Canada Water Week, a week-long celebration to raise the profile and understanding of water across Canada, begins on March 14.

On March 22, the event will culminate with World Water Day, and on this special date, the District of Invermere branch of Wildsight will welcome David Lavallee, who will present his film “White Water, Black Gold”.

The presentation will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Toby Theatre, following the Wildsight Invermere Annual General Meeting, which begins at 7:00 p.m.

The presentation will mark the first digital film to be shown at the Toby Theatre.

The feature-length investigative documentary follows Lavallee on his three-year journey across western Canada in search of answers about the activities of the world’s thirstiest oil industry: the oil sands.

For the past 15 years, Lavallee has worked as a hiking guide in the Columbia Icefields. In that time, he has noticed profound changes to the mountain landscapes. When he discovered that his province was growing quickly in an extremely water-intensive industry downstream of his beloved icefields, he set out on  a journey, from icefields to oilfields, and finds himself in the midst of a battle for Canada’s water.

“The film takes a look at an issue that impacts half of western Canada’s water,” said Heather Leschied, program manager at Wildsight.

On March 24 at Panorama Mountain Village, Wildsight will host “SOS: Save Our Snowpack”.

Jocelyn Hirose, a graduate of the University of Calgary who studies under Dr. Shawn Marshall, will give a presentation about her work monitoring the Illecillewaet Glacier in Glacier National Park, B.C., which is a major contributor to the Columbia River.

Following Hirose’s presentation, Teton Gravity Research’s film “Generations” will be screened, which depicts skiers’ and snowboarders’ perspective on climate change.

“Generations” was the winner at the 2009 Backcountry Ski Film Festival.

Wildsight will also be holding the Creek Monitoring Snapshot event at Windermere Creek on March 15.

The event begins at 2:00 p.m., and all interested in water quality monitoring are invited to attend.

For more information about Canada Water Week and to see other events happening across British Columbia, visit www.canadawaterweek.ca.