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Fraser

Okay, so water matters. We all know that.

I’m made of water; you’re made of water; two-thirds of the planet is water.

#WaterIsLife

Of course, for about 140,000 species, us included, not all water is created equal. Despite there being so much water on this planet, only three percent of it is our existence-required freshwater – with less than one half of one percent being accessible freshwater. How much of that is clean drinking water? 0.003%.

So, not much.

And you likely know all of this too.

Why the refresher then? Because it’s this context that makes this trickle of water – high up here in the forbidding, rarely seen Fraser Pass – so important to all of us.

Welcome to the headwaters of the Fraser River.

What begins with a whimper ends with a bang. Almost 1400 kilometres long and fed by more rivers and streams and creeks and lakes and wetlands than we can possibly fathom, the Fraser River is the beating heart of one of Canada’s 25 major life-giving watersheds.

“Fraser River Basin Map.jpg” by Pfly is licensed with CC BY-SA 4.0.

Collectively, those 25 watersheds account for one-fifth of the world’s freshwater – and the cumulative Fraser system makes its contribution to that resource across 238,000 square kilometres. Pretty impressive for a small little trickle to add up to an area almost twice the size of the maritimes or almost the size of the entire United Kingdom.

There are many things that make the Fraser River special – for biodiversity sure, but for people too.

It’s been a food-producing resource, an economic engine and a vital transportation route for cultures since time immemorial and, today, in addition to the watershed being home to two-thirds of British Columbia’s population, its also responsible for 80% of the province’s GDP.

And this is where

we should

probably pause

and offer a

reminder.

The Fraser River is a watershed, but so too is every other square centimetre of land in this country – and on Earth.

If you’re standing on the banks of the Fraser in Mount Robson? You’re in a watershed. Sitting on your couch watching TV in Newmarket, Ontario? You’re also in a watershed.

And that concept – that a watershed is an area of land that drains water to a common point and, again, every centimetre of land on Earth is contributing to that draining or collecting process – is easy to forget. Especially on your couch in Newmarket.

Watersheds, of course, can be big or small, and they all matter because, as you know, everything is interconnected. But what makes the Fraser watershed truly exceptional is not only its size, but the fact that the small trickle of water up on Fraser Pass is protected.

You see, not all watersheds begin in pristine conditions. It’s simply not possible with the number of humans in the world and – say it with me now – because everywhere is a watershed.

But when such a large system’s headwaters start in ideal circumstances? You’re giving the entire watershed a leg-up in doing its job – maintaining biodiversity, transporting nutrients, managing water flow, creating energy, impacting climate, purifying drinking water, and, frankly, creating jobs.

It’s why a watershed’s headwaters are amongst the most important pieces of infrastructure in our society. Highways and railways and buildings are nice. But not many of those infrastructure investments yield trillions of dollars in value. And headwaters are free!

When they’re free and we’ve invested in their protection – and that doesn’t necessarily mean a park like Mount Robson, to be clear – you’re getting maximum bang for your buck.

For example, by creating a sufficient buffer of trees in areas along the river – what’s known as riparian zones – then you’re keeping sediment out of the water, keeping the river at an ideal temperature, and helping manage the water flow – both volume and velocity – which, you know, kind of contributes to whether it floods – or doesn’t – downstream where you might live.

And that’s

the key

downstream:

What you do at the source impacts everything else the river touches.

To paint you a picture, the Fraser alone delivers 113 cubic kilometres of freshwater to the ocean per year. When it’s clean and healthy, that’s taking the food generated in the mountains downriver to the ocean. So in this metaphor, think of the Mount Robson ecosystem as the mouth, the ocean as the stomach and the Fraser as the oesophagus. Each element works together to help the whole body (aka: ecosystem) live.

But unlike the human system, the Fraser doesn’t just operate one-way.

Because of salmon, few river systems in the world have the ability to transport the volume of nutrients up the river to sustain the biodiversity that, in turn, feeds the biodiversity down the river. Which is why the Fraser doesn’t just matter in Mount Robson, in BC or in Canada. It matters globally.

So whether you love parks or hate them, we can all probably agree that the protection of the Fraser’s headwaters is a big reason why, despite popular belief, the Fraser isn’t doing that poorly. According to an extensive study in 2017, the river is in good health. And the upper reaches of the system? Very good health, a label that doesn’t get tossed around that much. Anywhere.

But just because the Fraser is healthy and just because its headwaters are protected doesn’t mean there aren’t threats.

Why? Well, just as what happens upstream impacts all of us downstream, what we do downstream affects the upstream ecosystems as well.

Small little things: no big deal; nature is resilient. Big, bold changes really fast? Whoa! Ecosystems – and watersheds in particular – aren’t set up for that. I mean, who is?

This is why, in the timescale of nature, the mountain pine beetle infestation was such a shock to the Fraser’s system. Over a couple of decades, 60% of the watershed’s forested landscape was affected. And between dead trees and salvage logging to lessen the forest fire concerns the beetle sparked, that natural infrastructure in place at the headwaters is missing in many of the tributaries that feed the Fraser. In those many affected streams? Peak water flows, say after spring melt, are 92% higher. And that will have impacts across the watershed for species like salmon, as well as for people – whether directly or indirectly.

So, at a time when there are more and more of us, and at a time when a country as well-developed as Canada inexcusably can’t figure out how to get clean drinking water to every Indigenous community in this country, guess what will matter more with each passing day? Clean, freshwater.

And whether you’re passionate about social justice, biodiversity, arts and culture, the climate, job creation or innovation, the world’s freshwater resources are the one common denominator between them all. Freshwater is what connects us and what should unite us.

It’s also what should empower us to be better stewards of our watersheds and their headwaters; every watershed and their headwaters – just like the mighty Fraser and the small trickle where it all begins.

What do you think?

What are headwaters? What are the nearest major headwaters to you?
What is a watershed? What watershed do you live in? Is it healthy? Why do some watersheds not have data?
List the major rivers in your watershed. Are they healthy (research this!)? Why or why not?
What strikes you most about the importance of headwaters?
Why do we have few developments around headwaters? What if we were to develop more near headwaters?
What don’t we know much about when it comes to headwaters? How might we find this out?
In what other ways are headwaters important and not mentioned in the story?
How might you protect headwaters in your community or region? Who would you talk to? What steps would you take to make this possible?
Why should more people know about the importance of headwaters?

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