CLIMATE CHANGE
We maintain that in the coming years we must consider the impact of climate change on the present practices of water management. We believe we do not have a water problem; we have a water storage problem.
Gabriola Groundwater Management Society embraces that principle of atmospheric water storage for use in dry seasons and our logo exemplifies this vision.

(From Living Water Smart website, BC Min of Environment, May, 2010) http://livingwatersmart.ca/water-act/climate-change.html
“Climate Change Will Alter Patterns of Water SupplyEvidence shows that our climate has changed over the past 50 to 100 years. The average annual temperatures have warmed in different regions of the province and B.C. has lost up to 50% of its snow pack. Total annual precipitation has increased by about 20%. These observed changes have affected our natural resources and many people’s livelihood:
• Faster melts and increased precipitation have resulted in floods in the Fraser Valley, Interior and throughout British Columbia;
• Warmer winters have resulted in the mountain pine beetle epidemic which has destroyed an area of pine forest equivalent to four times the size of Vancouver Island;
• Communities have been experiencing longer summer droughts as weather patterns grow increasingly erratic.
Current projections indicate that B.C. could experience a further warming by 2050. Predicted average temperatures will be warmer in the summer and winter for most of the province, while average rainfall will be higher in the winter and much less in the summer for the southern part of the province (Figures 1,2,3 and 4). As a result, stream flow patterns will be affected. The rain that replenishes our streams, lakes and reservoirs in the winter and spring may fall within a short period in the winter and not later in the year when we need this water to irrigate crops and for other important uses (Figure 5). Predicted effects include:
• While agriculture may enjoy longer, warmer growing seasons, more frequent and prolonged droughts as well as increased pest infestations are expected;
• Many areas will experience growing water shortages and increased competition among water uses, including municipalities, irrigation, industry, power generation, fisheries, recreation and aquatic ecosystems;
• The greater frequency and intensity of extreme weather events and related hazards, such as flooding and forest fires, will threaten key infrastructure (e.g., roads, ports) affecting B.C. communities and people’s health and well-being;
• Sea levels are expected to rise on the north coast of British Columbia;
• The mountain pine beetle could expand its range to the north and east, with economic and environmental consequences for the forest industry, communities and ecosystems;
• Already stressed fisheries will face further challenges, in particular the highly important Pacific salmon species, which are sensitive to stream and ocean surface warming (LiveSmart BC website).”


CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION

If atmospheric water is collected in wet seasons and saved until dry seasons and then used to make up any water deficit we encounter at that time, then we would find that we would have the assurance of adequate water stocks for the environment, agriculture and our communities.
In rural areas it would ensure that aquifers would be recharged with this collected atmospheric water at the time when they are most stressed and under threat.

This is addressed in the 2007 report of the Drinking Water-Watershed Protection Stewardship Committee (DW/WP SC) to the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN), Program 7- Climate Change. This report was accepted unanimously by the RDN Board.
We include this reference to the other local government on Gabriola Island and their work on climate change adaptation.
(SEE APPENDIX A)
“7B: Land and Water Use Adaptation
Taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is one way of tackling climate change. This will help to slow the process, but it won’t stop it. It is equally important to anticipate what the effects of climate change will be – in this case, on the Region’s watersheds and water sources - and develop the means of dealing with them.
2) Develop a strategy that identifies the potential impacts of climate change on aquifers and watersheds and/or water service areas in the Region and measures for reducing the RDN’s contribution to greenhouse gases, but also to adapting to anticipated changes. The study should involve local residents in identifying risks and developing adaptation tools. Some of the adaptations to be considered include:
• Vulnerabilities – to flooding, runoff, erosion and other geotechnical hazards, drought.
• Adapting to less water – e.g., protecting water quality will be even more important as the relative impact of pollutants rises.
• Adapting to increased storminess - increased vulnerability to contamination from flooding and runoff events.
• Drought resistance – ways of putting more water into the ground as a preventative
strategy; e.g., infiltrating rainwater into the ground to recharge aquifers, thereby improving water supply during prolonged dry periods.
• Identifying potential development areas least vulnerable to climate change based on
availability of water, low potential for flooding and landslip, etc.
Regional District of Nanaimo
Report of the DW-WP Stewardship Committee 25
“3) Incorporate consideration of local and regional hydro-climatic balance in the following:
- Improved data collection and evaluation of changes to groundwater, surface water, and
available evapotranspiration moisture levels (Program 2).
- Public awareness and education for government officials, planners, engineers, developers, forestry and agricultural professionals (Program 1).
- “Best management practices to maintain the balance between land use and hydro-climatic changes… including: improved storm-water management and utilization techniques; creating more water infiltration capacity to maintain groundwater levels (LID measures); balancing water usage with the recharge or recovery rate; encourage water conservation, and re-vegetation and planting trees.”


PRINCIPLES

• The PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE should be adopted in all policies dealing with water.
• GGMS wishes to encourage an ethic of conservation
• Water Source protection should be established (i.e. watershed and aquifer protection).
• Priority for protection of allocation of water should be given first to the environment (e.g. wetlands and water courses), second to agriculture and third to human needs.
• Surface water, groundwater and atmospheric water must not be made into commodities.
• In the Gabriola OCP the Water Act should take precedence over other acts and legislation.
• Mechanisms are needed to review and report on functioning watersheds and aquifers.
• Legislation to enforce these protections must be in place and financially supported. Personnel should be designated inspectors and caretakers.
• Accountability of all parties should be established in law.
• Protection of the rights of the individual "the Commons in law", is essential so that commercial interests do not override personal rights protection. (I.e. personal rights vs. commercial operations).
• WATER SECURITY and FOOD SECURITY should be the main goal of any legislation to establish healthy, sustainable communities.
• Water should be purchased as an emergency measure only.
1 THE CHANGING WATER ACT

We have been waiting for the completion of Phases 2 and 3 of the Water Act.
The province has just introduced the Water Act Modernization Consultation, in which both Gabriola Groundwater Management Society and the Islands Trust have participated.
GGMS would like to view this as an opportunity for the Islands trust, through the Gabriola local Trust Committee, to be urged to encourage a sustainable and holistic approach to water governance in the Gabriola OCP Review.
In this document the GGMS seeks to add to the OCP elements that are needed for sustainable water supply to the environment, local agriculture and the community.

GGMS was created under the Societies Act on April 8th, 2000.

GGMS OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the Gabriola Groundwater Management Society are to:

• Promote groundwater management on Gabriola;
• Provide information regarding groundwater use to all interested groups and individuals;
• Develop a data base regarding distribution, quantity, quality and recharging capability of existing wells;
• Explore potential for alternative individual household sewage disposal systems;
• Provide “on island” laboratory water testing services at a nominal fee;
• Promote groundwater management with reference to the island watersheds;
• Develop strategies for dispute resolution regarding neighbourhood water problems;
• Explore the potential for septic tank effluent treatment “on island”; and
• Raise funds to enable the GGMS to carry out its stated purposes.

The Gabriola Groundwater Quality Management Program was started by Jeremy Baker.
The test used measured total coliforms and e-coli. The results were used as a tool for Gabriola residents to manage their well water and monitor their water quality.

GGMS promotes public education on groundwater on Gabriola. This driving principle led us into the realm of water catchment. We started to advocate water catchment for domestic use in 2005.

We believe that we do not have a water problem. We have a water storage problem: we need water storage so that water is collected in the wet season and used in the dry season. This will replenish the aquifers in the dry season when they are most stressed, instead of pulling excessive amounts of groundwater out of the aquifers in the summer when our population triples and these water stocks are low.
GGMS believes that a program of water conservation, public education and responsible public best-practices will help to create a sustainable, healthy community based on a natural, replenished infrastructure.
This is in harmony with the Islands Trust’s mandate to “Preserve and Protect"


2 ESTABLISHING PRIORITIES of GOVERNANCE
We strongly support the idea that the priorities of water supply should be placed in the following order:

2 A THE ENVIRONMENT
We will rise or fall in the way we live within our own environment. Water is a component of that environment, and it is already fully allocated to the plants and animals, birds and fish that it sustains. Human use is also a component, but the way we have managed it, to the detriment of other species and life forms, has come back to damage us. We are losing biodiversity in plants, animals, fish and birds. We are losing adaptability to stress and change in our environment. We are losing the buffer that needs to be in place between us and extremes of weather and other natural disasters like extreme heat and cold.

RECOMMENDATIONS: There needs to be clear and overarching priority for environmental concerns and conservation measures in the Islands Trust spirit of Preserve and Protect.
The protection of seasonal wetlands should be identified and respected in zoning land use.


2 B AGRICULTURE
In one example, the balance of green space and concrete in urban areas, we are losing the cooling effect of evapotranspiration, the breathing out of water as a plant life form exhales. (See Appendix 1- Hydro-Climatic balance)
Farmers are well aware of this cooling component as they balance their irrigation needs in each season of growth.
Irrigation systems become more efficient each year as new technology improves the way we supply food plants with water.
The BC Agriculture Council has stated that farming needs:
• Water security: protecting agricultural access to water which recognizes principles of adequate supply, assured access, and affordability.
• Development of a Drought
Management Strategy