7 HYDROFRACTURING
This is an excerpt from the Islands Trust Submission to Water Act Modernization
Consultation, April 30, 2010
“Issue: This volume-increasing process which was introduced by the oil industry is now
being used to increase water supply in domestic wells on the Gulf Islands. No studies
have been made by professional hydrogeologists on the impact of hydrofracturing on
the region. The islands are small, water is a fragile resource, and domestic wells are
vulnerable to salt water intrusion. Hydrofracturing may occur anywhere, without prior
notification to neighbours, and with no recourse if a neighbour’s well is depleted by the
process or ruined by salt water or septic intrusion.

Recommendations:
We are relaying the recommendations on hydrofracturing expressed by the Mayne
Island Integrated Water Systems Society to the Ministry of Environment and the Ground
Water Advisory Board:
• That no hydrofracturing be permitted, for any reason, within a set distance from
the ocean (100 meters minimum distance recommended);
• That those using a hydrofracturing process be required to test the production
capacity of community and private wells within a set circumference before the
process begins, at the cost of the well driller. This will enable owners of nearby
wells to identify negative effects resulting from hydrofracturing;
• That all hydrofracturing must be pre-approved by the ministry, recorded on
drillers’ reports and maintained as part of the permanent well record;
• That community and private water providers be given advance notice and an
opportunity to comment when hydrofracturing is proposed within or adjacent to a
community water system, and
• That as part of the process to determine what regulations and policies will be
adopted that consultation take place with the Islands Trust and with community
groups with local knowledge on water issues.
We strongly urge that professional studies be made of the effects of hydrofracturing in
the Gulf Islands at the earliest possible date and that each individual well to be
hydrofractured in that region require a license from the Ministry of the Environment.

8 WELL WATCHERS AND OBSERVATION WELLS

Excerpt from GGMS letter to Gabriola Local Trust Committee, November 3, 2006

“First of all, well records of static levels of water in the well kept for a few years prior to the beginning of pumping of groundwater for bulk water sales are very useful. This refers to the Well Watchers we have seen installed around prospective bulk water sales operations.
These records and readings can be used to signal to the homeowner when their well is under stress and when water use should be reduced. They can signal that a well is or is not recovering quickly or if there is a slowing down of the measured recovery rate of water in the well itself.
A body of seasonal records can be used to establish a benchmark level below which the static level of groundwater in the well should not drop (in each season) as this might indicate that the level of the groundwater in the aquifer had dropped and this would indicate that the well (and the aquifer) were under stress.

There is a problem, however, in using this information legally, (to prove damage to a well caused by commercial bulk groundwater extraction in the area) as the monitored well is also used by the person/family for domestic and/or horticultural and in some cases, agricultural use. It could be argued that the homeowner’s use of the water had escalated in the period of time when water levels recorded indicated a drop in the static level or recovery rate of the personal well. That increased personal use could be argued as the reason for the indicated changes in static water level or recovery rate, and the possible result of reduced water quality and/or
loss of water to the well.

It can also be argued that when the Well Watcher is installed at the same time that the bulk water operation starts that there is no prior data, no control statistics going back a few years to indicate what the performance of the personal well was like before the bulk water extraction process commenced. Therefore there would be no way to prove the reduced or changed groundwater in a well was the result of bulk water extraction.
A true observation well must not be used for any other purpose but recording static water levels and water quality testing. Readings taken from the well would then be a more accurate indication of groundwater conditions in the aquifer.”


RECOMMENDATIONS:
The use of Well Watchers is recommended as a tool for the individual home owner’s water management.
Observation wells are to be used to monitor bulk groundwater extraction.

9 DROUGHT

Gulf Islands were areas especially affected by drought last year.
Water leases were limited or cancelled across BC. This is historically important in BC as it was unprecedented. The Water Act was tried as an authority to suspend these leases and found wanting and so Department Of Fisheries was used to restrict water leases. Planning under drought conditions is too late. We must plan in advance.
Drought indicators can not be universally applied. Snow melt is not an indicator on a gulf island. As conditions change and different levels of government become involved, the drought level can change from normal to extreme.
Drought levels classified by the province can be tied to insurance policy requirements and this would provide relief to farmers and others who work in affected areas.
Think of this as you would any risk management assessment. We have clear patterns emerging as climate change becomes more apparent.
It is far more cost efficient in terms of property and social costs to plan for emergency situations like drought that to try to deal with it at the last minute.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Drought response should be tied into the Provincial Emergency Plan (PEP) program then the same kind of response and reporting back to government becomes possible.
Levels of drought could be tied in to PEP to coordinate farmer protection.
Levels of drought could also be used to trigger emergency response planning and activate the Gabriola Emergency Response Committee.