B.C.’s water management stuck in crisis mode
As hot, dry summer comes to an end, we need to stay focused on key issues
Saturday is World Rivers Day, an international event celebrating the planet’s watersheds. As British Columbians head to their home waters — with shoreline cleanups, riverside walks and paddling excursions on offer — this celebration is also a chance to consider the health and future of our most precious resource: fresh water.
At first glance, the endless days of sunshine over the past few months might have seemed an ideal B.C. summer. Yet for many — especially the thousands of wildfire evacuees forced from their homes — the lack of rain for weeks on end was hardly good news.
This year’s parched conditions harken back to 2015, when much of B.C. was pitched into a serious drought. Wells were sucked dry, reservoirs were dropping precariously, farmers were struggling with curtailed irrigation, and fish (and fisheries) were in distress.
Episodes of drought are becoming more severe and frequent, and are almost certainly becoming the new normal. Yet, with the first rains of fall, these stresses quickly fade in most people’s memories.
When it comes to water, B.C. is still largely operating in a crisisresponse mode. We need to kick out of the reflexive habit of “fret and then forget.” Fresh water is far too critical to our collective well-being to simply stand by and hope it will all work out.
Instead, we need to set up our communities, economies and ecosystems for success as the climate changes and freshwater impacts become increasingly common and damaging.
Crisis response does not have to be the name of the game when it comes to fresh water. In fact, after leading the University of Victoria’s POLIS Water Sustainability Project for over 15 years, we know of no examples where a path to sustainable resource management does not directly involve prioritizing water as a central issue in decisions. From New Zealand to South Africa and even right here across North America, many jurisdictions have leading practices that can — and indeed must — inform B.C.’s approach.
Water is needed to float the new B.C. government’s priorities and promises, including three clearly identified core areas of focus: rethinking land use, bridging the rural-urban divide, and advancing a clear, cross-government vision of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
First, land-use planning in the province has largely ignored water, despite the fact that all major resource development — from energy and mining to forestry and agriculture — requires substantial volumes of fresh water and, in turn, affects water quality and watershed health.
Even less attention is paid to the cumulative impacts of multiple land-based activities on our rivers, lakes and groundwater. Water shortages and pollution erode community well-being and the sustainability of local economies. Integrated, water-centric land-use planning is the necessary and critical foundation for resilient watersheds and vibrant communities and economies.
Second, water is also a way for the new government to begin bridging rural and urban divides. Residents in our big cities, such as Victoria and Vancouver, benefit from well-managed, world-class water supply systems. But many British Columbians — from the Hullcar Valley near Armstrong to Shawnigan Lake and many other regions — have far less confidence that their home aquifers and watersheds will provide reliable drinking water.
All British Columbians deserve their drinking water sources to be properly protected and well managed. By prioritizing water sustainability in a broader effort to create a sustainable economy, the new government can demonstrate that it is taking rural concerns seriously. A whole-of-province approach means ensuring protected drinking water sources and attention to water as priority everywhere.
The new government has also directed each of its ministers to take action to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Fresh water — a vital, shared resource holding significant cultural, spiritual and economic values for Indigenous Peoples — is an opportune place to build new relationships and innovative forms of collaborative, consentbased decision-making.
Just in time for World Rivers Day, autumn rains are bringing respite to our thirsty landscapes. But, as the first welcoming raindrops fall, instead of being lulled back into complacency, let the change of season be a call to action, especially for our new leaders, to take concrete steps to protect our precious fresh water as the lynchpin of a sustainable economy and bridge to a prosperous future for our province.