Researchers study how B.C. should manage its water supply
When it comes to possible future water crises, B.C. is in a strong position — that is, if we begin talking about water management issues now.
“In Metro Vancouver, we have three large reservoirs that collect enough water to meet our summer demand,” said Steven Conrad, a Simon Fraser University doctoral student.
“But if we were to continue to have droughts and these kinds of years, I would expect water supply to be inadequate to meet our needs. So then what do we do?”
Conrad, who recently completed a study on drought and climate response in the Okanagan, is on the board of directors for the B.C. Water & Waste Association, and is the director of the American Water Works Association.
Along with other experts, Conrad will speak about water research at SFU Blue (the Wosk Centre for Dialogue, June 24).
The school is calling the event a “preamble” to the Canada Water Summit on June 25. Now in its sixth year, the Summit brings together leaders from different sectors to discuss a national sustainable water future.
Conrad will also work with the Pacific Water Research Centre, which is part of SFU’s Faculty of Environment, to help resolve increasing drought issues that are related to climate change, and to open up a dialogue about water-management issues.
“We can set a research agenda at SFU that will look toward these current and ongoing concerns that communities have,” Conrad said. “I expect the citizens of Prince George to have different concerns than Metro Vancouverites or people in Kelowna, and water research needs to respond accordingly.”
Last year, Conrad published a study on Okanagan farmers’ attitudes about water allocation. Farmers from Vernon to the U.S. border were given a list of options. “They were open to water trading, in some circumstances, with a preference for trading among themselves, with some groups looking to trade with other water users,” Conrad said. Allocation according to crop value, where individuals growing the most high-value crops would get the water first, was least preferred, he says.
“They wanted to work together so there would be a small amount of water reduction that every farmer would have to meet to allow them to strategize.”
Conrad has spent most of his professional and academic life working with communities that have not asked these kinds of questions until the last minute.
That’s what we’re seeing in California, he said.
“They’ve waited until they’re at a critical point of water shortage before asking individuals to cut back. Some Californians aren’t willing to cut back their water use. Then you get into a regulatory perspective.”
In B.C., we need to ask how prepared our water systems are for extreme weather events, such as floods and droughts.
“Can we deliver enough water for our growing demand, can we have programs and plans in place to work through the uncertainty that we expect?”
The current provincial Water Act is 100 years old. (A new Water Sustainability Act will come into effect in 2016.)
“We put systems in place thinking things are going to be stable,” Conrad said. “Now we realize that we’re going to have more ups and downs, and on a more frequent basis.”