With climate change and the SCRDs own water shortages, desalination and cisterns may be the best ways to add redundancy
The Gibsons aquifer cannot support 10,000 people, although one candidate implied so during the all-candidates meeting last week at Harmony Hall.
The often-quoted number of 10,000 people is from a May 13, 2013 Aquifer Mapping Study by Waterline Resources that concluded there was enough water for 10,000 residents if only 73 per cent used aquifer water. In other words, enough aquifer water for 7,300 people.
When recommending adding Area 3 water to the Gibsons aquifer, the Town’s staff report said it is likely the aquifer can sustain 7,300 residents. This is from the staff report:
Our Town should have a long-term water management plan showing how many people the aquifer can support. It is a basic requirement to making informed decisions on growth.
We might only be able to support 5,000 people if we include the growth of businesses using aquifer water for the production of beer and/or spirits, and perhaps future cannabis growing operations.
The Town is spending 2.1 million dollars to move area 3 from SCRD water to the Gibsons aquifer despite the staff report’s warnings about vulnerability with reliance on only one water source.
A water management plan should include spreading the risk if the aquifer is contaminated. With climate change and the SCRD’s own water shortages and lack of a long-term water management plan, desalination and cisterns may be the best ways to add redundancy.
Bill Campbell, Gibsons
Some screenshots from the Aquifer Mapping Study:
