Troubled Water: What's in Your Watershed?

Troubled Water: Do you know what’s going on with your water supply?

by Manly Media

“Water is Blue Gold, it’s the oil of the twenty first century.” - Maude Barlow in Troubled Water

Troubled Water a new documentary by Paul Manly will be broadcast on Shaw Community Television on the Earth day weekend starting on Friday April 19th and will be launched online for a free broadcast starting on Earth Day, Monday April 22nd.

Broadcast of Troubled Water a new documentary by Paul Manly
 

Shaw Community channel Victoria, Nanaimo, Oceanside, Port Alberni
 

Friday April 19th Saturday April 20th and Sunday April 21st

 

and online on Earth day, Monday April 22nd

Troubled Water examines the threats to public water systems and watersheds on Vancouver Island. Whether it’s the ongoing logging or the fertilizer used in the Nanaimo watershed ten years ago, the auto wrecking, waste dumping and pig farming in the Parksville watershed, the destruction of karst water systems in Port Alberni or the proposal to put a contaminated soil dump in the headwaters of the Shawnigan watershed, the problems all come down to the same issue, a lack of local control over activities in watersheds. When it comes to mining and forestry in community drinking watersheds municipalities and regional districts have no control and no say over this activity. Those decisions are made by provincial ministries and people who don’t necessarily live in the area and aren’t dependent on the water supply.

Troubled Water also looks at aquifer depletion and contamination and raises the question of whether regional growth strategies are taking into account the availability of water resources. In these cases municipalities and regional districts do have some control but there is a lack of knowledge about the extent of the water supply.

There are other threats to community drinking supplies in the form of P3’s or Public Private Partnerships (or P4’s Public Pays for Private Profits) and trade agreements like CETA, the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement or FIPA, the Foreign Investment Protection Agreement which both allow corporations to sue governments for laws, measures and policies that affect their potential profits. CETA has provisions that bring sub-national governments (provinces) and their wards (municipalities, regional districts and school boards) into the trade agreement and allows foreign corporations to compete for infrastructure projects and sue for any perceived discrimination and loss of potential profits.

It’s not all bad news, Troubled Water also highlights positive examples of watershed stewardship including the Victoria, Sooke Lake watershed model. It looks at things communities can do to protect water as a public trust and to develop a water commons framework, which treats water as belonging to no one, and the responsibility of all, including the Blue Communities project.

Airtimes for Troubled Water on Shaw TV Channel 4 in Nanaimo, Oceanside & Port Alberni are;

• Friday, April 19th @ 10:30pm
• Saturday, April 20th @ 11:00am
• Sunday, April 21st @ 2:00pm
• Airtimes for Troubled Water on Shaw TV Channel 4 in Victoria, Salt Spring and Pender Islands are;
• Saturday, April 20th 8:30am
• Sunday, April 21st 9:00am and 7:00pm

The online broadcast will be available at www.manlymedia.com and at www.facebook.com/TroubledWaterFlim starting on Earth Day, Monday April 22nd.

Troubled Water was created with the support of a grant by Vancouver Island Water Watch Committee and CUPE 401. The trailer can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBd3gOSjX18


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For Immediate Release

For photos and more information Contact:

Paul Manly
paul@manlymedia.com