Salt Spring Island Watershed Protection Alliance
The Groundwater Well Monitoring Pilot project has begun and equipment will be installed during the month of July for a 12 month period in locations that represent recharge zones and discharge zones for the island’s four major bedrock groundwater units (also known loosely as “aquifers”).
Look for public reporting and project update in the fall at SSIWPA meetings and Local Trust Committee.
The Islands Trust has created a short film to demonstrate the inter-connections between watershed protection through sustainable land use practices, healthy sustainable freshwater resources and healthy communities.
Click here.
Water is abundant in winter on Salt Spring Island. Most of the time. Yet, even with “warmer, wetter winters” in current climate trend reports, autumn, winter and spring dry spells can significantly impact water availability during summer droughts and ability for surface and deep groundwater storage to recover.
At the February 2018 SSIWPA meeting, North Salt Spring Waterworks staff reported that February rainfall has been less than 50% of the seasonal average and a month after reaching full capacity, Maxwell Lake dropped below the level of the weir. Despite these facts, the other extreme was also observed: St. Mary Lake reached the highest level ever recorded in January of 2018, likely due to extreme volumes of precipitation over short periods of time in December and January.
Droughts and more water during rain events are the new normal.
It is important to plan ahead for drought.
Residents of water-constrained populations around the globe have taken measures, many of which involve locally-relevant water conservation requirements and strategies.
In just three years (2015-2018), four million residents of Cape Town South Africa have reduced water consumption by a whopping 50%.
In California, urban water conservation across the board was mandated in 2015, and many lessons learned have added to resiliency in both urban and also more rural and vulnerable communities, according to this report by the Public Policy Institute of California.
The Capital Regional District and North Salt Spring Waterworks District both employ staged water restrictions that match the level of drought. These tools and broadcast public messaging provide early mechanisms that mandate restricted usage in these districts.
Here are some tips for conserving water in the Gulf Islands:
Given the climate realities we are facing globally, taking action now to modify personal water usage is an opportunity to contribute positively.
Your actions can keep water in the environment where it can be available to wildlife, trees and botanical communities – restoring ecological checks and balances on which our human communities rely.
More info: http://www.northsaltspringwaterworks.ca/technical-information/conservation/
Heat waves and droughts. Flooding and extreme events. These are the headlines – and a large part of the reality of climate change.
Mitigating these climate change effects includes building water resiliency faster, and more effectively, than ever before, in every type of community. Water resiliency means green infrastructure that matches the setting and behavioural change built on awareness, adaptive tools and incentives, and accurate information.
In urban settings the evidence shows that infrastructure needs to shift – pavement needs to give way to sinking and soaking water – i.e. being a sponge. It is not enough to plan and to talk about becoming sponge-like. In cities around the globe where sponge-technology is underway, retrofits need to be implemented, and new development needs to take different shape, one that mimics “nature” more closely than it does a “concrete Mecca”.
In B. C., Vancouver is implementing the Greenest City Action Plan where targets are being achieved: reduced water consumption, increased public awareness about water, and higher water quality results. How much does the Vancouver Greenest City Action Plan consider stormwater and resiliency in the face of 7% more water due to climate shifts? Compared to Berlin, Vancouver is not yet on the path to the sponge city that it could become. And, although Vancouver is not Capetown, the water scarcity reality in the Western United States is very close to home for coastal communities in B.C. It is time for Vancouver to become more sponge-like.
What about rural communities? In B.C., water resilience in rural communities has grown over the last decade thanks to increasing multi-stakeholder group efforts: stewardship groups, and a more expansive and integrated approach to watershed management that crosses political boundaries, integrates social, economic, and environmental capital, and involves local activists, government staff, and decision-makers as well as regional level science and monitoring.
Here is a drought-preparedness summary released two years ago for B.C.
When compared with other parts of Canada (e.g. Newfoundland), British Columbia shows promise for shifting from talk to action where water resilient actions are concerned. But, we still have a long way to go!
Check out these six attributes (Krievens et al., 2015) of resilience and watershed management:
Contact the SSIWPA coordinator about how you might participate in local action for building a climate-resilient community on Salt Spring Island and see the other news posts about various projects in monitoring and local action that are currently underway by SSIWPA member agencies and other community groups on Salt Spring Island.
Finally, please be water smart!
Start today developing your own home plan for water conservation. Every drop counts!
Thank you from SSIWPA.
Free Public Workshop “Salt Spring Island Responsible Water Alternatives” May 20th, 2018 @ Lions Hall, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm Sponsored by the CRD Please bring a potluck dish to …
Continue reading “Salt Spring Island Responsible Water Alternatives 2018 Workshop”
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Monthly Groundwater Budget Analysis for Aquifers on Salt Spring Island
by Golder Associates (Jill Sacré, Nick Gorski and Willy Zawadski)
Please be alerted: This event has been postponed.
(postponement effective May 1, 2018)
Stay tuned here for new date to be announced!
The final results of a two-phase study by Golder Associates, consultants for B.C. Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy and B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development will be presented.
Everyone is welcome. Refreshments will be served.
Abstract:
Water supply for Salt Spring Island’s 10,000 residents and an estimated 10,000 annual visitors is derived entirely from the Island’s footprint, from community systems utilizing water from surface water and groundwater sources, together with private wells. Aquifer mapping for Salt Spring Island was conducted by integrating available geological mapping and information from over 2500 well logs using three-dimensional visualization software.
Monthly groundwater budgets were then derived for each aquifer to assess the sustainability of groundwater withdrawals based on available climate data, estimates of groundwater recharge, and an estimate of groundwater demand from domestic, commercial and agricultural users. The results of the budget analysis will be used to inform groundwater licensing decisions by the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development under the Water Sustainability Act, and to support water management initiatives being undertaken by local authorities and community groups.
This forms one in a series of Community Watershed Stewardship Presentations by Salt Spring Island Watershed Protection Alliance (SSIWPA).
Information about SSIWPA is here.
Salt Spring Island Groundwater Study: Call for Well Owner Volunteers
Islands Trust and Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development are collaborating on a project to:
Groundwater monitoring stations will be industry standard automatic water level monitoring device, installed by a professional well pump installer. Staff will visit the site 3-4 times over the year to download information.
The pilot project has potential to result in more long term community volunteer well monitoring on SSI, similar to the Nanaimo volunteer observation well program.
To volunteer your well please send inquiries to SSIWPA Coordinator Shannon Cowan at info@ssiwpa.org or calling 250-653-4867.
Please be advised that SSIWPA Steering Committee cancelled the May 18, 2018 meeting.
From Matthew McCrank, Senior Manager, Operations Capital Regional District Integrated Water Services
Issued: May 9, 2018 at 3:30pm
Further to the boil water advisory issued by CRD Integrated Water Services, in conjunction with Island Health on Monday May 7, 2018 testing of the water supply has confirmed there is no potential health risk associated with the water supplied in the Highlands Water Service.
As of 3:30 pm on May 9, 2018 the Drinking Water Officer has advised to
discontinue boiling water for domestic purposes.
Thank you for your understanding during this event and we apologize for any
inconvenience this may have caused.
POLIS Water Sustainability Project team released a report November 30, 2017:
This recommendations report offers options and specific recommendations to address drinking water source protection and improve nutrient management in British Columbia’s Hullcar Valley. It is oriented towards finding solutions to existing problems and providing recommendations on how to avoid similar situations in the Hullcar Valley, and elsewhere in the province, in the future.
Since 2014, residents in the area have been on a Water Quality Advisory due to elevated nitrate concentrations in the aquifer. In August 2017, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy ordered a review of the Hullcar aquifer situation to gather information to improve management and decision-making related to source water protection and agricultural nutrients. As part of this review, the Ministry commissioned a review team led by the University of Victoria’s POLIS Project on Ecological Governance to prepare this report.
Further information on the Hullcar aquifer situation and updates on government action can be found on this detailed provincial government website.