Lucky thing we’re not drought-stricken California,right? The Golden State is entering its fourth year of record-breaking drought. Rivers have become trickles, lakes are becoming bowls of dust, wildfires are springing up and farmers are leaving fields unplanted. Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency and imposed strict conservation measures.
Closer to home, the governor of Washington has declared a statewide drought emergency — the state anticipates a $1.2-billion crop loss this year.
B.C. is not immune. Severe drought could happen here, perhaps not to the same extent, but with consequences that would seriously affect the environment, our quality of life and the economy. To mitigate those consequences, B.C. needs better management of its water resources and British Columbians need to increase their awareness that water is a precious, vulnerable resource.
Water scarcity isn’t something that might occur in some theoretical future — it’s the current reality. After the driest May on record, the B.C. government is urging municipal, agricultural and industrial users on Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and Haida Gwaii to reduce water use by 20 per cent or more. “Significant” water-supply shortages are anticipated in 2015.
The lack of water is already being felt in the Cowichan Valley. The level of Cowichan Lake is much lower than usual for this time of year, and volunteers have been rescuing juvenile salmon from the much-diminished Cowichan River.
The capital region has an excellent municipal water supply, thanks in part to a far-seeing water authority that acquired and continues to protect the watersheds that supply the region. But we depend on winter rains to keep the reservoirs full — like those people who are one paycheque away from being homeless, we are one dry winter away from serious problems.
So it’s essential we heed the Capital Regional District’s admonitions to reduce water use. Almost half of municipal water used goes to landscaping: trees, shrubs, gardens and lawns. While healthy greenery enhances health and lifestyle, a green lawn is not essential, which is why the CRD suggests we let our lawns go brown in the summer.
Many Islanders and other British Columbians are not connected to a municipal water supply and rely on wells. Although the province has embarked on changes that will see more regulation of groundwater extraction, the government needs to have a good grasp of how much water is available, and regulations should be aimed at ensuring that use of water from all sources is sustainable.
B.C. took a step forward with the Water Sustainability Act, which goes into effect in 2016. It will manage surface water and groundwater together.
In a new report called California’s Oranges and B.C.’s Apples: Lessons for B.C. from California Groundwater Reform, B.C. water-law experts Randy Christensen and Oliver M. Brandes commend the province for the new water act, but urge the government to implement strong regulations that would include water-sustainability plans, area-based regulations, environmental flow protections and temporary protection orders.
And the government should make an inventory of the province’s water supplies.
As Linda Sheehan of the Earth Law Center in California says: “It’s like a bank account: You keep spending it, and it keeps going down, and you choose not to look at your statements. You have to look at the statements and figure out how much money you have, how much is coming in, and going out. Same thing with water.”
Christensen and Brandes say many lessons can be learned from California’s experience, both good and bad.
One of the more important lessons is that we shouldn’t wait for a drought to teach us how valuable water is.
