Protecting our Drinking Water
The SCCA believes that the public has a legitimate right to control activity in our watersheds and manage them strictly for the purpose of providing safe, clean drinking water.
In the summer of 2007, the resumption of logging on public lands in the Chapman Creek watershed after a fifteen year hiatus sparked a public uproar, with residents blockading logging roads and staging demonstrations. The SCCA initiated a citizen's public health complaint, which led to a series of ground-breaking legal actions.
Public concern also grew in early 2008, as it became clear that the Sechelt Community Forest planned to log in the Chapman and Gray Creek watersheds. In March 2008, following representations by the Sechelt Indian Government to the provincial government to protect the Chapman and Gray watersheds, the Community Forest was removed from the watershed.
Learn More
- 2008 Sechelt Community Forest is Out of the Watersheds
- 2008 Thank you letter to the Sechelt Indian Band (PDF)
- 2013 Submission to Province re Water Sustainability Act of BC
These were the latest rounds in a thirty-year plus history of conflict over industrial activity in the Chapman Creek watershed, but this is not the only controversial watershed in the Sunshine Coast Forest District. Other current friction points include the Waugh Lake watershed near Egmont, and the Jefferd Creek watershed (PDF) near Powell River.
The SCCA has been extensively involved in the protection of our public drinking water.