Study is in the Cedar/Cassidy area
Robert Barron about 15 hours ago
The Cowichan Valley Regional District will contribute $54,000 to the Regional District of Nanaimo to assist with a water study that the RDN is conducting in the Yellowpoint-Cedar-Cassidy area.
Jeff Moore, the CVRD’s manager of environmental services, said in a report that the RDN is developing Phase 3 of a water-budget study for that area as part of the RDN’s drinking water and watershed protection program, which is being built on previous work.
He said the watersheds and aquifers included in the study area extend well beyond the boundaries of the RDN, with approximately 40 per cent of the study area falling within the CVRD, and includes the Bush Creek and Tyee Creek watersheds, and encompasses portions of CVRD Electoral Areas G and H and lands within the Town of Ladysmith.
“Water supply has long been a concern of residents in the Cedar/Yellowpoint area; both those who live within the CVRD and those within the RDN,” Moore said.
“The CVRD and the RDN have similar drinking water and watershed protection programs, both of which share goals to better understand, protect, and manage our surface and groundwater resources. As watersheds and aquifers often cross jurisdictional boundaries, a collaborative approach to understanding these resources can benefit both the CVRD and the RDN.”
Moore said the study represents an excellent opportunity to develop a water budget in a part of the region with longstanding concerns over water supply.
He said the collaboration with the RDN would be an efficient use of staff time, as much of the project management has been, and will continue to be, led by the RDN staff.
Ben Maartman, the CVRD’s director for North Oyster/Diamond, said at a recent committee of the whole meeting where the issue was discussed that there are people in his community that are doing a “happy dance” over the fact that the water study in their area is being conducted.
“People here probably heard about the pristine lake that resides just below the surface of the ground in the Cassidy area,” he said.
“I can’t wait for the results of Phase 3 and seeing what can come from those results because it affects so many different things that we do in land planning and all of that.”
Mike Caljouw, a director from North Cowichan, agreed with Maartman and said water is a core issue for municipalities and the CVRD.
“This is exactly the kind of thing we should be doing; studying the water because without water we have no life,” he said
“This is fantastic and I’m fully supportive of it.”
