Burnaby will install a display at Fraser Foreshore Park celebrating its World Rivers Day legacy

The following is a letter to Burnaby residents from Burnaby resident Mark Angelo, founder and chair of World Rivers Day and chair emeritus of the Rivers Institute at BCIT. Last updated Oct. 2, 2026.

Burnaby shows that a growing urban city can protect and improve its waterways at the same time. Many cities around the world have lost the creeks and streams that once flowed through them. As communities expanded, waterways were put into culverts, paved over and forgotten. Burnaby took a different path. Thanks in part to its long-standing Open Watercourse Policy, roughly 70 per cent of the streams that existed here 125 years ago still exist today. I believe Burnaby, the first local government to proclaim Rivers Day, can be an example of how growth and environmental stewardship can go hand in hand. As populations grow and living spaces shrink, streams and access to nature matter more than ever to people’s quality of life.

Few cities can point to the natural assets Burnaby has: the Fraser and Brunette rivers, Deer Lake, Burnaby Lake, Burnaby Mountain and about 90 waterways flowing throughout the city. My connection to Burnaby goes back more than five decades. I came to BCIT in the early 1970s to help establish its new Fish and Wildlife Program. I went on to spend my career teaching there and working alongside generations of students. I remain connected to the institution as a faculty emeritus, and was deeply honoured to recently receive an honorary doctorate from BCIT.

Long before Rivers Day existed, I had a simple idea. Moving water captivated me as a boy. I loved exploring creeks and streams, turning over rocks to look for insects and discovering the abundance of life they supported. As a teenager, I took a four-day rafting trip down Montana’s Blackfoot River. By the end, I knew I wanted to spend my life trying to protect rivers. After coming to British Columbia, which I often visited in childhood, I kept thinking how fortunate we are to live in a place defined by great rivers. I wondered how wonderful it would be to have a day celebrating the beauty and value of our rivers and the importance of looking after them. That idea became Rivers Day, first celebrated in 1980 with my friends at the Outdoor Recreation Council.

Many of the earliest Rivers Day events took place at Fraser Foreshore Park in Burnaby. We organized them with the City and BCIT to celebrate the natural, cultural and recreational values of our waterways. We also wanted to raise awareness of the pressures they face and the need to protect and restore them. Just as important, we wanted people to connect with local waterways. People who learn about a nearby stream or river are more likely to become attached to it and ultimately help protect it.

Rivers Day grew in popularity across British Columbia during the 1980s. Then a bigger possibility emerged. When the United Nations launched its Water for Life Decade initiative in 2005, I thought a World Rivers Day would be a natural fit. If Rivers Day could inspire people across British Columbia, perhaps it could inspire people elsewhere, too. Turning the idea into reality was difficult. For months, we approached UN agencies, governments and organizations around the world. The idea gradually gained traction, and eventually we received the UN and global support we were seeking. I was thrilled when we got the green light, then realized the hard work was only beginning: we still needed people, organizations and communities around the world to take part. The task was daunting at first, but more and more people embraced the idea over time. One country became several, then dozens. Today, World Rivers Day involves more than 100 countries, thousands of events and millions of participants.

Along England’s River Thames, World Rivers Day has grown into a festival lasting weeks. Nigeria holds major celebrations involving entire communities. The Bangladesh River Foundation organizes large-scale events and symposiums. Schools around the world take part with art projects, essays and educational programs. Communities organize cleanups, habitat restoration projects and paddling events. European river cruise companies now mark World Rivers Day with onboard programming for passengers.

I am especially proud that the roots of this global celebration can be traced to British Columbia, the Fraser watershed, BCIT and Burnaby. The announcement establishing World Rivers Day took place at BCIT in Burnaby. Many speakers at the event highlighted the need to protect rivers that remain healthy and to restore those damaged in the past. Guichon Creek is one of the clearest examples of what restoration can achieve.

When I first arrived at BCIT, Guichon Creek ran through part of the campus. On my first day, I was disappointed by what I saw: the creek was polluted, badly damaged and stripped of streamside vegetation. The next day, I met an elderly man who had lived beside it for most of his life. He told me about the creek he had known as a child, with salmon, trout, otters, eagles and abundant life. Listening to him, I wondered whether we could bring the creek back to what it had been.

Students, staff, volunteers, BCIT, the City of Burnaby and many others set out to do just that. Over the years, they removed tonnes of garbage and debris, addressed pollution, planted thousands of trees and shrubs, and corrected barriers to fish passage. A new fishway at Cariboo Dam, culvert improvements and more recent restoration work all helped reconnect the creek system. Gradually, the creek came back to life. Last fall, salmon returned to spawn throughout the watershed and made their way onto BCIT property. To me, Guichon Creek shows that nature can heal itself if we give it a chance. It is also a powerful example of what a community can accomplish when it commits to restoring and reconnecting nature.

That is one reason I am pleased that a new World Rivers Day commemorative display recognizing Burnaby’s contribution is being installed at Fraser Foreshore Park next month. It could hardly be in a more fitting location. The Fraser is one of the planet’s great rivers. The Fraser foreshore, together with Burnaby Lake, Deer Lake, the Brunette River and our many creeks and streams, tells the story of the importance of waterways to Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities throughout Burnaby’s history.

The display recognizes Burnaby’s role in a global movement, but it should also remind us of the responsibility we all share going forward. As Burnaby continues to grow, I hope we keep protecting the waterways we have while looking for opportunities to restore, reclaim and rewild those damaged in the past. I also want to recognize Burnaby’s streamkeepers and community volunteers. Fifty years ago, there were very few stream stewardship groups in British Columbia. Today, Burnaby is fortunate to have one of the strongest streamkeeper networks anywhere. When I visit other cities, I often see waterways that have been buried, paved over and lost. Burnaby chose a different path. If we stay on it by protecting parks, restoring streams, improving fish passage and reconnecting habitats, Burnaby can continue to lead and remain an example of how cities and nature can thrive together.