Beaufort Watershed Stewards
We recently met with Bruce Gibbons, the founder of the Merville Water Guardians. Many of you know him from his opposition to a bottling plant in Merville. He has taken his campaign to the Comox Valley Regional District, the Union of BC Municipalities, and government officials in numerous provincial ministries. He’s recently taken aim at the Natural Glacial Waters (NGW) bottling plant on Berray Rd, right here in our neighbourhood.
NGW has been bottling water on Berray Rd since the nineties. After enactment of the Water Sustainability Act (WSA) in 2016, they applied for an Existing Use Ground Water license which would allow them to extract five million litres of water per day. Almost all of the water they extract is destined for export to Asian markets, packaged in 500 ml plastic bottles. This takes advantage of a huge loophole in the Water Protection Act (WPA). The WPA prohibits export of water in containers greater than 20 litres but doesn’t address export in smaller containers. If granted, the license would be for thirty years. (Although the WSA does allow for a license period of only a year.)
Mr. Gibbons has asked BWS to join him in opposing NGW’s water license application. Of course, we are opposed to commodifying our water. But BWS is first and foremost a science-based organization. Can we show that pulling this much water out of circulation will affect flows for fish migration? Can we show that reducing the amount of fresh water entering the bay will have an effect on the salinity? And possibly affect the oyster growing operations? Can we show that local domestic wells won’t be affected?
BWS, and others, have done a lot of work towards answering these questions but we’ve only scratched the surface. The aquifer boundaries in the Rosewall Creek area are largely derived from surficial geology. That is, geologists have looked at surface features and made educated assumptions about what lies below. As mentioned in previous articles, we have collaborated with the University of Victoria – Environmental Earth and Ocean Sciences using geophysical Vertical Electric Soundings (VES) to better define subsurface structures and aquifer distribution in our area. Put simply, this technique can help confirm the geologists’ educated assumptions, or uncover surprises that need more exploration. We have done several VES in the Rosewall Creek area.
We have also worked with the Province and the BC Conservation Foundation to measure stream flows in nearby creeks. For a time, before the gauging station was washed out, we helped with flow measurement on Rosewall Creek itself. Our colleagues at Fanny Bay Salmonid Enhancement Society also helped gather data on Rosewall Creek prior to our involvement.
So, can we show that this license represents a threat to a local aquifer? At this time, we cannot. But neither can we show that it ISN’T a threat. In the end, we decided it is our LACK of scientific data that is most important. We are sending a letter to Josie Osborne, our MLA, stating our opposition to this license. Not because of what we know, but because of what we don’t know.
To read the letter we are sending to Josie Osborne, or to download a letter template you can use to write your own letter, go to our website, www.beaufortwater.org.
Mike Mesford
Director.tech@beaufortwater.org
250.702.5900
