Bulk Water Regulations for the Outer Islands

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - At their December 11 meeting, the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) Board passed a bylaw to regulate bulk water processing, bottling and sales on Maurelle, Sonora, Stuart, and the Rendezvous islands. Three Campbell River Directors voted against receiving the staff report for this bylaw. Director Susan Sinnott explained,  “I just want to hear from staff, the reasons necessary. Is there a pending application for people to bulk water in the distillation sound area? Is there an imminent issue?” Chief Administrative Officer David Leitch replied,  “The impetus of this. Bylaws came from the directors. So I think it's probably more appropriate for the director to speak to it.” Cortes Island Director Mark Vonesch pointed out,  “This is the same bylaw we already passed for Area D, Cortes and Quadra Islands.” Director Sinnott:  “Well, thank you, my recollection was there was concerns about water usage and aquifer protection. I just wanted to know if this was similar. I don't know if there's an issue in the Desolation Sound area that's similar.” Robyn Mawhinney is the Regional Director for Area C, which includes Quadra, Maurelle, Sonora, Stuart, and the Rendezvous islands:  “Although it says the Desolation Sound Rural Land Use Bylaw it's funnily enough, not in Desolation Sound. It's Read, Maurelle, Sonora, Stuart, and the Rendezvous Islands. If you look at the bylaws, it's really about providing an opportunity for community to have a public hearing If there is an application for a commercial water extraction enterprise.”  Director Sinnot: So raising my question again, are we regulating something that's not ever going to happen? I can't imagine there's ever going to be a person that wants to bulk water bottling or any type of extraction of a very remote area without ferry service. So one, I don't like the idea of regulating things if we don't have to, but second of all, we're intruding into an area outside our jurisdiction if it's about water preservation.” Director Mawhinney: “I would suggest that providing an opportunity for the community to have input on a commercial enterprise, which could drastically affect their drinking water is reasonable. I think when you look at what happened in Merville, if you wait until an application is coming forward it's too late.” The concern about bulk water extraction can be traced back to a Merville property owner’s idea to bottle and sell the water beneath his property. On March 8, 2023, two weeks before CVRD approved MacKenzie’s application, Regional Director Robyn Mawhinney asked the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) to report on the possibilities for limiting groundwater extraction within Area C. The District had just gone through the severest drought in Campbell River’s records and it was about to go through the drought of 2023. On September 25, 2024, the SRD passed bylaws prohibiting ‘bulk water sales, bulk water processing and bulk water bottling’ on any upland or foreshore area of Cortes or Quadra except where expressly permitted within a zone. That was when Director Mawhinney then introduced what has erroneously been called the Desolation Sound Bulk Water Regulation. Director Mawhinney: “ We've had a public hearing and the community was in support of it, as they have been for Area D, Area B (Cortes Island) and the Quadra island portion of Area C.”