Groundwater dis-contents

Before you make a big purchase, you want to know how much money is in your bank account (I hope it’s flush in there). Groundwater is like an underground bank account, yet we currently manage it with a blindfold on. We lack a full understanding of how much we have or how withdrawals affect the health of our surface rivers, lakes and streams.

Over 1 million British Columbians depend on clean, fresh flow of wells, aquifers and underground rivers, and this number is growing. Stored groundwater could be a critical part of adapting to a new reality of water insecurity that comes with extreme weather, reduced snowmelt and receding glaciers. Now more than ever, we need a balanced water table to ensure we don’t become the next California or Cape Town. 

Across BC watersheds, fresh water—the foundation of the province’s ecosystems, communities, and economies—is under growing pressure. Climate change and shifting hydrological conditions are rapidly ushering British Columbia into an increasingly uncertain water future. - POLIS (2016) Top Five Water Challenges

Although BC’s most powerful water law is priming water managers to do a better job than ever before to account for and manage groundwater judiciously, a scan of recent events across our province suggests that inadequate knowledge and a lack of regulation continue to allow for the depletion of this precious asset.

Recently, K’ómoks First Nation and the community of Merville in Comox Valley on Vancouver Island were caught off guard by an approved application to withdraw groundwater from their local aquifer. A conditional water licence was issued by the Province of BC to allow the extraction of up to 10,000 litres of freshwater per day for a commercial bottling operation. This is like issuing a stack of pre-written cheques to withdraw daily from a bank account without knowing the balance.

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This blog is the first of a 3-part series on flooding in Canada.

It’s springtime in Canada. For many, spring brings a sense of relief that the cold, short days are behind us and gratitude for the warm sun on our skin and the sweet fragrance of blossoming trees. However, this contentment may also be marred with ambivalence: worry that the wet days of spring may precipitate flooding. 

And flooding it is. It’s only early May and already there’s flooding in the east and flooding in the west.

It is often said that water knows no political boundaries. The same waters that float a canoe, provide water for deer to drink, and for fish to swim. However, the political pen can fail to account for the full value of rivers.

Truth has become an elusive commodity in the era of “fake news”. What used to be scientific fact is now open to speculation. This trend has extended to Canada’s federal environmental laws - in particular to protecting the public’s right of navigation and navigable waters. Navigation safety requires protection from physical obstructions in the water, but also from the dumping of harmful substances, or the dewatering of navigable waters. Federal decisions about projects obstructing navigation would impact the physical, biological, and chemical function of water flows. The link between the environment and navigable water protections should not be up for dispute.

Water quality affecting the safety of a paddler will no doubt impact wildlife. One need not look far to find examples. The Boreal Caribou are a threatened species whose habitat has been put at risk by human land-use and climate change. Their populations have declined across Canada as the construction of linear developments force their migration further north. Caribou have been called the “canary in the coal mine” of Canada’s boreal ecosystems. Coincidentally, the Reindeer River in northern Saskatchewan, along with many of Canada’s northern rivers, is also threatened by unregulated development.

When it comes to protecting Canada’s rivers and lakes we are all in the same canoe. Together we have nominated over 200 unlisted waterways for protection, wrote to over 110 MPs, and requested meetings with elected representatives to ask that they restore protections for navigable waters. But there is more to do!

That is why, earlier this year, we reached out to our most active supporters to learn how you want to continue to engage and mobilize. And you responded with opinions, hopes, and priorities for the protection of navigable waters.  

Environmental law reforms are moving quickly through the House of Commons. We have a short window of time over the next few weeks to inspire our elected MPs, and members of the Environment and Sustainable Development Committee, to strengthen proposed legislation and stand up for Canada’s iconic waterways. Read below to learn how we are already beginning to integrate your suggestions into our campaign to restore protections for all navigable waters.