I have been away sick for more than a week, but I'm back now.

If you are new to this blog, you may not know that the Navigable Waters Protection Act (NWPA) was amended during the recent federal budget process without any consultation with the Canadian people - it was slipped into the budget and forced through.

The Senate has agreed to

Summer's here - you can feel it in the air! Hooray for summer!!

Undercurrents is moving to summer hours (open 7 days a week!) starting on Sunday April 19th. They are:

Monday to Friday	10-7
Saturday	9-6
Sunday & holidays	11-5

Alberta Water Quality

Did you know you can help create a picture of water quality in Alberta watersheds by participating in the free Alberta Water Quality Awareness Program?

Register online by April 30th and you will be sent a free water quality testing kit. Then just complete a water test of your local Alberta waterways anytime between May 1 and August 31. Post your test results by August 31st.  It is that easy!

The kit includes everything you need, including direction, to do 4 simple tests of your local waterway and record the results. Last year, over 3000 people just like you and me tested and reported on 645 different waterways across Alberta. Wow!

For teachers or paddling clubs, they offer a super-sized test kit for 50 students/people. It is a fun and educational experience for a small family or a big class/group.

To learn more, or to order your kit, visit www.awqa.ca.

And remember, June 5 2009 is Alberta Water Quality Awareness Day.  

In today's Fast Forward magazine, there is an excellent article about the proposed changes to the Navigable Waters Protection Act (NWPA).

You can view it by clicking here.

Here is the latest on the Navigable Waters Protection Act (NWPA) - right now the omnibus "Budget Implementation Act (C-10)" is being jointly considered by the federal Transportation and Finance Committees. We expect a decision as early as next week!

The consensus opinion of those opposed to this federal attempt to gut our right to navigation is that the proposed changes to the NWPA should be removed from the omnibus bill and dealt with separately, in public. To effect this change, we need a swelling of public support. So ... I am asking you to take one minute, cut & paste the email below into your email program and send it to the email addresses below - they are the MPs on the two committees.

If you really want to help, send this to your friends and ask them to help too. Thanks!

URGENT ALERT
Friday February 6, 2009

GOVERNMENT INTRODUCED NWPA AND OTHER CHANGES TODAY
UNDER ITS BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION ACT

Under the guise of the 2009 Budget Implementation Act, the federal
government has introduced amendments to the Navigable Waters Protection
Act (NWPA) that will have serious negative impacts on both the acient
public right of navigation in Canada and on the environment.

It has become clear in the recent federal budget and through post-budget comments from members of Harper's cabinet that they plan to gut the Navigable Waters Protection Act (NWPA).

This is a very serious issue that affects all paddlers across Canada.

The feds would like to eliminate

Clayton Benoit and Rod Tremblay recently completed a 3,850 km cross-Canada (south to north!) expedition by bicycle and canoe. Beginning at the Canada/USA border they rode 3,128 kilometres north to Dawson City and then canoed 726 kilometres north along the Blackstone, Peel and Mackenzie Rivers to the Mackenzie River Delta, arriving 2 months after they began.

Happy New Year everyone!!

Just before Christmas, I learned that Bending Branches has bought out AquaBound, a Canadian paddle manufacturer of the highest regard. All sales, manufacturing and customer support will be moving from Surrey, BC to Osceola, Wisconsin, USA.

According to the press release , Joe Matuska (AquaBound owner) will stay involved for 2 years where he will be focused on ensuring a smooth transition and continued paddle design. Apparently, AquaBound will continue as a separate brand, with the same dealers and a separate sales force. The new company will achieve cost savings by operating one manufacturing facility and one office. AquaBound had unused capacity in their moulding machines, which Bending Branches is going to capitalize on.

24 Canadian staff are losing their jobs.

My friend (and our webmaster-extra-fantastic), David H. Johnson, tipped me off to a recently released youtube video about cold water immersion. It is a fascinating 10 minutes about a series of experiments done by the US Coast Guard. Thanks to them for throwing volunteers into cold water (with lots of safety in place) so you can see the effects of the cold on these volunteers. In a very short time, swimming is impossible (without a PFD) and the volunteers would have surely drowned, if not for the safety staff in the water with them.