2001 SIGN-ON PETITION

The following petition/declaration, which began to be circulated on February 9, 2001, was signed on to by a large variety of British Columbia organizations, community groups, societies, and individuals listed below. The only point of further consideration is that the government is unable to provide the correct percentage for the allowable annual cut in drinking watersheds (mentioned at about 2% below). Everyone who is interested in bringing about legislated protection of drinking water sources, please sign on, and forward your inclusion to the following address: [email protected]. Your support is critical for the future of our drinking water.  Thankyou.

PROTECT THE SOURCE OF DRINKING WATER
BY LEGISLATING WATERSHED RESERVES


February 13, 2001

Forests play an important role in the protection and replenishment of water, our most precious natural resource.  Many of B.C.'s sources of drinking water have been damaged by industrial development such as logging, road-building, mining and grazing.

Many watersheds throughout B.C. are in crisis because of these activities and under existing legislation there is no protection for the source of water.

Health must come before profit.  Water needs to be preserved, not treated after it has been compromised.  The citizens of this province are demanding the kind of protection offered by more effective, less harmful non-chemical water treatment solutions.  These solutions cannot be utilized in the absence of the high quality source water that intact forests provide.

We urge the B.C. government to protect the source of drinking water by legislating "Watershed Reserves".  Watershed Reserves would protect the source of water and be in areas that have no logging, road-building, mining or grazing by specific legislative enactment prohibiting these uses in any forms.  Watershed Reserves would reduce the provincial AAC (Allowable Annual Cut) by approximately 2%.

Water quality is one of the most important issues facing the community.  Every citizen in this province deserves to drink clean water.  The most important way to provide clean water is to protect the source.

Protecting water sources by legislating Watershed Reserves will leave one of nature's richest legacies for our communities, our children and future generations - clean water.

SIGNED:

The Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC)
B.C. Tap Water Alliance
Valhalla Wilderness Society
Western Canada Wilderness Committee (WCWC)
Sierra Club of B.C.
Georgia Strait Alliance
The David Suzuki Foundation
Sinixt Nation
Perry Ridge Water Users Association
Health Action Network Society
Canadian Earthcare Society
Red Mountain Residents Association (Hasty Creek)
Shawnigan Lake Watershed Watch
Canadian Reforestation and Environmental Workers Society (CREWS)
Reach for Unbleached
The Save Salt Spring Society
The Friends of Richards Creek
Rivershed Society of BC
Sunshine Coast Conservation Association
Sunshine Coast Water First
Carmanah Forestry Society
Turtle Island Earth Stewards
Council of Canadians - Mid Island Chapter
Granby Wilderness Society
Tuwanek Ratepayers Association
Elliot/Anderson/Christian/Trozzo Water Users Committee
The Burke Mountain Naturalists
Friends of the Watersheds (Greater Vancouver)
West Coast Environmental Law Association (WCELA)
Friends of the Slocan
Silva Forest Foundation
Fraser Headwaters Alliance
Comox Valley Project Watershed Society
Friends of the Cat Stream
Qualicum Beach Environmental Committee
Vancouver Island Earth Works Society (VIEWS)
Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
Ecological Health Alliance
Citizens for Choice in Health Care
Association of Whistler Area Residents for the Environment (AWARE)
Carbon Monoxide Information Network (COIN)
Victoria Branch of the World Federalists of Canada
Sitkum Creek Water Users
Bourke Creek Water Users
The Mission Chapter, Council of Canadians
Kitto Creek Water Users
Slocan Valley Watershed Alliance
Friends of Cortes Island
Winlaw Watershed Committee
Forest Futures
Shuswap Environmental Action Society
T. Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation
Goat Mountain Water Users Association
Nelson EcoCentre
Stikum Crescent Bay Waters Users
Halfmoon Bay Greenways Trailblazers
Richmond Chapter, Council of Canadians
Kimberley Residents Against Watershed Logging
Davis Bay-Wilson Creek Community Association