Trouble in the Headwaters: the hidden impacts of clear-cut logging in B.C.
We’re thrilled to present a new documentary that follows a scientist on a mission to prove industrial forestry is implicated in a cycle of flooding, landslides and drought
The film Trouble in the Headwaters documents sprawling clearcuts in the Kettle River watershed, as large as 600 hectares. Snow accumulates on clearcuts and melts quickly, unshaded by trees, which contributes to large floods.
Photo: Daniel J. Pierce / Ramshackle Pictures
Trouble in the Headwaters, a powerful 25-minute documentary by filmmaker Daniel J. Pierce, explores the root causes behind the devastating 2018 floods in Grand Forks, B.C. More than 100 families were displaced and millions of dollars were spent on flood infrastructure — yet floods continue to threaten the region. So what’s going on?
The film — which you can watch in full below! — follows Dr. Younes Alila, a professor of forest hydrology at the University of British Columbia, as he investigates the upstream impacts of clear-cut logging in the Kettle River watershed. With compelling field footage and scientific insight, The Narwhal presents a documentary that reveals how loss of forest cover has triggered a cycle of flooding, landslides and drought — transforming the landscape and endangering communities downstream.
“What is happening in the Kettle River basin is typical of what has been happening and will continue to happen for decades in other drainages across all of B.C.,” Alila told a crowd at the film’s global premiere in Victoria on June 12. Clear-cut logging in the Kettle basin, like elsewhere in the province, is extensive: two-thirds of the watershed has been harvested in the last 30 years.
“I think of the 2021 atmospheric river: the flooding of Merritt, the flooding of Princeton, the landslide on the Duffey highway,” Pierce added. “If you sort of pull on the thread and you look upstream, it’s the same picture in all of these places. The big Chilcotin landslide from last summer — if you look upstream across the whole Chilcotin plateau: dramatic forest cover loss. So, yeah, this is such a bigger story than we had time to get into in this film.”
Carol Linnitt, co-founder of The Narwhal, left, led a discussion with filmmaker Daniel J. Pierce and researcher Younes Alila following the premiere screening of Trouble in the Headwaters on June 12. Photo: Kathryn Juricic / The Narwhal
Alila came to forest science in the 1990s as an outsider. From his experience in urban hydrology and as a professional engineer, he saw cracks in the way scientists have studied the impacts of clearcuts on floods.
Climate change is responsible for some of the increase in flooding. But decades of research by Alila and his peers suggests the role of industrial forestry is significant, and has long been underestimated and overlooked. He spent years investigating the problem with the existing methodologies and developing a new paradigm — one that actually accounts for how the cumulative effects of clearcutting are increasing the frequency of major flooding events in B.C.
His published findings, including a landmark 2009 paper, sparked heated debates in the pages of scientific journals. But Alila came to realize that convincing his peers was only part of the battle. After the 2021 atmospheric river that caused devastating floods in the Fraser Valley and elsewhere, he decided it was time to speak up — publicly.
“I’m on a mission, and I’m advocating for what I think is the only defensible science that should guide management,” he said.
Investigating problems. Exploring solutions
The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for a weekly dose of independent journalism.
Investigating problems. Exploring solutions
The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for a weekly dose of independent journalism.
Alila sees hope in ongoing class-action lawsuits: people impacted by floods in Grand Forks, Chemainus and elsewhere in B.C. are suing governments and forestry companies, arguing that allowing overharvesting of trees contributed to the harm.
“I think we’re moving into an era of decades in B.C. where we’re going to see more and more of these legal actions against the forest industry and government,” Alila said.
As for Pierce, whose film was made possible with support from the Sitka Foundation and the Science Media Centre of Canada, he says he wants to see a massive investment in the health of forests across the country. “Right now, we’re spending untold billions of dollars, year after year, putting out wildfires and responding to floods and responding to these disasters — and the costs that are coming down the line are absolutely gargantuan,” he said.
If we put half that amount into restoring the ability of forests to reduce floods and mitigate wildfire risks, “not only would that pay dividends for generations to come, but we could put so many people to work in an effort like that,” Pierce said. “Workers need to see themselves in that story, and communities need to see themselves protected in that story.”
“Yes, it’s going to be a massive investment, but that investment will pay off, and it pales in comparison to what we’re going to be paying if we just keep doing the same thing that we’re doing now.”
Another year of keeping a close watch
Here at The Narwhal, we don’t use profit, awards or pageviews to measure success. The thing that matters most is real-world impact — evidence that our reporting influenced citizens to hold power to account and pushed policymakers to do better.
And in 2024, our stories were raised in legislatures across the country and cited by citizens in their petitions and letters to politicians.
In Alberta, our reporting revealed Premier Danielle Smith made false statements about the controversial renewables pause. In Manitoba, we proved that officials failed to formally inspect a leaky pipeline for years. And our investigations on a leaked recording of TC Energy executives were called “the most important Canadian political story of the year.”
Here at The Narwhal, we don’t use profit, awards or pageviews to measure success. The thing that matters most is real-world impact — evidence that our reporting influenced citizens to hold power to account and pushed policymakers to do better.
And in 2024, our stories were raised in legislatures across the country and cited by citizens in their petitions and letters to politicians.
In Alberta, our reporting revealed Premier Danielle Smith made false statements about the controversial renewables pause. In Manitoba, we proved that officials failed to formally inspect a leaky pipeline for years. And our investigations on a leaked recording of TC Energy executives were called “the most important Canadian political story of the year.”
The land just outside the powwow arbour is filled with overgrown prairie grasses, patches of invasive plants and soil along the riverbank that is just...
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Your access to our journalism is free, always. Sign up for our newsletter for investigative reporting on the natural world in B.C. — and across Canada — you won’t find anywhere else.
4 min. read
