Welcome to the Home Page of the
B.C. (British Columbia) TAP WATER ALLIANCE
www.bctwa.org
(email) [email protected]


During its active life since 1997, the BC Tap Water Alliance has accumulated a large variety of information available on this site. Below (left) is a guide to weaving through this information, and on the opposite side are highlights on recent issues.
Logo
Logo image by Phil Makow

About For summary information about the B.C. Tap Water Alliance, and its formation.
Stop Fracking
British Columbia

Hydraulic Fracturing of the earth "gold rush" by the Natural Gas industry, including its impact on fresh water sources (surface, sub-surface)
Reports and
Presentations
Browse through a chronological list and download presentations and reports  (since 1997)
Press Releases/
Correspondence
Browse through a chronological list and download press and news releases and correspondence (since 1997)

For reports, files, history and features on individual community watershed issues:
* Rossland City;
* Greater Vancouver; 
* the Sunshine Coast; 
* Vancouver Island
* Greater Victoria;
 
* Elk Creek (Chilliwack); 
* Arrow Creek (Creston & Erickson);
* Portland City (Bull Run).

Newsletters
Two Newsletters: No.1, Natural Source Protection: High Time for a Change (April 2004); and No.2, "Community" Forestry in Your Drinking Water (September 2005)


Watershed

Intelligence
A new reporting format introduced on May 20, 2008. As an original two issue series journal from 1995 - 1996 by Friends of the Watersheds about the recent logging history, and re-protection, of the Greater Vancouver watersheds, it has been resurrected to fill an important niche for the provincial level. The first report is a case history study of the Sunshine Coast community forest.

Watershed
Reserves
For information about BC's Land Act Watershed Reserves.  A key interpretive feature of this new site, and on the politics behind the "invasion" of BC's drinking watersheds, is an upcoming lengthy report, due sometime in the summer of 2005.

Global Warming
A new section dealing with issues related to global warming.  Introductory article on the mountain pine beetle and flooding in BC.
Conferences Summary reports on recent conferences.

2001 Petition
A petition, signed by some 50 provincial organizations in February - March 2001, for the legislative protection of drinking watershed sources.
Other Reports
and Information
Small assembly of information: government statistics, Public Accounts Committee, old report (1953) on groundwater, early info on the Drinking Water Protection Plan.
Links Links to internet websites.

RECENT EVENTS, PRESENTATIONS, ETC.
YouTube
B.C. Timber Sales Invasion of the Roddy Creek Domestic Watershed
Letter to Editor
Nelson Star,

November 26, 2022
Re: Glade Creek Watershed Reserve and Ecoforesters

Letter
October 28, 2022

Dangers to Property and Domestic Water Supply Pollution,
near Town of Avola, B.C.
Immediate Cancellation of B.C. Timber Sales' Logging Block and Road Access
Report Attachment: Roddy Creek and Avola Creek Source Protection

Media Release
March 4, 2020

Frackers Rape Rule of Law and Gag Canadian First Nations under the Guise of 'Benefit Agreements': Case in Point, Coastal GasLink LNG Fracked Gas Pipeline

(Pdf, 120 kb)
Submission
January 31, 2020

After 30 Years & More:
Slaughter and Liquidation of BC's Old Intact Forests

A submission to the Government of British Columbia's Old Growth Strategic Review
Report
January 27, 2020

SAY-NO-MORE. A Reconnaissance Report
of a Tributary Drainage of Convirs Creek, Located on the Western Slopes of the North Arm of Quesnel Lake, British Columbia
(160 pages)
(Pdf, 43 megabytes)
Media Release,
October 28, 2019

Attribution Science Proves Now is the Time for Canadians to Step Up and Sue the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and the Alberta Energy Regulator for Cumulative Fraud (Pdf)

Media Release, October 2, 2019:
March 6, 2019
Letter to BC Premier
John Horgan

Legal Mandate and Fiduciary Obligation of the BC Government Regarding the Glade Creek Community Watershed Map Reserve, and Community Watershed Map and Order-in-Council Reserves (Pdf)

May 14, 2018
Media Release

Alliance Calls on Government to End Logging, Road Building, and Mining Speculation in Peachland Creek Community Watershed (pdf)
-
Letter to Ministers of Forests and Environment (pdf)
- Peachland Watershed Photo Backgrounder Document
(pdf, 25 megabytes)
January 19, 2018
Report Submission

Submission to the BC Government's Review of "Professional Reliance in Natural Resources"
(Pdf, 1.3 Megabytes)
November 29, 2017
  Public Notice
BC Tap Water Alliance No Longer a Signatory for Public Inquiry of Fracking in BC (with Backgrounder)
(Pdf, 3 Megabytes)

May 1, 2017
New Report
(The 2nd Preliminary Report)
(Pdf, 25 Megabytes)
February 26, 2017
Media Release

Comparison of Documents: Mount Polley FOI
(Pdf, 1.4 kilobytes)

October 10, 2016
Media Release
BC Government / F.O.I. Stalling on Mount Polley Mining Corporation Reports
(Pdf, 248 kilobytes)
August 30, 2016
The Glade Creek Watershed Reserve: NO "Misnomer" / NOT "Just a Name"
(Pdf, 11.3 megabytes)

April 16, 2016 
BCTWA Bulletin # 01
BC Ministry of Environment Cover-Up Continues in Posted "Community Watershed History"
(Pdf, 5.4 megabytes)
April 6, 2015
Media Release

Withheld Documents Point to Cause of Mount Polley Tailings Disaster (pdf)

-
Backgrounder Footnote Reference Table (pdf)
March 15, 2015
New Report
Withholding Water Flow Science in the Wilson Watershed: An Examination of the Sunshine Coast bCommunity Forest's Wilson Creek Watershed Assessments (2010-2012)
(pdf - 28.5 megabytes)

Summary Report only
(pdf - 2.2 megabytes)
February 1, 2015
Media Release
B.C. Government "Removes" 113 Documents from Mount Polley Disaster Panel Investigation Website
- Backgrounder

December 1, 2014
Media Release
Alliance Releases Scene of the Crime, a New Report Analysis of the Mount Polley Mine's Tailings Storage Facility
- Executive Summary (2.5 mbytes)
- Full Report (63 mbytes)
September 26, 2014
Media Release
Polleygate: What Did They Know, And When Did They Know It?

September 25, 2014
Media Release
September 1, 2014
The Mount Polley "Tailings Storage Facility": Landsat 8 Satellite Imagery, 2009-2014
September 30, 2013
Media Release
Alliance Reveals More Drinking Water Scandals in New Big Eddy Report
(Download Report Here)

August 30, 2013
Letter to BC Energy Minister Bill Bennett & Media Release:
BC Energy Minister's Public Response Plan for BC Hydro's Future Planning Report "Deficient and Unreasonable," Claims Alliance

June 4, 2013
Letter to Revelstoke City Council and Mayor


March 21, 2013
Press Release

BC Liberals Caught Demoting Protected Status of Community Drinking Water Sources (pdf)

Backgrounders

February 27, 2013
News Release
Land Grab Rejected 24 Years Ago - Resurrected in BC Liberals Bill 8


Backgrounders
January 28, 2013
(pdf file)
No Timber Sales in the McNeill Lake Watershed Reserve

Backgrounder

January 11, 2010
(pdf file - 26 kb)
News Release
Government in Supreme Court to Deny Sinixt Nation Consultation Rights to Protect Drinking Water Sources

April 30, 2010
(pdf file - 75 kb)
B.C. Water Act 'Modernization' Submission - WATER FIRST: Seaking the Ultimate Good of the Land, its Creatures, and the Public

(includes YouTube video links to April 21, 2010 public workshop in Vancouver)
December 31, 2009
8-Page Submission to the Premier's
Green Energy Advisory Task Force Groups

(Pdf file - 92 kb)
May 24, 2009
(pdf file - 64 kb)

8-Page Letter to Forests & Range Minister Pat Bell, concerning the Creston Valley Forest Corporation and its license to log in four community watersheds, Arrow, Sullivan, Camp Run and Lister, three of which are Watershed Reserves. Backgrounder to the letter, which is a copy of a section from Chapter 8 of From Wisdom to Tyranny)
December 8, 2008
(pdf file - 8,102 Mb)

Good Servants/Bad Service
An Examination of Records and Reports Relating to Rossland City's Drinking Watershed Reserves (1923-2002)
Executive Summary only
(pdf file - 400 kb)
November 11, 2008
(pdf file - 474 kb)

4-page letter to Forests & Range Minister Pat Bell, concerning the awarding of a 99-year community forest tenure license to the Creston Valley Forest Corporation in four community drinking watersheds and Watershed Reserves
Newspaper Articles - 1984-2001
Arrow Creek logging controversies
(pdf file - 7.54 Mb)
September 10, 2008
(pdf file - 86 kilobytes)
A transcript of the Metro Vancouver Water Committee meeting regarding a dicussion about access into the Greater Vancouver Watersheds
July 9, 2008
(pdf file - 5 Megabytes)
The Topping Creek Crisis: 
Community Resistance Against Resort Residential and Golf Course Development Proposals in Rossland City's Community Watershed Reserve
News Release - May 30, 2008
B.C. Community Forest Conference
Under Community Fire
May 20, 2008
(pdf - 19,904 kb)
The Community Forest Trojan Horse - The Sunshine Coast Community Forest Proposal and Probationary License in Two Watershed Reserves - A Case History (2003-2008).
Text only (only two images)
(pdf - 1,038 kb)
Summary Information
May 14, 2008
(pdf-175 kb)
Response presentation to the Metro Vancouver Water Committee regarding February 13, 2008 Metro Vancouver staff report made in response to B.C. Tap Water Alliance November 14, 2007 presentation to the Water Committee on Metro Vancouver's Drinking Water Management Plan.
April 3, 2008
(pdf - 141 kb)
Response Submission to the Private Managed Forest Lands Council Decisions regarding a May 21, 2007 complaint by BC Tap Water Alliance against TimberWest for violating the provincial private forest lands Regulation, clearcutting a riparian corridor on Beech Creek, a tributary of the Comox Lake drinking watershed, Comox, Vancouver Island.
April 4, 2008
(pdf - 1,157 kb)
Comox Valley Echo newspaper article,
Timber Company's Fine Axed
August 19, 2007
(pdf - 1,618 kb)
Sunshine Coast Regional District's Board of Health Hearing. A transcript of Ministry of Forests Sunshine Coast District Manager Greg Hemphill's witness testimony from August 8, 2007.
July 23, 2007
(pdf - 178 kb)
Presentation to the Sunshine Coast Regional District's Board of Health Hearing regarding a complaint against Western Forest Products and the Ministry of Forests about logging in the Chapman Creek Watershed Reserve.
May 14, 2007
(pdf - 3,767 kb)
Presentation in Courtney, B.C.
to the Comox Valley
Water Watch Coalition
March 24, 2007
(pdf - 8,129 kb)
Presentation  to the Port Alberni
Save Our Valley Alliance (SOVA)
(Happy First Anniversary ! )
Photo Collection on
TimberWest Cutblock T141
"NO TIMBER SALES"
(pdf - 1,170 kb)
FROM WISDOM TO TYRANNY

Article in the March/April 2007 edition of the Watershed Sentinel (Vol.17, No.2)
March 8, 2007
Copy of the article by Will Koop in the Georgia Straight newspaper about the mountain pine beetle and future flooding.
February 23, 2007
Leaflet distributed to delegates attending the annual conference of the BC Association of Forest Professionals at Harrison Hot Springs, urging BC's forester members to end commercial logging in drinking watersheds.
June 12, 2006
BOOK LAUNCH
FROM WISDOM TO TYRANNY:
A HISTORY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA'S DRINKING WATERSHED RESERVES
(information on how to get a copy of the self-published book)
Press Release, June 23, 2006
July 10, 2006
Submission  to the National Energy Board regarding Kinder Morgan's Anchor Loop Crude Oil (Alberta Tar Sands) Pipeline proposal through Jasper National and Mount Robson BC provincial parks
A PRESENTATION TO THE SQUAMISH-LILLOOET
REGIONAL DISTRICT

June 20, 2005: Comments on Bylaw 833, on the Rezoning of 9 Community Watersheds in Electoral Area "C"
June 2, 2005:
Presentation of information to delegates attending the international conference on Landslide Risk Assessment held at the University of British Columbia
(MS Word)
April 26-2005:
Forests Minister De Jong Conspires Against Sunshine Coast Community and Sechelt First Nation Accord to include Drinking Watershed Reserves in "Community" Forest License
Click here for photo compilation on April 19, 2005 public meeting in Sechelt