Armchair naturalists, students, teachers and researchers now have a website to explore the Coquitlam River watershed without leaving their homes, classrooms and offices.
Information about the watershed from the BC Hydro dam to Colony Farm Regional Park has been collected at www.coquitlamriverwatershed.ca for a virtual tour that provides historical detail, news about ongoing management issues, documents and links.
Managed by the Coquitlam River Watershed Roundtable - a group of city, industry, environment, First Nations and government agencies - the website is still in its early stages but will be updated as more information, documents, photographs and videos can be added, according to coordinator Krista Englund.
She said the website was a priority for the watershed roundtable from the start. "We wanted to put together a virtual tour and a website that had all the resources in one place."
It was was designed by New Earth Marketing under the direction of seven members of the Coquitlam River Watershed Roundtable and includes historical information, data about water quality, and ongoing resource issues, among other things. There are also photographs and videos showing different parts of the river.
Click on the Kwikwetlem First Nation stop and you can learn a little about the history of the Coast Salish Tribe; click on the Coquitlam Lake Dam and you'll learn about the natural forces that created the lake and how the water was used for water and electricity as early as 1905.
According to Elaine Willis, retired teacher and member of the Coquitlam River Watershed Roundtable and the Tri-City Green Council, the website is a dynamic one and will be updated including new multi-media resources for teachers. It's open to contributions from other partners, such as local businesses, institutions, and organizations, as long as they share the roundtable's common vision of a healthy Coquitlam River Watershed.
