A Strathcona Regional District director wants to protect the area’s groundwater in the face of climate change.
At the Electoral Area Services meeting on March 15, Electoral Area C director Robyn Mawhinney introduced a motion to ensure her area’s limited groundwater was reserved for the people who live in the community, not for commercial or other uses.
Mawhinney’s area is prone to the effects of drought, as Quadra Island does not have the high mountain snow-covered areas that feed watersheds on Vancouver Island. However, she said that conditions on the Island also influenced her report.
“Across B.C. we are witnessing climate change upending traditional and historic weather patterns,” she said. “We don’t have to look far to see the effects. In 2022, the Campbell and Puntledge rivers were in stage five drought until mid-December and an ‘unprecedented late summer drought’ according to a BC Hydro news release.
In October, Stephen Watson told the Mirror that there had not been a “normal” month of rain for a year for the Campbell and Puntledge river systems. While the rain did arrive around Dec. 24, Watson said even this was “unprecedented”
RELATED: BC Hydro’s operational and climate change resiliency
“The deadliest weather event in Canada to date, according to the BC Coroner’s Service, was the heat dome when there were 619 heat-related deaths… I believe it is our role as leaders to look ahead and plan,” she said. “Ensuring water resources are conserved and managed for the benefit of residents, human and wild, is something we … must take initiative on.”
Mawhinney’s motion was to get staff to look into ways of limiting water bottling, bulk water sales and groundwater extraction. Directors from areas B and D also expressed interest in being included in the motion.
The intent behind the motion was to ensure that the areas’ limited resources are available for the people who live there, and not for making a profit, Mawhinney explained.
“On islands such as Quadra Island there are some people who have wells and who run out of water in the summer,” she said. “I didn’t want this to be limiting the opportunity for — say we do have a water system that is put in in the cove — for that water to be able to be shared in a way that made sense with community members who are in need of water.”
“I do know that groundwater extraction licenses are managed by the province, but I’m curious what influence we as a regional district can have through zoning or other tools available to limit groundwater extraction water bottling or bulk water sales,” she said.
SRD staff will report back on Mawhinney’s motion in a later meeting.
RELATED: BC Hydro taking ‘additional steps’ to protect grid after string of U.S. attacks
marc.kitteringham@campbellrivermirror.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter