MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE
B.C. government will continue to sell province’s water for paltry sum
The B.C. government will stick to its previously announced plan to charge large-scale industrial water users and water bottling companies $2.25 per million litres four months after Premier Christy Clark promised to review the rates.
In February, the provincial government unveiled a new water pricing structure that will, for the first time in B.C.’s history, charge corporations and industries that use groundwater.
Outrage about the price structure, from the public and the opposition NDP, built steadily over the following months.
One online petition attracted more than 225,000 signatures from citizens calling on the government to stop allowing “corporate freeloaders from extracting our water for next to nothing.”
In July, Clark replied to a question about the petition, saying: “We are going to go back and look at the pricing for the big water bottlers in the province and make sure that that’s appropriate. What we’ve heard is people say they don’t think it’s appropriate.”
The same day, Environment Minister Mary Polak also acknowledged the petition, and said: “I’ve asked my staff to take a look at the concerns that we’ve been hearing and see if there’s any way we can address that in the rate structure.”
Last week, responding to an inquiry from The Province, a Ministry of Environment spokesman confirmed that when B.C.’s Water Sustainability Act comes into effect on Jan. 1, they will use the previously announced rate structure of $2.25 per million litres.
When The Province passed that information on to NDP environment critic Spencer Chandra Herbert last week, he said he was “surprised” and “very disappointed.”
“I feel as bamboozled as the public that cheered when (Clark) said she was going to act,” said Chandra Herbert, who hoped the review promised in July would lead to increased rates before Jan. 1.
In an email last week to The Province, the Ministry of Environment spokesman said the government “acknowledges the public concerns about the new water fees and rental rates. The new rates were established following a detailed review of water pricing that included the principle of cost recovery — that the new fees and rentals would recover the costs of implementing the WSA including groundwater regulation.”
Over the WSA’s first year of implantation, the government “will be monitoring the actual costs of delivery and will be further reviewing the rates it charges for water at that time,” the spokesman said.
Chandra Herbert said: “It seems to be, at least to me, a pretty big flipflop.
“In July, under intense public pressure, with massive petitions and people demanding action, the government said they would act,” he said. “Now we’re in November, and nothing of the sort.”
Chandra Herbert criticized the government for what he described as a “classic B.C. Liberals’ modus operandi.”
“When the public is outraged, you mouth the words claiming you get it, and then hope they forget about it, and then delete all evidence it ever happened,” he said.
Liz McDowell, the campaigns director at sumofus.org, started the online petition that drew hundreds of thousands of signatures and caught the attention of Clark and Polak in the summer.
Upon learning that the rates would not change before Jan. 1, McDowell said: “If this is the case, it is very disappointing that the government has sided with industrial users like Nestle and is refusing to protect our water.”
McDowell said she will continue to encourage the government to review and adjust the rates, adding: “We will be holding the government to their word on this.”
The issue of funding the WSA is at the heart of a new report released Monday by a group of four experts from the University of Victoria.
The report, titled Awash with Opportunity: Ensuring the Sustainability of B.C.’s New Water Law, says one of two critical prerequisites for the success of the WSA is ensuring sustainable funding for resources.
Co-author Oliver Brandes, leader of the UVic’s Polis Water Sustainability Project, said he commends the provincial government for committing to review the rates during the WSA’s first year.
“This is a good first step. However, it is obvious that more will be needed to ensure sufficient resources to fully implement the new legislation,” he said.
Brandes encouraged the government to conduct a thorough review of the WSA’s revenues and costs as early as next summer, and adjust the pricing as needed.
“Those benefiting from the use of B.C.’s waters need to pay for this privilege,” Brandes said. “Continuing to review the water rentals pricing is the only way to ensure B.C. is not parched for resources to get the job done, on the ground and in the water.”