Capital Regional District staff are recommending formally shutting off public access to thousands of hectares of forest land in the Leech River Watershed to better protect a water supply that might not be tapped for more than 50 years.
“Of greatest concern is the risk of wildfire,” Ted Robbins, general manager of integrated water services, told the regional water commission last week.
“If there was a wildfire that reached the point of being out of control in the Leech watershed area, it could spread to the adjacent Sooke water supply area and have significant impact on water quality and our ability to supply water.”
The CRD finalized the $65-million purchase of 8,791 hectares of the Leech River watershed from forestry company TimberWest in 2010.
The acquisition represented a 79 per cent increase in the water district’s land base. As the Sooke watershed — home to the Sooke reservoir, Greater Victoria’s main source of drinking water — is already shut off to the public, adding the area surrounding the Leech River would mean about 20,000 hectares would be under lock and key effective 2015.
Far from pristine, the watershed has been 95 per cent logged and has about 385 kilometres of roads. The area has a well-documented First Nations history and has long been used by people camping, off-roading, fishing and hunting.
Since 2012, access has been increasingly restricted, gated and posted as a no-trespassing area by both the CRD and forestry companies. CRD staff note the only way to access the Leech is by first trespassing through privately owned forestry land.
Still, many people are doing just that. Since 2008, there have been more than 330 recorded instances of unauthorized access — the majority in the Weeks Lake area. Problems include illegal camping, discharge of firearms, dumping of garbage, vandalism and a marijuana grow-op.
The CRD, as a private landowner, already has the authority to regulate most of those problems, but including the area in the water supply area protection bylaw would mean it wouldn’t have to rely on the RCMP or provincial agencies for enforcement.
But some CRD directors say the public should be consulted before a decision is made to shut them out.
“Before I could support this I would want to make sure we had a full and public process where we could take the opportunity to make sure everybody is aware this was going to happen and they could have an opportunity to come forward and talk about it,” said Sooke Mayor Wendal Milne.
Juan de Fuca Electoral Area director Mike Hicks agreed.
“This has huge impacts for the people out our way and many of them aren’t on CRD water,” Hicks said. “They don’t get CRD water, but they recreate in that area. That’s where they live.”
Saanich Coun. Vic Derman said the risk of fire should take precedence over the ability to go camping.
But Hicks wondered just how great the wildfire threat is given the damp coastal conditions.
“I just wonder how may forest fires there’s been in that area in the last 100 years? I would say none. This isn’t a high forest fire area — the West Coast.”
Commissioners tabled consideration until the new year.
