The People's Water by environmentalists Daniel Bouman and Andrew Scott is a well-written book that speaks to the social anthropologist in all of us. It is as much a social commentary with a historical perspective on the fight for the Sunshine Coast's watersheds as it is a manifesto. In fact, it stays well away from shrill rants and chooses instead to pile up carefully researched documentation to make its case while covering the history of logging, recreational and environmental considerations in the Gray Creek and Chapman Creek watersheds, those areas that provide 90 per cent of the Coast's drinking and fire protection water.
"We have a point of view, obviously," said co-author Scott, "but we didn't want to turn it into something preachy. We tried to present the other side of the story."
The history begins with the first European settlers to clear land near both creeks, but it really ramps up in the 1960s. Early Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) directors noted that the watershed cutblocks were not being shored up properly by the forest companies and were contaminating the water supply downstream. The book's four history chapters recount how some ecologists, such as the late John Hind-Smith, renowned for his nature walks, hiked into the area to see for themselves.
One wonders how these people were perceived in the 1970s, viewed by politicos and labour leaders as flakey tree huggers, or at best, as sincere protestors who bucked the logging companies. Today they seem like heroes. As the book makes clear, every action taken was a step toward the future. It seems that the value of books like The People's Water is to remind us that every step counts.
Bouman summarizes what the book is really about in his foreword: "A community working together resolutely over a span of generations to resolve an injustice it is about what worked and how a positive outcome was eventually reached."
Scott describes it as a cultural document that reflects the spirit of the people.
Both Bouman and Scott are happy with the publication, which will help explain watershed issues to new decision-makers. The book looks good, was written and designed locally and generates a sense of excitement in the subject. The work took longer than either author expected, which proved to be a good thing because history was still being made. The activist summer of 2007 was heating up.
Urged on by a coalition of Coast citizens concerned about their water, the SCRD, using authority under the Health Act, convened as a local board of health to restrict logging in the watershed on the grounds that it was a health hazard. The resulting challenge in B.C.'s Supreme Court and the outcome is covered extensively in the book. The authors point out that although the effort was "a magnificent failure," the overall result has been successful. Other communities sprung into action to take control of their own watersheds and awareness of water issues has never been higher.
Conflict over logging is not the bogeyman it once was, but the struggle continues. Bouman is clear that the role of First Nations rights within the watershed will be vitally important to future protection. The authors point to present dangers: water conservation, or rather our lack of it, and global climate change that will also bring big challenges.
The People's Water is published by the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association and includes many maps and contributions from local photographers that show the protestors in action and the beauty of the land high in the Tetrahedron. It also lists source references for further reading. The book is available for $20 at WindSong Gallery, Talewind Books and Coast Books or through the SCCA website: www.thescca.ca.
