WHEREAS protecting and enforcing source water protection is an essential provincial government service to support ecosystem functioning, healthy drinking water and economic prosperity; AND WHEREAS there are no longer professional provincial staff dedicated to source protection: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the BC government allocate appropriate resources for the protection of community watersheds recognizing the importance of source water protection to regional economies and quality of life.
Ministry of Forests, Lands Natural Resource Operations The Ministry agrees that source water protection is important for ecosystem needs, drinking water protection and economic security. Source water protection is a shared responsibility and can only be achieved through cooperation between all levels of government, industry and the public. While the desire for increasing dedicated resources for source water protection is understandable, during periods of fiscal constraint, limited funding is available for new initiatives. However, the Ministry has been undergoing business delivery and organizational changes that may improve efficiency and effectiveness with the resources that it has available and may improve the ability of the Province to support source water protection: -Integrated Decision Making Structural and legislative changes are underway to make resource management decision-making processes more integrated, enabling decision makers to better consider a full range of resource values, including water. -Area-based Management The trend towards regional and district level resource management enables staff at the local level to be more aware of potential impacts on resource values, such as water, and to take action to address those impacts if necessary. -Interagency Cooperation Regional interagency management committees meet regularly to share information and collaborate on actions. A frequent topic of discussion with these committees is drinking water protection. -Compliance and Enforcement Dedicated Natural Resource Officers are able to focus on compliance and enforcement issues in the natural resource sector and can address compliance issues that may impact water. Furthermore, it is expected that the proposed Water Sustainability Act, if enacted, will further support source water protection by enabling the setting of water objectives and watershed sustainability planning. Resourcing requirements for these new initiatives are being considered as part of the legislation development.