Sept 30, 2007
After a two year campaign to preserve our diminishing ground water resource, we lost a major battle in the Cowichan Valley with the local Regional Districts decision to advance the 500 plus housing development at Paldi. Both our group and the efforts of the larger Duncan West Ratepayers Assn. failed to convince the majority of the directors of the coming water shortages that are beginning to arise in the Cowichan Basin. Unfortunately, we must stumble along with this antiquated form of government while corporate interests prevail over the wishes or demands of the electorate majority.
The aquifer at Cobble Hill is currently showing signs of failure as residents are now drilling deeper to find more water as their wells run dry. The Cowichan River, which is now a "Heritage River," is losing valuable riparian habitat due to logging in the local watershed. The MOE is currently conducting studies to determine the reason for this failure but the answer is simply this, Our communities do not have SUSTAINABLE GROWTH PLANS in place to keep developers from over-running our resources, nor do we have laws to protect our watersheds! Hopefully, the Supreme Court decision from the Sunshine Coast suit will give us some leeway over the timber industry.
Our group decided several months ago to begin monitoring our static well levels to determine the fluctuations during yearly cycles. This information is being shared with the Ministry Of Environment in an attempt to better understand the dynamics of the aquifers and wells in the Cowichan Basin. Secondly, this gives us a basis of comparison to demonstrate any severe loss from large scale bore pumping to new developments.
The instrument we purchased is the Sonic Water Level Meter Model 200M from Global Water, located in Gold River CA USA, (916) 638-3429. For drilled wells, a small adaption must be made on the well head to allow the 5/8ths inch port to be inserted. In the case where no well cap is present, an adaptor is included in the kit. The simplicity of this sonic device makes static well testing a breeze. We are currently testing eight wells on a montly basis and plan to extend our testing to at least twenty by years end.
We have written letters to Valerie Cameron, (no relation) Section Head on Watersheds without success. After our second letter and months later, she finally sent a letter advising us to contact Brian Epps at the Nanaimo Ministry Of Environment. No definitive answer was forth-coming regarding logging in watersheds. It seems obvious the Ministry is in bed with the logging interests and as we watch the timber disappear from our hillsides above the Cowichan River Basin we can only imagine the long term outcome of such folly.
Here is a link to the Ministry Of Environment for water and aquifer info for anyone who wishes to research the aquifers and wells in their area, aquifer type and vulnerability, etc.. website http://srmapps.gov.bc.ca/apps/wrbc