The Mighty Columbia
Christopher Swain founded a group called Advocacy Swimmers who use the sport of swimming to raise public awareness for different issues. Christopher has already swum the 210 mile (338km) length of the Conneticut River to raise awareness for Human Rights. His goal now is to raise awareness of the plight of people and wildlife if we allow this important waterway to be increasingly abused. Along the way Christopher will host riverside parties and events in different communities to educate people about pollution control. If you reside along the Columbia River, watch out for him at a river bank near you! You can follow his journey by visiting his website at www.columbiaswim.org . Christopher's journey is a great lead in to next year's "International Year of Fresh Water" as proclaimed by the United Nations. It is also very appropriate to this year's "Year of Mountains" as the mountains are the source of our water. The Canadian Federal Government Department of Environment and Parks is launching a two year "Wonder of Water" Initiative and have planned celebrations around the country's main watersheds of the Columbia, Saskatchewan and Athabasca-MacKenzie-Peace Rivers. Upstream and mountain headwater events are also planned. I used to live on the banks of the Columbia River myself and have fished there frequently. I often wondered as I enjoyed the wilderness and the water what it must have been like for the First Nations people who gathered where the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers meet to catch their salmon. Alas, I will never catch a Salmon at this end of the Columbia River. There are however some wonderful trout and the river is also home to some ancient sturgeon, now protected. I strongly recommend visiting the Columbia River in British Columbia and admiring the strength and the size of this magnificent and generous piece of nature. You can still drink the water from Columbia Lake. Let's hope that we will always be able to!
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