World Rivers Day 2024!
World Rivers Day landed on September 22, 2024 this year, and in British Columbia —where the national celebration originated—celebrations went on for weeks as communities gathered to honor their waterways. I had the pleasure of attending several events, connecting with so many wonderful people—engaging in experiences that left me feeling inspired and more deeply connected to the cause. Here are my reflections!
The origins of World Rivers Day
World Rivers Day seeks to highlight the values of our rivers, raise public awareness, and encourage stewardship of all rivers. Around the world, rivers face many threats, and Mark Angelo, the founder of BC Rivers Day and World Rivers Day, has been a lifelong advocate for healthy rivers. He’s from Burnaby, BC—where I currently live—and was the head of the Fish, Wildlife, and Recreation Program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT). Over decades, he led the restoration of damaged urban streams, notably Guichon Creek in Burnaby, and his 50-year effort has been inspiring. Now, Guichon Creek is a thriving ecosystem for all living things! Mark’s passion for waterways has sparked community movements and led to the restoration of even more waterways, like Still Creek, Britannia Creek, and the heart of the Fraser River.
He founded BC Rivers Day in 1980, and brought the movement to a global stage by proposing the establishment of World Rivers Day to the United Nations in 2005. Since then, World Rivers Day is now celebrated by millions of people in up to 100 countries!
I had a great time attending events throughout my community and was lucky enough to connect with Mark at each one! He truly is a champion for rivers, and his passion is contagious. Here’s a recap of the events I attended:
Guichon Creek Day
On Wednesday, I headed to BCIT to celebrate the return of the fish at Guichon Creek. It was a lovely sunny afternoon filled with diverse and eager community members coming together through our shared love for waterways. Mark shared the story of how, on his first day as a faculty member at BCIT, he explored Guichon Creek and found a dead stream filled with garbage and debris. The next day, he met an elderly gentleman who had lived in the area for 80 years and recalled the creek’s past: full of fish, dotted with eagles, and regularly visited by bears. It’s incredible how that small moment, and the restoration of this little creek, has since grown into a global movement!
We took a guided tour with Mark, where he showed us sections of the creek now lush and green. Along the way, we were joined by all sorts of life, including the creek’s latest resident— a bear! It’s a real testament to the restoration work here that salmon, cutthroat trout, otters, and even bears have made their way back to this urban ecosystem
Paddling the Fraser River
On Rivers Day itself, I got to paddle along the majestic Fraser River with other water stewardship and conservation champions! We started in Fort Langley and paddled all the way to Coquitlam in Voyageur canoes, navigating the serene waters with lots of laughs and reflections. We spotted several herons, an otter, and even made some raccoon friends during our lunchtime break!
Paddling the Fraser River was a deeply insightful experience for me. Growing up in the Lower Mainland, I’ve always known the area, but I realized how much I’ve relied on roads and signs to navigate. Since joining Water Rangers, I’ve started connecting more with the waters and mountains that surround me, using them as my guide instead. It felt profound to paddle beneath the Golden Ears and Port Mann bridges—structures I’ve driven across countless times, never imagining I’d be on the water below. The day left me with a true sense of the Voyageur spirit and fresh inspiration to reflect on my own journey of exploration, collaboration, and commitment to this important cause.
RiverFest at the Fraser River Discovery Center
My final World Rivers Day event was attending RiverFest at the Fraser River Discovery Center in New Westminster. Here, our newest volunteer Valentina helped me booth as we engaged with families, educators, conservationists, and keeners alike about water quality testing and community science. The day was packed with celebrations, including cultural performances, music, speeches, and activities!
Connecting with people is one of my favorite parts of this work, and the day flew by, filled with interesting conversations, familiar faces, and new friends. Valentina and I collected water samples from English Bay, Burrard Inlet, and the Fraser River for folks to test. Folks were fascinated to see that conductivity was much higher in the Burrard Inlet and English Bay than in the Fraser River. People guessed it might be due to the TMX expansion or weather patterns, but the real reason? The inlet and bay are saltwater, while the Fraser is freshwater! It was a fun educational moment for people to learn more about the waters within our watershed. I wasn’t surprised that many—like me before my Fraser River paddle—mostly navigate by roads and highways, overlooking the vast network of water that flows through these lands.
World Rivers Day was a huge success this year, and I loved learning and connecting with so many incredible water champions. Mark truly is one drop that rippled into in a wave of action! His passion has sparked a global movement, and his life is a testament to how one person’s spirit can ignite a flame in others and bring people together to roll up their sleeves, organize, and care for the planet. My time at these events made me grateful to live and work on these unceded territories and was a humbling reminder to honor the land and work together to protect these precious waters that sustain us all.