bkeane64@aol.com September 16, 2020 at 11:05 am - Reply

    take the dams down

  4. Kj Taylor September 22, 2020 at 7:34 pm - Reply

    Why can’t our coast be a leader in wild salmon protections? Get rid of fish farms and protect our wild salmon

  5. Joseph E Fasciani September 23, 2020 at 2:59 am - Reply

    A great move, long overdue!

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