Wells run slowly or even go dry as summer droughts become a common feature of life on the islands.
GALIANO ISLAND — At the northwest tip of Galiano Island, Tom Mommsen and Risa Smith have fine-tuned the drip irrigation system they recently installed in their sun-drenched garden to fully water their tomatoes, peas and summer flowers in two five-minute bursts.
“There are pockets of people who are extremely concerned,” said Mommsen, a biologist and former science journal editor. Others, he said, don’t care. “Then there’s development pressure.” An official from the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness wasn’t made available for an interview, but ministry staff responded to Postmedia questions with an unattributed statement that indicated they are working with local authorities on area-specific drought response plans.
Galiano is one of the “more forward thinking” communities when it comes to water conservation, said William Shulba, senior water specialist in the Islands Trust’s administration. The Trust established a freshwater sustainability strategy in 2019 to protect ecosystems on the islands and “preserve or enhance the quantity and quality of drinking water sources for current and future” residents, according to the document.
Shulba said that work has helped Trust staff determine how vulnerable groundwater systems are on a regional basis by looking simply at groundwater availability. Another worry, she added, is that overusing wells and drawing down aquifers reduces the water pressure underground and increases the risk of saltwater intrusion.Margison acknowledged that the Trust has put a considerable amount of money into sustainability studies, but she and fellow critics don’t believe that has resulted in measures to increase sustainability.
Margison is among the southern Gulf Island residents who formed a society called Friends of the Gulf Islands, in part to advocate stronger protections for groundwater. Residents whose wells falter during the summer have long imported bulk water by truck, much of it from Vancouver Island. Margison worries that anecdotal evidence suggests the need is increasing.
Climate change, which has upended the usually dependable seasonal cycles of fall and winter rains that follow summer droughts, is the cloud that hangs over all the immediate issues.
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