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Foundation of the BC Rivers Alliance

Posted: 08/24/2007
By: Thomas O'Keefe
American Whitewater is partnering with recreation organizations and environmental groups to preserve British Columbia’s rivers forming the BC Rivers Alliance.

A group of conservation, recreational and public power organizations have banded together to create the BC Rivers Alliance to fight the proliferation of private power projects on BC rivers.

BC Rivers Alliance was founded in opposition to the rapidly proliferating “gold rush” of privately owned 'run-of-river' hydro power projects in British Columbia.

The BC Rivers Alliance is concerned about the sustainability of run-of-river projects since the scale of the province wide development with over 450 water license applications is significant and will have ecological and societal impacts.

The purpose of the Alliance is to unite groups and organizations working across BC that have an interest in the well being of BC rivers. The efforts of the alliance will be rooted in a set of core values that are accepted and supported by its members.

BC Rivers Alliance Core Values:
- Wilderness conservation to protect wild salmon and species at risk
- Watershed and ecosystem integrity
- Sustainable power solutions
- Equal consideration of all river users and stakeholders
- Public hydro power
- Conservation of power to meet demand
- Comprehensive and transparent approval processes for hydro projects
- Non partisan


Current Supporters of BC Rivers Alliance include:
- BC Citizens for Public Power, http://www.citizensforpublicpower.ca
- BC Creek Protection Society, http://bc-creeks.org
- Burke Mountain Naturalists, http://bmn.bc.ca
- Canoe Kayak BC - Whitewater, http://www.canoekayakbc.ca
- Outdoor Recreation Council of BC, http://www.orcbc.ca
- Purcell Alliance for Wilderness
- Raincoast Conservation Society, http://www.raincoastaction.org
- Save our Rivers Society, http://www.ourrivers.ca
- Vancouver Island Whitewater Paddling Society, http://www.surfkayak.org
- Watershed Watch Salmon Society, http://www.watershed-watch.org
- Western Canada Wilderness Committee, http://www.wildernesscommittee.org
- American Whitewater, http://americanwhitewater.org
- Contact Information:
- Petra Drncova, BC Creek Protection Society, 250 382 3499, petra@drnec.cz

Thomas O'Keefe

3537 NE 87th St.

Seattle, WA 98115

Phone: 425-417-9012
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Canadian Whitewater

This project is a collection of resources and tools for volunteers interested in protecting and restoring Canadian whitewater rivers.