Listen to this article
Estimated 4 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
A city councillor in Parksville, B.C., says he’s hearing from a growing number of residents who are concerned about the impact of population growth on the municipality’s water supply, especially given increasing concerns about drought and a shrinking snowpack on Vancouver Island.
Coun. Sean Wood put forward a lengthy motion that was discussed at council for nearly an hour Monday afternoon.
The motion aimed to include information about the city’s water supplies in upcoming discussions for the official community plan, which will include strategies on managing growth within the municipality.
“I think it’s a long overdue discussion about drinking water supply [and the] cost of expanding water infrastructure, which will be borne by the property taxpayers,” Wood told CBC News.
Wood’s motion points to recent information from the River Forecast Centre that shows as of March 1 Vancouver Island’s snowpack sits at 48 per cent of normal.
WATCH | Worries over Parksville’s water supply:
Parksville city councillor worried about water supply after 4 seasons of drought
A city councillor in Parksville, B.C., says more and more people are worried about population growth and water. As Claire Palmer reports, the concern comes as mid-Vancouver Island’s snowpack is lower than usual.
It also points to information provided in a report presented to council by KWL engineering, a firm the city hired to assess the municipality’s water sources, which says the Arrowsmith Reservoir is only 60 per cent reliable when it should preferably be 97 per cent reliable.
The reservoir feeds the Englishman River, from which the city draws water.
The report also says the main aquifer from which the city draws water is under “high stress.”
The city’s website says Parksville has two “robust” drinking water sources that meet local needs now and into the future.
But Wood says that information conflicts with the engineering report, which recommends millions of dollars in new infrastructure to manage growing water demand.
“This is kind of the discrepancy that people have a hard time connecting the dots,” he said.
‘There’s not enough water’
Parksville resident Bobbi Frank told CBC News she has concerns about more housing in the area, like a large new development currently proposed on the Englishman River.
“The Parksville area does not have adequate water resources to continue to build large developments without first having a plan to collect more water,” she told CBC News.
Drought conditions have become a growing concern on Vancouver Island, as drought levels have risen on various parts of the island over the last few years. (Michael McArthur/CBC)
June Ross, chair of the Vancouver Island Water Watch Coalition, also agreed with Wood’s assessment.
“It’s damn well near time somebody took the bull by the horns,” Ross told CBC News. “There’s not enough water there in the aquifers.”
‘You can’t prohibit growth’
During the meeting, Parksville chief administrative officer Keeva Kehler cautioned councillors against including specifics in the official community plan [OCP] and directing outcomes that should instead be decided by residents.
Kehler said the official community plan [OCP] is a high-level, provincially-mandated document that takes subjects like infrastructure and the willingness to pay for it into account.
“With an OCP you can’t prohibit growth,” Kehler told the councillors.
“The context of an OCP is to actually project the growth based on trends and Statistics Canada information and we have to look at where that growth would be directed in the community.”
Kehler said provincial regulations require the OCP to assess housing needs over the next 20 years.
She also mentioned that KWL has yet to present Phase 2 of its city-commissioned study.
Wood pulled his motion at the end of the discussion, saying he felt satisfied by staff’s reassurances that water resources would be included in upcoming OCP discussions.
‘We will get there’
Parksville Mayor Doug O’Brien also cautioned Wood and the other councillors against coming to conclusions about water infrastructure too soon.
“I get the fact that the public is very confused,” O’Brien said. “All the building going on, and all the water conservation that is going on in the summertime.”
O’Brien said he understands the public’s concern, but added that council has taken the steps to learn more about the state of the city’s water sources by paying for an engineering report that had yet to be completed.
“The cake is baked but it’s not quite finished,” he said. “We will get there, and the public will be able to say … this is how we fix it.”