Barb Haley, Watershed Watch Chair

My Observations

Date: September 05, 2025 @1600

Area: Brenda Mine Road, Sunset Main FSR, Peachland FSR

Temperature: +26C

Weather: Sunny

Wind: Light

Visibility: Excellent

Conditions: Summer-y!

Observations: Today was a great day! I got to hang out with a very interesting person and take him out for spin in our local watershed!

Erik Piikkila was in town along with a few other fellow dignitaries for the Screening of https://thenarwhal.ca/trouble-in-the-headwaters-documentary/ last night at the Kelowna Community Theatre. This film is a 25-minute documentary by filmmaker Daniel J. Pierce. It covers the root cause of the horrible 2018 flood in Grand Forks, and backed up by Dr. Younes Alila, Westbank First Nation as well as Grouse and Pamela Barnes, WFN elders, Sonia Furstenau, former Green party leader, MLA, environmentalist, campaigner
Mike Morris, former BC Solicitor General, former United Party Minister of Public Safety
and conservationist
David Gill, Registered Professional Forester, Westbank First Nation, and a keynote address by Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs!

Taryn (PWPA Chair) asked if I could give Erik a tour of our Watershed, with pleasure, of course!

So I took Erik up and over to see the tailing pond from Brenda Mines, then over to see our town’s reservoir, Peachland Lake, just downstream.

From there, we went around the backside of the lake (got a good view of how low the lake is and the damage to the lake bed), over to Sunset FSR, making our way back towards the Headwaters Lakes and Peachland FSR, home.

What we were really looking at, is the state of the cut blocks, how they were cut, what was left behind and why. What was good, what was bad, what could be done better. what works, what doesn’t, and the future we’d like to see in our Watersheds. I really enjoyed our drive today! Thank you Erik!

Limləmt