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The following article is from an archived newsletter. See our Shared Waters newsletter.

‘A River Film’ Keeps Rolling Along

Image of Anna Warwick Sears
Anna Warwick Sears
Osoyoos Lake Board of Control
Al Josephy
Washington State Department of Ecology
McIntyre Rock on the Okanagan River
McIntyre Rock on the Okanagan River. Credit: Al Josephy
McIntyre Rock on the Okanagan River. Credit: Al Josephy

“A River Film” is a documentary about the transboundary Okanagan/Okanogan River, but its message pertains to all rivers in the West. While the challenges of each river system are unique, there are themes common to all rivers: How we care for and protect them, how we share them, and how we work together to maintain their health.

Since its release in October 2017, “A River Film” has been screened throughout the watershed in British Columbia and Washington state. It’s being used in schools as part of the curriculum, shown at museums  and rented out through library branches. There’s even a video store in Kelowna, B.C., that rents copies free of charge.

The one place you won’t find it is online, as “A River Film” has been making the circuit of film festivals, winning three awards of excellence, and is being offered for television broadcast. Eventually, the documentary will be made available for free online streaming.

The 40-minute documentary tells the story of the river and the lakes along it, to educate the watershed residents, engage them and celebrate the good work done in Canada and the U.S. to manage and restore the river.

Lake Osoyoos at sunset. Credit: Al Josephy
Lake Osoyoos at sunset. Credit: Al Josephy


The movie was produced and directed by Ascent Films for the Washington State Department of Ecology, the owner and operator of the Zosel Dam in Oroville, Washington, with funding through IJC’s International Watersheds Initiative and local support from the Okanagan Basin Water Board.

The documentary, moving from season to season through the water year, highlights the interconnected issues of managing river flows in a semi-arid international watershed – from flood control to fish, farming, recreation and residential water use.

Making the film was an act of community, with interviews of 17 women and men working in different capacities, with passion and commitment, to manage the lands and water, restore the fisheries and educate the public. The screenings have energized and engaged the broader community, revealing the complexity of the waterway and the unique aspects of working across the international boundary.

The Okanagan/Okanogan valley is the traditional territory of the Syilx people, including the Okanagan Nation in Canada and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in the U.S. Along with the settler communities on both sides of the border, there is a long shared history and love for the waters that reaches back to earliest memory.

As European settlement took shape over the past two centuries, change has happened in the watershed, as it has in all watersheds across the West. The river has been diked, channelized and the demands of local interests including irrigation, growing municipalities and recreationists have had severe impacts on natural systems. We find ourselves, here in the 21st century, with watersheds damaged by years of human development. Along the way, we have lost sight of the values of place that are so clearly embodied in the river itself.

These are the challenges of our current times. How do we restore and protect the things we value in the places we love, while providing for healthy communities and economic opportunity? “A River Film” points directly at the idea of honoring the river by working collaboratively within communities to achieve these goals.

In many ways, the film embodies the IJC’s mission and values: pursuing the common good of both countries and protecting the transboundary environment by joining people together in common purpose. It’s an important message, and while the river is operated under a regulatory structure, collaboration within our community and within communities across the West holds the key to a sustainable future.

Image of Anna Warwick Sears
Anna Warwick Sears
Osoyoos Lake Board of Control

Anna Warwick Sears is a member of the IJC’s Osoyoos Lake Board of Control and executive director of the Okanagan Basin Water Board.

Al Josephy
Washington State Department of Ecology

Al Josephy is contracts and grants specialist for the Office of Columbia River at the Washington State Department of Ecology in Olympia, Washington.

 

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