How long will we have to continue to defend our rights against the threat of having our water exported and our life source depleted without thought or responsibility to existing life in the valley?

It has been said, “Future wars will not be fought over oil rights, but over water rights.” We, in Valemount, seem to have reached that point already. Those who think this problem does not affect them because the town is getting its water from Swift Creek must take time to think. Swift Creek is glacier fed. We are constantly being warned that glaciers are melting at an alarming rate. If anyone needs proof - observe what is happening to glaciers down the lake! Once the source of Swift Creek is gone, where will the town turn to for water, especially if the aquifer has been depleted for export? Our wells have already been affected by a receding water table.

Those few, who think we are over-alarmists, should stop and think! If nothing is done now to stop this exploitation of our water while we still can, it will be too late to cry and say “we should have or shouldn’t have” after disaster has struck. It is also a great opportunity for our elected officials to start the ball rolling to get water protection rights for all th peoples of B.C. and Canada.

Water is far more valuable than any other resources put at our disposal, be it gold, ore, diamonds, oil, or anything else. WATER IS LIFE ! Without it, we have nothing.

Valemount would no longer be “a valley in the mountains”, a place we call home. It is now classed as a semi desert; it stays green as long as it rains. Without our creeks, sloughs, aquifer, rivers, how long would it take to become a barren wasteland? Maybe we are being over-alarmists, and again, maybe not!

As recently as ten or twelve years ago, we were often awed by the sight of moose along the highway or foraging in some backwater. Every spring, we were over-run by millions of small tree frogs, gorging on mosquitoes and their larvae. We were treated to the sight of Great Blue Herons nesting in our wetlands. Water in the swamp or bird sanctuary as it is now called, lapped each side of the highway year round. These are all gone with the dropping of our water table.

Let us heed the warning signs and assure a future for our families, our community and all life depending on us to continue existing in this wonderful valley we call home. Let us put a stop to this ridiculous suggestion to re-zone the proposed area to accommo­date the export of our most precious resource. This is our life we are fighting for. Enough already!

Agnes Blanchette, Valemount, B.C.