From The Province
by Dan Fumano
Bottled water companies taking B.C.’s groundwater and selling it overseas have declined to disclose the amount they draw every year. They are not currently required by law to report this information, but some water companies, including Nestlé, have chosen to do so when asked.
Natural Glacial Waters takes groundwater from a well on Vancouver Island, bottles it, and sells it under the brand names Névé and Canada Icefield. Natural Glacial Waters management said 95 per cent of their product is exported overseas, mostly to Asian markets including China, Japan and Korea. When asked, management declined to say how much water they withdraw each year.
Whistler Water, officially known as Polaris Water Company, draws groundwater from a source north of Pemberton. According to Industry Canada, Whistler Water exports to 11 countries, including destinations in Asia and Europe.
They also refused to release information about the volume of water they withdraw.
It's not so long ago that Ice River Springs were drawing water from the Moyie watershed close to Lumberton.
ReplyDeleteThe following is taken from an article in the Province by Dan Fumano entitled "Nestle bottles millions of litres of Canadian water — and pays nothing".
"According to the provincial Ministry of Environment, “B.C. is the only jurisdiction in Canada that doesn’t regulate groundwater use.”
“The province does not license groundwater, charge a rental for groundwater withdrawals or track how much bottled water companies are taking from wells,” said a Ministry of Environment spokesperson in an email to The Province.
This isn’t new. Critics have been calling for change for years now, saying the lack of groundwater regulation is just one outdated example from the century-old Water Act.
The Ministry of Environment has said they plan — in the 2014 legislature sitting — to introduce groundwater regulation with the proposed Water Sustainability Act, which would update and replace the existing Water Act, established in 1909. But experts note that successive governments have been talking about modernizing water for decades, but the issue keeps falling off the agenda.
It’s really the Wild West out here in terms of groundwater
This time, many hope it will be different.
“It’s really the Wild West out here in terms of groundwater. And it’s been going on for over 20 years, that the Ministry of Environment, the provincial government has been saying that they’re going to make these changes, and it just hasn’t gone through yet,” said Linda Nowlan, conservation director from World Wildlife Fund Canada."
Surely it's time that the Provincial Government actually takes action and updates and replaces the existing Water Act of 1909?
Come on Mr. Bennett. Why don't you start the discussion within cabinet to ensure that our most valuable natural resource, water, is better protected???