The Nechako Watershed encompasses nearly 50,000 square kilometers from the Coast Mountains to the Interior Plateau of British Columbia, forming the second largest sub-watershed of the Fraser River Basin. The Nechako (a derivation of a Dakelh word meaning “big river”) remains a vital waterway for anadromous fish in-cluding three species of salmon and non-anadromous fish such as bull trout, rain-bow trout, and the endangered Nechako white sturgeon. Despite its ecological, so-cietal and cultural importance, the nature of this complex system remains elusive. Cumulative stressors including climate change, landcover disturbances (e.g. wild-fires, the mountain pine beetle outbreak and forest harvesting), land use changes (e.g. the expansion of the Vanderhoof agricultural belt), and damming of the Nechako River main stem have led to drastic changes to the water and land-scapes of the Nechako. Over the past five years, a team of four UNBC research-ers with complementary expertise has thus undertaken a study to integrate knowledge on climate change and water security, sediment sources and fluxes, and the health and well-being of the Nechako. This colloquium delivered by the four members of the Integrated Watershed Research Group will report on their findings through the first years of research in the Nechako and lessons learned in this collaborative effort involving many stakeholders across the Nechako.

The Natural Resources & Environmental Studies Institute (NRESi) at UNBC hosts a weekly lecture series at the Prince George campus. Anyone from the university or wider community with interest in the topic area is welcome to attend. Presentations are also made available to remote participants through Livestream (Channel 1). Go to http://www.unbc.ca/nres-institute/colloquium-webcasts to view the presentation remotely.

Past NRESi colloquium presentations and special lectures can be viewed on our video archive, available here.