By Kristen Mitchell, College of the Rockies (Youth Journalist)
 

The East Kootenay Regional Science Fair at Cranbrook’s College of the Rockies offered a perfect opportunity to inform the next generation about the importance of the Columbia River Treaty Review. Emily Eng and Ingrid Strauss from the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Natural Gas visited the Kootenays from Victoria to share information about the relevancy of the Treaty Review to the region. Armed with crosswords, pens and—most effective of all— lip balm, Eng and Strauss set up a booth and spent several days sharing information.

Over the two days Eng and Strauss spoke to close to 100 young people and a similar number of teachers and parents. “We’ve pretty much had a steady flow of kids go through the booth,” said Eng. “We’ve talked with students ages five through university age. We had some good conversations about things like habitat for wildlife and recreation, especially on Lake Koocanusa. A lot of the kids have been there swimming or camping so the chance to understand more about the reservoir really seemed to draw them in.”

Classes of students from grades 1 to 12 visited the science fair from throughout the Elk Valley and from as far away as Creston and Kimberley, which gave Eng and Strauss plenty of opportunity to engage on various levels. Eng observed that by grades seven or eight, youth were showing that they were really able to grasp the importance of the Columbia River Treaty. College of the Rockies students and parents and teachers of the visiting and exhibiting students were also interested in learning about the political, ecological and economic effects that any review decision could have on the area.
 

The Kootenay Regional Science Fair had a theme of “water cooperation,” which was a great starting point for discussion on the Treaty. Strauss and Eng were also able to converse with teachers who might be interested in teaching aspects of the Treaty to their classes.

“It’s been really fun to see how smart and engaged the kids are,” mentioned Eng. “They seemed excited when we mentioned that this is really a world renowned trans-boundary water management treaty. Things like that really make their eyes light up.”
 

Youth material about the Columbia River Treaty can be found at gov.bc.ca/columbiarivertreaty/youth-engagement/