Reflecting on 2022
From coast to coast, Swim Drink Fish and the Water Stewards community have been protecting your water for today and for years to come.
2022 Quick Facts:
Over 380+ community scientists got involved
22 sites monitored by our Water Quality Monitoring Hubs in Toronto, Vancouver, Kingston, and Edmonton
70+ partnerships and collaborations with various organizations and companies in the community
Countless engaged in water literacy
Between 2,500-3,000 samples are collected each year
The Swim Drink Fish monitoring hubs bring people to the water's edge from Vancouver, BC, all the way to Kingston, ON. This sampling season brought our hub staff a variety of experiences that taught them a lot about the world and the people around them. Jacquie Pallard watched the North Saskatchewan River change before her eyes with a correlation between the seasons and human activity. Alicia Elgert connected with a small team of volunteers and watched them exceed all expectations. Georgia Cross-Bermingham helped pull shopping carts and bed frames from the floor of Lake Ontario at the Drive Against Debris in Kingston. In Toronto, Megan Coad watched the next generation of water stewards get inspired at tabling events. Across the city at Ontario Place, Madeline (Maddie) Buzzi assisted in an investigation of large amounts of sewage alongside Isabel Fleisher, which ultimately led to positive action from the city. The uniqueness of each experience speaks to the nuances that come with each individual location.
Despite the differences in geography, our work is all rooted in the same thing: water science. Each member of our hub staff has the opportunity to spread knowledge regarding recreational water quality to the community, all while gaining more in-depth knowledge about their unique local environments. Alicia expanded her comprehension of wildlife and how to identify fish species. She took a keen interest in North Pacific Spiny Dogfish Sharks.
“It was a sunny afternoon, and Gabriela Pistner, our Ocean Bridge intern, and I were conducting False Creek water monitoring. As we were walking along the Granville Island docks, Gabriela pointed out something rather large swimming in the shallows. To our surprise, it was not one, but two North Pacific spiny dogfish (Squalus suckleyi). This species of shark is native to British Columbia and is commonly observed by local divers and fishing communities. Despite its abundant presence, I had never seen one. In fact, this was my first time seeing a shark in its natural habitat. Suddenly, a regular day of collecting water samples turned into a special memory. S. suckleyi has a slow growth rate, with females reaching sexual maturity at 35 years of age. Furthermore, their gestation period requires a lengthy 18-24 months. Being slow to mature and reproduce means these sharks are vulnerable to rapid changes, which negatively impact their survival. In essence, their populations would be slow to recover from depletion. At present, overfishing and climate change pose the largest threats to this species.”
Georgia gained a stronger understanding of the power of community in Kingston and how they rally around the shores of Lake Ontario. Many individuals shared with her their draw to the area and how they were visiting, or even relocated, solely for access to swimmable water. She was able to expand the community's knowledge about water science by informing them on aspects such as cladophora algae.
“In recent years, some beaches in Kingston have become locales for huge quantities of the filamentous benthic algae, cladophora, to wash up. At one particular location, Hospital Beach, cladophora algae could be found piled up in ankle-deep mats all along the shore and in quantities high enough in the water to make seeing the bottom as you wade in impossible. People were often disgusted and fearful of this smallering of smelly, green gunk on their familiar beaches, but very rarely knew what it was. I had people call out to me while I was in the water sampling to tell me “that stuff is toxic,” or just not to go in. While I was not able to resolve the issue of excess cladophora go away (as the proliferation of this type of algae is ubiquitous all across the Great Lakes), I was able to educate passersby on what this strange gunk was and where it all was coming from to alleviate some of the fear around it and mitigate this one thing from alienating Kingstonians from their water altogether.”
As the warmer months have come and gone and we take time to reflect on the impacts we’ve made, it only makes sense that we also reflect on the impact that the movement for swimmable, drinkable, fishable water has on all of us as individuals. Sadie Caron worked at Swim Drink Fish for four years before diving into her next adventure earlier this year. Upon reflecting on her time with us, the biggest takeaway she spoke of was the power of community, “I’ve always believed that collaboration and community are the keys to fostering positive change, and I’ve seen it time and again at Swim Drink Fish; from water monitoring to advocacy projects to plastic education, informing and engaging people can result in environmental improvements.” She wasn’t the only person that shared this sentiment. Maddie also began a new adventure at the end of the 2022 swim season sharing the “importance of community in affecting change.” After four years of working with the organization, the most rewarding aspect was by far “connecting with community members and provide them with the tools they need to become knowledgeable water stewards.” We are beyond grateful to have such a dedicated and passionate staff, past and present, that go above and beyond for swimmable, drinkable, fishable water.
