STREAM-CABIN trainings taking place across Canada this summer
Over the last three months, the STREAM/CABIN program has been gearing up for the field season. LLC held the first CABIN/STREAM training of the year in Nelson, BC on June 15th and 16th where we were able to certify our two new Program Assistants with participants from the Elk River Alliance and the University of British Columbia. LLC has also been working to plan eight additional upcoming CABIN/STREAM trainings in:
- Rocky Mountain House, AB,
- Kenora, Thunder Bay, Ottawa, Ont
- Fort Nelson, Blueberry River First Nations, Invermere, BC
- Whitehorse, YT
The training sessions required pre-registration by communities for participation and will take place through July, August and September of 2021.
The LLC STREAM team took a Level 3 Swiftwater Rescue Course in Squamish, B.C. to learn rescue techniques for field workers. Stay tuned for our two Summer Intern Program Assistants’ experiences learning CABIN field techniques and Swift Water Rescue dives for this field season.
To date, 884 samples have been collected from across Canada, 54 reports produced and sent back to community groups and three multi-year reports.
CABIN Data Entry Support
LLC is working with communities and participants of the STREAM project to enter data into the CABIN database in order to ensure that data already collected is available in a usable format. We are currently wrapping up the 2020 data entry and will follow up with partners for QA/QC.
Rocky Mountain Eastern Slopes Monitoring Collaborative
LLC has co-hosted the Rocky Mountain Eastern Slopes Monitoring Collaborative in order to collaboratively develop stream health assessment programs for each sub-watershed of the Eastern Slopes using the CABIN protocols. The goal is to eventually build capacity and contribute samples to the development of a CABIN reference model, which is particularly relevant in light of proposed resource development in this area and potential water source/watershed impacts.
This field season, LLC will lead a training in the North Saskatchewan Watershed in partnership with the North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance to build monitoring capacity for academia, First Nations and watershed planning and advisory councils (WPACs) along the Eastern Slopes. This course will include the beginning of the CABIN train-the-trainer process with the Oldman Watershed Council shadowing the course. Thanks to our funders at the Alberta Ecotrust for making this opportunity possible. 
The Eastern Slopes collaborative meets once a month to discuss CABIN training and monitoring. If you are interested in water monitoring along the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, please contact Program Manager Raegan Mallinson at raegan@livinglakescanada.ca.
STREAM Spring Webinar Series
We want to thank all of our STREAM project partners who joined us for the spring STREAM Webinar Series. Thank you to those who presented, those who listened in, and those who were new to this space who came to learn about the STREAM project. We had great presentations from the following partners:
- Introduction to STREAM: University of Guelph, Environment and Climate Change Canada, World Wildlife Fund-Canada, Living Lakes Canada
- Introduction to CABIN: Environment and Climate Change Canada and the University of New Brunswick (no recording available)
- STREAM Users – Featured Case Studies: Elk River Alliance, Ghost Watershed Alliance Society, Oldman Watershed Council
- Indigenous-led STREAM projects: Dena Kayeh Institute, Environmental Stewardship Initiative & Nico Ridge Consulting, Blueberry River First Nations
The recordings can be found below or visit the STREAM Webinar Series playlist on the LLC YouTube channel.
