Our 2018 Successes, Thanks to You
It was a busy year out on the water and thanks to your generous support, here are some of our 2018 achievements.
Before we dive in, we want to extend a huge thank you to all of our incredible volunteers for the 2018 year. We could not have achieved all that we did without you, and we can't wait to see what we accomplish together next year!
False Creek Water Monitoring Program Launched
This summer (2018) we launched the False Creek Water Monitoring Program, a new citizen science initiative in Vancouver. We established a robust monitoring hub, equipped with an in-house lab on Granville Island.
From July through December, Swim Drink Fish staff and volunteers gathered weekly on the waterfront to collect water samples and record observations about water quality in Vancouver’s False Creek. The program was designed to let our community know when and where water meets government guidelines to help make decisions about when to get in the water.
You can learn more about our results on our water monitoring page by clicking here.
You can read about our findings in the newly released First Season Report by clicking here or find an overview here.
85,000 New Swim Guide Users Protected from Water Illness in BC
We empowered our community with knowledge of how to check water quality at their favourite beaches on Swim Guide as well as how to engage in citizen science water quality testing and contribute to water quality data as Swim Guide affiliates. We added over 85,000 new Swim Guide users in Vancouver from January 1, 2018, through today. We also reached over 67,000 clicks on beaches in Vancouver (Vancouver, False Creek, Bowen) on Swim Guide from January 1, 2018, through today.
Over 2,000 Community Members Directly Engaged
To reconnect our community to their waters, for the second year in a row, we brought engaging and customized Water Literacy Workshops to schools and recreational water groups across Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. To solidify and deepen that connection to water, we offered outdoor experiential opportunities such as water monitoring and river cleanups to inspire and engage. Over 2,000 members of our community are now empowered to act as water leaders and we are excited to see this network grow in 2019.
1,200 Watermark Stories Shared
Through Watermark Project, we encouraged our community to share their own personal stories of their connection to water, their Watermarks. Watermarks are filed on our online archive and create a living record of our powerful connection to water, helping to protect our water heritage. We collected over 1,200 individual Watermarks from Water Literacy Workshop participants and recreational water users in BC and over 2,500 on our online archive.
650 People Came Together to Clean Up the Fraser River
Our 11th Annual Fraser River Cleanup, held on March 24th in Chilliwack in conjunction with our amazing community partner Woodtone, was a resounding success. The foundation of our cleanup is thanks to the work of Woodtone and the late Andy Rotzetter of Rotz Disposal. This year, a total of 650 volunteers turned out to lend a hand to remove 12.6 tonnes of garbage from 8 separate locations along the Fraser River. This brings us to a grand total of 125 tonnes collected over the last 11 years (that’s the same weight as approximately 62.5 grizzly bears)!
To see more photos from the event, click here.
To see a video of the cleanup from the Chilliwack Progress, click here.
To check out an article in the Chilliwack Progress featuring the event, click here.
Success at our Swim Drink Fish Gala
On April 14, 2018, we had an amazing night celebrating swimmable, drinkable, fishable waters in BC thanks to 200 of our amazing supporters. The funds raised throughout the incredible evening go to support Swim Drink Fish’s charitable work, including initiatives such as Swim Guide, Watermark Project, and Fraser Riverkeeper. Special thanks to Delta Group, TELUS, and all of our sponsors who were monumental in making the event such a success. A full list can be found here.
A full gala press release can be found here.
To see photos from the evening, click here.
We are grateful to have you as part of our Swim Drink Fish community. On behalf of Swim Drink Fish and Fraser Riverkeeper, thank you so much for your generous and ongoing support—we could not do this without you!