...Continued from Part One

The need to better manage water use is only going to become greater, said the POLIS Project’s Brandes.

When he started working on water issues in 2003, the province was in a drought so severe it was believed to be a “once in a lifetime” event, he said. “Since then, I’ve seen three like that, probably worse,” he said.

“This year’s certainly worse. We’ve got to accept we’re in a different regime, and that means we have to manage water a whole lot tighter.”

During the summer drought, people tended to respond well when asked to take voluntary measures to reduce water use, but as problems linger it will be important to have strong and clear leadership, Brandes said.

“I suspect with things like drought, floods, wildfires, all these things have real impacts on water, we can only rely on voluntary measures so much,” he said. “We have to regulate groundwater, which means proper applications, proper enforcement and if people are outside those rules, there has to be consequences.” [Tyee]

https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/10/15/BC-Groundwater-Licensing-System-Crisis/?mc_cid=d13a3290d2&mc_eid=30488675cb