qathet Regional District (qRD) directors will consider allocating $60,000 in the 2024 planning budget to conduct a Savary Island groundwater study.
At the October 4 planning committee meeting, directors received correspondence from Savary Island Land Trust Society (SILT), expressing concerns about groundwater, with the pressure being put on by development on the island. SILT requested that the regional board conduct an updated hydrogeological assessment and a carrying capacity assessment and factor the results of these assessments into enforceable zoning and siting requirements.
“The sustainability of the island is under grave threat from development and population pressure,” the correspondence stated. “SILT respectfully asks that these concerns be considered in the official community plan (OCP) process.”
Electoral Area A director and planning committee chair Jason Lennox said he received an email from staff and it was appropriate for staff to explain the figures.
Manager of planning services Laura Roddan said staff have the same concerns as SILT, as do many residents on Savary Island that were heard from on a land engagement.
“As a result, staff have been actively seeking out hydrogeologists for a scope of work and cost to do a groundwater study,” said Roddan. “It’s critical to inform the OCP process and $60,000 is the amount I would suggest. I have included that amount in the draft planning budget for 2024.”
Electoral Area C director and board chair Clay Brander asked if there was any hope for grants to support paying for the study.
Roddan said that had not been researched but it is something that staff could look into.
Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne said that the water is technically owned by the province. He said this might provide impetus for the province to provide some money for the study.
City of Powell River director George Doubt said his understanding is the provincial government manages and licenses wells and that it is a provincial resource.
“I’ve read the letter and people are worried,” said Doubt. “I understand peoples’ concerns about drinking water and the quality and quantity of it, but it seems like another issue of downloading from the provincial government to the regional district. I’m surprised at the number of $60,000 to study Savary Island. It seems to me that $60,000 is a fairly low value for doing that.”
The committee carried a motion that it recommend to the regional board that it direct staff to include $60,000 in the 2024 planning budget to conduct a Savary Island groundwater study, and that staff be directed to investigate grant opportunities and the potential use of other provincial and federal funds for the study.
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