The water systems in the Cowichan Valley Regional District are “generally” in good shape currently, but some of the smaller systems need support, according to Jeff Moore, the district’s senior environmental analyst.
Moore was giving an update on the district’s drinking water and watershed-protection program to the CVRD’s committee of the whole at its meeting on March 27 when Saltair/Gulf Islands director Jesse McClinton asked how the region compares to other jurisdictions in regards to water quality and quantity.
“Do you see any red flags that we should be paying immediate attention to?” he asked.
Moore said that with many different water systems in the CVRD, it’s hard to give a single answer to the question.
RELATED STORY: WATER SYSTEMS IN COWICHAN REGION IN CRITICAL SHAPE, WATERSHED BOARD WARNS
He said water issues vary across the region, depending on where the water comes from.
“In other jurisdictions where all the water comes from a single large reservoir up in the mountains, it’s very easy to understand how much water is available, but we have dozens of small water systems spread across the region,” Moore said.
“Some of our water systems, like in Saltair, do come from surface-water systems, including Stocking Lake, so it’s pretty easy to understand that system, but much of our water actually comes from ground water, including most of our larger community systems. Outside of the community-water systems, most residents rely on their own individual wells.”
Moore said it’s trickier to get a bigger picture of the individual wells because each one has their own issues, and they are connected to the issues related to the aquifer that they draw water from.
RELATED STORY: LOCALS CELEBRATE AS PROVINCE COMMITS $14 MILLION TO REPLACE COWICHAN LAKE WEIR
“On a broad brush across the whole region, the larger water systems are saying they are in pretty good shape and there seems to be a decent amount of water available,” he said.
“But there are definitely some exceptions where we’ve had a number of our smaller systems require us to truck in water from neighbouring systems when we were in real drought conditions. And then outside of the CVRD systems, we are all aware of huge pressures on water supplies, particularly on the Koksilah, Yellow Point and other areas, where there’s development pressures and there’s definitely not enough water to meet all these demands.”
Lake Cowichan Mayor Tim McGonigle, who is chair of the committee of the whole, said water, like the air shed, has no municipal boundaries and it’s uniquely shared throughout the region, and the quality and quantity of that water is imperative for good health and good growth in the community.
“We need to identify those natural assets that could be included within a purchase opportunity to protect the water quality and quantity within those regions that are developing,” he said.