Danielle Paydli

BC Organizer, Canadian Freshwater Alliance. Located in Ladysmith, BC

Danielle’s water story: My neighborhood water source, located just minutes from my home on Vancouver Island, flows to a beautiful waterfall called Stocking Creek Falls. When my family and I first moved to our new home, in the heat of summer, I was ecstatic to hike to the falls. I convinced my family to go on a ‘fun’ hike to see this breathtaking wonder. When we finally arrived after numerous mistaken ‘shortcuts’, sore and tired, we saw an anticlimactic trickle down the side of a rock! However, over the course of the next few months, following the rainy season, we watched it build to a powerful, gorgeous waterfall. I feel this has mirrored my personal experience within my new community. It takes time to build relationships, understand the unique culture of a community and build a life somewhere new but it is very worth it. I’m passionate about protecting our waters because I am passionate about community. Communities are built around water – it is our source of life and it is what truly connects us.