Semiahmoo First Nation is leading the Shared Water Alliance, a transboundary collaborative of various organizations and entities, to revitalize their traditional food sources of salmon and bivalves by restoring water quality and habitat conditions within the TA’TALU (Little Campbell) watershed. The run-off from the TA’TALU has been a primary source of pollutants leading to the closure of shellfish harvest in Semiahmoo Bay. Through monitoring water quality to identify and address contamination within the TA’TALU and Semiahmoo Bay, the Shared Water Alliance aims to re-establish an Indigenous shellfish harvest.
The key objective is to build the nation’s capacity to monitor, develop, and guide the implementation of restorative actions that, over time, cumulatively improve the health of relationships between the community, the Bay, the watershed, all our relations, and ultimately restore traditional harvesting practices. Additionally, the Shared Water Alliance will increase the natural filtration of non-point source pollutant contamination from entering the TA’TALU and build connection between communities and the watershed, enhancing awareness, understanding and engagement.
Activities to achieve these objectives include expanding water quality monitoring efforts by identifying new contamination locations and increasing the frequency of monitoring, developing and implementing a restoration plan for riparian buffers along the TA’TALU, hosting an annual roundtable meeting to advance partnerships and awareness, and developing a communication plan for the work.
