The disappearing Shottanana Lake at Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi’it First Nation. Photo by biologist Ian Adams.
Despite recent rainfall offering short-term relief, southeastern British Columbia continues to face severe and ongoing drought conditions that highlight the urgent need for stronger local water management.
According to British Columbia’s Drought Monitoring Summary, much of the province remains at drought Levels 3 to 5—the highest designations on the provincial scale. In the Columbia Basin, including the Elk Valley, these conditions underscore how vulnerable local water systems are and why regional governance is essential to building long-term resilience.
“Many of our small and rural communities are already experiencing how water shortages impact everything from drinking water to wildfire suppression,” said Kat Hartwig, Executive Director of Living Lakes Canada and Chair of the Elk River Monitoring Collaborative.
Living Lakes Canada’s Executive Director, Kat Hartwig, delivers a morning welcome speech at the Without Water Symposium. Photo by Evgeni Matveev
Hartwig’s comments echo findings from the Without Water Symposium, hosted in June in Grasmere, BC, by the Elk River Monitoring Collaborative. The event brought together over 100 participants to discuss the future of water security in southeastern BC. The group’s newly released What We Heard report captures those discussions and outlines clear calls to action for improving local watershed management.
“The message from the symposium was clear: there is enough water—until there isn’t,” said Hartwig. “We need transparent data, watershed planning, and committed, empowered local leadership to manage water quantity across BC’s regions.”
Among the report’s recommendations were the need to better incorporate Indigenous worldviews into water decision-making, support local and Indigenous water governance with sustained funding, and break down knowledge siloes to encourage collaboration and community adaptation.
These findings align with growing calls for the Province to invest more significantly in watershed resilience. The Watershed Security Fund, which currently provides $3–5 million annually, supports community and ecosystem adaptation efforts but is not yet sufficient to address the scale of the crisis.
“Modernizing BC’s water licensing system could help strengthen local water governance and decision-making,” added Hartwig. “Doing so would benefit local economies, ecosystems, and the well-being of our communities.”
The persistent drought across the Columbia Basin is a reminder that water security depends on proactive, locally led solutions—before shortages become crises.
For more information and to download the What We Heard report, visit elkrivercollaborative.ca
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Living Lakes Canada prioritizes Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples on whose lands our water science and stewardship work takes place. We recognize the ongoing practices and relationships that Indigenous Peoples have with their territories and the waters that flow through them. Living Lakes honours these connections by uplifting Indigenous voices in water stewardship.
