Comox Valley Water Watch Coalition

Comox Valley Water Watch Coalition
Source to Tap - protecting it for future generations

Protecting our Water

CVWWC - presents the latest public education newspaper insert ,
PROTECTING OUR WATER
Follow this link for coal watch and click on the image
to read the latest news about threats
to your drinking water in the Comox Valley

C.V. Drinking Water Reference Guide- NEW EDITION now available

Comox Valley Water Watch Coalition is proud to present

the newly revised edition of the

Comox Valley Drinking Water Reference Guide
( CVDWRG)
now found at this link
please read abstract below

2011 CV Drinking Water Reference Guide- by Sonya Marie Jenssen - Abstract

Feb.2012

Understanding the source to tap routing of one’s drinking water is a complex task. This guide intends to simplify a multi-faceted process without losing the complexity involved in the protection, treatment, maintenance, and monitoring of drinking water supply systems.

The management of a drinking water system touches all government jurisdictions, the municipal, provincial, and federal each with some level of responsibility for water quality and quantity. An extensive legislative framework and subsequent practice is in place to ensure that Canadians receive safe drinking water; even so, concerns continue to arise over the governance and management of water quantity and quality. Specific areas of concerns include climate change impacts, the use of chlorine, water quality on First Nation’s reserves, emergency preparedness, and water conservation measures.

This guide is designed to move readers through the source to tap path that drinking water travels everyday to households. Examples will be taken from Comox Valley water suppliers to highlight the working nature of legislation pertaining to water sources, along with the treatment, maintenance, and monitoring of our drinking water.

Ultimately, this guide hopes to inspire and inform the reader about the complexities involved in providing safe, clean drinking water to your taps at home and work. The next time you drink a glass of water take a moment to reflect upon the matrix of ecological and human ingenuity necessary in ensuring that each and every glass of water does indeed sustain your life.

“Water is life’s mater and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water”.

~Albert Szent-Gyorgyi 1893-1986, Hungarian Biochemist, 1937 Nobel Prize for Medicine

Sonya Marie Jenssen, M.A.

Water Policy and Research Specialist


Your Water Your Future

PLEASE FORWARD TO YOUR LISTS The Vancouver Island Water Watch Coalition will be hosting a two-day public forum on Saturday, May 29, and Sunday, May 30, 2010. At 9 am on Saturday, May 29, 2010, there will be two bus tours leaving Bowen Park, one to the City of Nanaimo Water facilities and another into a watershed. Each tour will operate twice so all attendees will be able to go on both. It is estimated that the city tour will take two hours and the watershed tour will take three hours. Lunch will be provided following each tour. At 9 am on Sunday, May 30, 2010, at Beban Park the day will begin with some amazing speakers: Maude Barlow, Rafe Mair, Corky Evans, and Arthur Caldicott. The day will also include four workshops by four great teachers: Andrew Gage an environmental lawyer with West Coast Environmental law Legal Options for Source Protection; Ingmar Lee community activist The Industrial Logging of Nanaimo’s Drinking Watershed; Trevor Wicks Looking at the Source: A Well protected Drinking Water Supply; Robin Mathews Privatization: Local, National, and International Theft The intent is to allow everyone to attend all workshops by limiting the sessions to fixed times. A full lunch will be provided on this day as well. Registration will be necessary to allow the organizers to hire buses for the water supply tours, as well as to adequately prepare for the meals. Registration details will be posted on the Vancouver Island Water Watch Coalition website at the end of April. You can pre-register now by emailing islandwatershedprotection@gmail.com These events will be free for all attendees. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ http://blog.gonanaimo.com/your-water-your-future

Coal Mine Coming - Open house Wed Oct 28

Compliance Coal Corporation plans to have a new coal mine up and running in the Comox Valley within 18 months. They think the public is in favour of this mine,butComox Valley Water Watch Coalition has a lot of unanswered questions about this mine.
In brief, the mine would be an underground mine starting above Fanny Bay and reaching to Baynes sound , producing about 2 million tons a year of coal with 700,000 tons of waste.
We must know how much water the mine will use, where they will ge the water, what they will be doing with the polluted water from washing the coal, and what the mine's impact on water, wells and aquifers will be.
The mine is having their 1st public open house the Weds. October 28th at the Fanny Bay Hall from 4p.m.- 9p.m.
They will be asking what they need to cover in their environmental assessment. If you put your questionon the record, they will have to answer them.
Coal's responsibility for greenhouse gases and global warming are not part of the environmental asssessment , but that doesn't mean those questions should not be raised.
BC has a carbon tax on heating fuel for your house, but we sell lots of coal to add to global warming.
This has impacts for the whole of Vancouver Island not just Fanny Bay !
Please attend this open house and show the coompany you care !
4-9 p.m. Weds. Oct. 28
Fanny Bay Hall
For more information on this project go to
www.coalwatch.ca




Standing room only Fanny Bay Hall

Standing room only in Fanny Bay

Fanny Bay Hall jammed with residents anxious to discuss proposed coal mine operation Marcel Tetrault Comox Valley Echo Tuesday, December 01, 2009 So many people are interested in the coalmine proposed for Fanny Bay that residents had to be turned away from a meeting last week due to fire regulations. The Comox Valley Coal Watch Coalition coalesced at that meeting, as close to 200 people packed the Fanny Bay Community Hall to learn about the project and ask questions about its impact. "We were extraordinarily pleased with the turnout," said Delores Broten, a member of the coal watch coalition's media committee. "That turnout shows the level of concern there is in the community. To turn people away is an organizer's dream." The Compliance Energy coal mine proposed for Fanny Bay, currently in the environmental assessment process, would extract about two million tonnes of coal per year for the next 20 years. The purpose of the coalition, said media committee member Delores Broten, is to figure out which questions should be asked during the environmental assessment process, advocate for clear and timely responses to those questions and to inform the public of the answers. "We don't know enough," said Broten. "You have to ask the questions in exactly the right way, and it is unfortunately up to us to ask them. It is totally terrifying, because we're just citizens. We're not the right people to be doing this, but there isn't anyone else. "You've got to put it on the agenda, that's the issue. And it's up to us to put it on the agenda, because we don't know if anyone else would put it on." Those who attended the Thursday evening meeting raised a host of concerns and questions. They ranged from the impact of coal extraction on surface water and underground aquifers to its impact on property values and the tourism and shellfish industries. They also asked about coal dust being blown from waste piles and stockpiles as well as from the 70 to 100 trucks that would be required to transport the coal to port every day. Compliance had considered using trains for transport to port, but a letter from company CEO John Tapics to the environmental assessment office rules that option out. Coal would instead by transported by truck via the Inland Island Highway to transport ships at either Port Alberni, Middle Point in Campbell River or Duke Point in Nanaimo. Another concern was the sulphur content of the coal. Broten said that, due to pollution laws, coal cannot be sold that is more than 1.5 per cent sulphur. Sulphur is a cause of acid rain. Bill Hamilton, now 84 years old, was employed decades ago at the former Tsable River mine site in Union Bay that worked the same coalfield Compliance is considering. Hamilton said he was told in 1958 that the mine was closing because the coal couldn't be sold due to its high sulphur content. "There's lots of coal," said Hamilton. "They had six-foot seams in that mine. "We had ships from China and Japan coming in here taking the coal, you know, 10,000 tonnes. It looked good and then all of a sudden they found out there was too much sulphur for the smelters." In fact, Hamilton said the coal from the Fanny Bay mine was so high in ash that it was used as a component in cement and, at one time, a coal briquette plant was set up at the minesite. "They tried everything," said Hamilton. "The people here tried burning them in their woodstoves and the soot was just unbelievable. "They experimented and did all sorts of things. It's too bad, but it was one of those things." Compliance Joint Venture's Raven coal project website can be found at www.theravenproject.ca, while the Comox Valley Coal Watch Coalition's website can be found at www.coalwatch.ca. Let’s talk coal mining” at the Fanny Bay Community Hall, 7793 Island Highway, on Tuesday November 24th at 7:15 PM The Comox Valley Water Watch Coalition has been asked by Compliance Coal, proponents of a major new coal mine for the Comox Valley, to participate in its Community Advisory Group. The request included a list of the company's conditions of participation. CVWWC has replied with its own conditions before the drinking water watchdog will attend more meetings held by the coal mine wannabe. The Coalition is insisting that it must be free to speak to the communities, government or the media without asking permission from the mine’s Community Advisory Group. The Coalition also insists that their attendance at meetings to get information should not be interpreted as working towards approval of the mine. “We must be able to report to the public on what we find out about coal mines,” says the Coalition. “Our unanswered questions about water are pretty simple,” said Delores Broten, speaking for the steering committee of the Coalition. “Where is the water to wash the coal coming from? How much water is used in the process per tonne of coal? and ,What is going to be done with the polluted water?” Since there is no groundwater legislation in BC, the Comox Valley Water Watch Coalition wants to know what Compliance is going to do to protect the drinking water of Ships Point and Fanny Bay. The first stage of this mine, the Raven stage, is going to extend for 7660 acres (3100 hectares) underground. What does that mean for all the water? The public can read all the information the CVWWC gathers, as well as the letters-to-the-editor which are not published in the papers, at www.coalwatch.ca . Comox Valley Water Watch Coalition is sponsoring a public community meeting for information and discussion, “Let’s talk coal mining” at the Fanny Bay Community Hall, 7793 Island Highway, on Tuesday November 24th at 7:15 PM. For More Information: www.coalwatch.ca Or phone: 250-335-0747 or Delores Broten, 250-339-6117

CVRD Water Open House June 11, 2009


C.V. Water Watch is asking you to attend:
The Comox Valley Regional District's WATER FORUM
Thursday, June 11th from 3:30 to 7 p.m. Florence Filberg Center

In attendance
– City of Courtenay, City of Comox, CVRD, B.C. Hydro, Ministry of Environment, VIHA, DFO, Timberwest, Comox Valley Water Watch, Courtenay Fish & Game Club, School District 71 students.
Find out about:

Water sources
Infrastructure
Water Efficiency
Water Consumption
Regional Water Strategy
Water Wise Program
Water Finances
Quality and treatment of water
Drinking Water Protection

Come out and get involved. Your Drinking Water needs your interest and participation.

Ask questions about
Can your drinking water sources meet the needs of future growth?
What is the 4-3-2-1?
Does your Water source meet the new 4-3-2-1 regulations set out by VIHA?
Are smaller communities going to have to meet the new 4-3-2-1 now, then tie into a regional water system and pay again later?
When do our rural communities tie into a Regional Water source?
What is the Regional Water source? Is it protected?
Are any of our drinking watersheds protected?
Are the Timber companies planning to subdivide land around Comox Lake ?, the drinking water suply for 38,000 people.
Is there really a private power operation application on the Cruickshank River, the largest tributary to Comox Lake? How will this affect the water supply? Are there going to be special regulations for IPP’s (Independent Power Projects) on watercourses which feed drinking water supplies?
What is a deep water intake? Why are we waiting to install one till 2019?
What type of pipes deliver water to your home? Are they asbestos?
Is there money being allocated for replacing these old and hazardous pipes all over the Region?
Are Water meters the answer? When will they be installed? How much will this cost?
If you are on a limited income, how will you be able to afford all of the new infrastructure costs coming your way? Who will pay these high prices for infrastructure needs?
Do you approve when local governments grant permission for a development, then indemnify themselves in the event the community runs out of Water?
Do you think proven water supplies need to be in place before developments are permitted?
What kinds of bylaws are in place to support water conservation? What more do we need to do to support local governments to enact bylaws to better conserve water?
Who do you call, when you see exsessive sprinkling by one of the municipalities on public land ?
Why can’t I re-use my grey water, or can I?
Can I treat my rain water system and use it for drinking water?
What are the water needs of our growing agricultural community to be able to produce our food supply?
We hope that you have read this list of questions and it has prompted you to ask even more. Ask how you can participate in the Regional Water plan. How can you REALLY get the citizens voice out there and heard when it comes to your Drinking Water ?

Hope to see you there. We will be bringing our 3D-watershed map!

Comox Valley Water Watch Steering Committee
Delores Broten
Kathleen Kinasewich
Linda Safford
Dawn Christen

Ground Water Wells -Aquifers

C.V. Water Watch - speaker Series

Manager of Nanaimo Regional Water Services to Speak on Cooperative Approach to Drinking Water and Watershed Protection.

On Thursday, April 2, Mike Donnelly, Manager of Water Services for the Regional Water District of Nanaimo, will speak on a new program in his district called Action for Water that is providing improved management and increased security of ground and surface water resources. The talk will be given at the Florence Filberg Seniors Lounge beginning at 7 pm. Hosted by the Comox Valley Water Watch Coalition, the event is open to the public and admission is by donation.

The Action for Water program was created over the last year to help address issues associated with impacts on the region’s water resources and to improve our approach to land use that would then assist in reducing further degradation," he says. "This was done with the help and guidance of a committee representing a variety of region-wide interests including Electoral Areas residents BC Ministry of Environment, the Vancouver Island Health Authority, the Islands Trust, local well drillers, forestry interests and conservation groups

"Population growth in the (Nanaimo) region along with existing land uses continues to put pressure on ground and surface water sources which impacts our watersheds and drinking water. These impacts have already led to negative changes in many watersheds and reduced and or contaminated ground water sources in a number of areas throughout the region," notes Donnelly

According to Kathleen Kinasewich, who heads the Comox Valley Water Watch Coalition, "It’s important to hear success stories from other regional districts, especially here on the Island. I think folks here will be greatly encouraged to learn more about Nanaimo’s program, and how residents, government and other interested parties came together to take action on water protection."

Donnelly currently oversees the operation of seven water systems and six sanitary sewer collection systems in his district ranging from small to medium sized operations with a total service population of approximately 15,000 people. In addition to the service provision aspect of Donnelly’s work, he is now responsible for the implementation of the Regional District’s newly established Drinking Water Protection service.

In addition to his 15 years of involvement in the management of public water systems, Donnelly has also managed the Region’s Liquid Waste and Solid Waste functions and was manager of Regional Transit for a number of years. He holds a Technical Diploma from the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

For more information on CVWWC and the presentation, contact:

waterwatchcoalition@gmail.com

or call 250-335-0747. Kathleen Kinasewich


Drinking Water Protection Plan



Drinking Water Protection Plan Needed

Novemeber 18, 2008

The Water Watch Coalition is asking you to support the development of a Drinking Water Protection Plan. If you value safe drinking water in the Comox Valley your letters of support are needed right now!
The Provincial Health officer has recommended the development of a Drinking Water Protection Plan (DWPP) for the Comox Valley Regional Water Supply. Under BC's Drinking Water Protection Act the plan would become an "Order" once it was approved by Mary Polak, Minster of Healthy Living and Sport (HL&S). A Drinking Water Protection Plan is simply an order from the Ministry of HL&S for our area to start working together on a plan to better protect our drinking water supply. This DWPP would enable our region to start working together in a transparent and inclusive planning process and would allow all stakeholders and consumers of drinking water in the Comox Valley to contribute to the plan. –i.e. we will make the plan.
A key advantage to an order for this plan is that once the plan is completed it would go to cabinet and what cabinet approves will become regulation and will then be implemented. Please note that this order would not dictate the contents of the plan, but simply ensure that the plan be completed by the community. Comox Valley Water Watch Coalition is asking citizens to write Minister Polak to say you support the development of a Drinking Water Protection Plan for the Comox Valley Regional Water Supply. Tell her the safety and security of our water supply is extremely important and that the Drinking Water Protection Plan will help achieve those objectives.
This is an urgent request to act right NOW. One paragraph saying you support the DWPP is all that is needed. Even if your house is not served by the Regional Water Supply you are affected when you drink water in town, at a friend’s, or at a public event.
Hard copy letters are much more effective but you can also contact the Minister by phone, fax or email.
Send your letter to:
Minister Mary Polak
PO Box 9067
STN PROV GOVT
Victoria BCV8W 9E9
Phone: 250 387-3504
Fax: 250 387-3420
E-mail the Minister at:HLS.Minister@gov.bc.ca

In addition to writing the Minister please send a copy of your letter to Water Watch Coalition at: waterwatchcoalition@gmail.com

Campbell River's tap water places fourth

For the second time in as many years, a B.C. municipality won a U.S. award for having the second tastiest tap water among entries from Canada and the U.S. The tap waters of three B.C. towns were among the top five winners. Clearbrook took a silver medal, followed by Elkford, which took bronze, and Campbell River, placing fourth. The awards came after weekend tastings at the annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting, which judged more than 100 waters from 23 U.S. states and 11 countries in various categories. "Obviously they've got a good well," Abbotsford mayor George Ferguson said Tuesday of the tap water of Clearbrook, which amalgamated with Abbotsford more than a decade ago. Dean McKerracher, mayor of Elkford, said he was pleased that his town's tap water -- drawn from a well -- took third place. "I'm very pleased and glad staff took the initiative to send it in," he said Tuesday. He said the nearby town of Sparwood won third place last year in the best tap water category, so Elkford decided to challenge the neighbouring town's claim on having the best-tasting tap water in the Elk Valley, located in the southeast corner of B.C. in the East Kootenay area of the Rocky Mountains. The winner of the tastiest tap water, for the third time in four years, was the town of Montpelier, Ohio. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, a former gold medal winner, ranked fifth among 29 tap waters entered from 13 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces. The tasting competition takes place each year at the Winter Festival of the Waters in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, which bills itself as home of the first warm-water spa in the U.S., discovered by former U.S. president George Washington. "Congratulations to all the good water out there in B.C.," water-tasting event producer Jill Klein Rone said Tuesday. "You have good water." She said the tastings were conducted by 14 judges, including journalists from the Washington Post and Baltimore Sun newspapers. Winners were chosen using a maximum 44-point rating in six categories: appearance (up to five points), odour (five points), flavour (up to 10 points), mouth feel (five points), after-taste (five points) and overall impression (up to 14 points). "It's like a wine testing," Rone explained of judging. "Some waters are coming from a pristine source. But others, like the water district of southern California, aren't pristine, so they're cleaning it up and delivering a good product." Contact: nhall@png.canwest.com

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Next upcoming meeting November 5th, 7-9pm @ Best Western Westerly Hotel in the Courtenay Room.

Legislation, Regulation, and Logging Practices –Does BC Have the Will to Protect Its Drinking Water?

On Monday, November 5th, from 7 – 9 pm, the Comox Valley Water Watch Coalition (CVWWC) will hold its next public education meeting. Featured guest will be Ted Mitravitz of Sechelt, one of the demonstrators, to share his story and lessons learned. The meeting will be held at Best Western Westerly Hotel in the Courtenay Room in Courtenay.

On July 11, five Sunshine Coast residents -- cheered on by supporters -- erected a barricade in front of a large road-building machine, effectively blockading further construction of a logging road and thereby temporarily preventing any logging of old growth forest in the Chapman Creek Watershed. Why was such action needed, and what events transpired since then to empower BC citizens and our elected leaders to provide protection of our drinking water sources?

Mitravitz, age 71, retired in 2002 and moved to Sechelt. He had worked for Vancouver Plywood Division of MacBlo for 27 years until the plant closed in March 1985. He retrained, working another 16 years in the maintenance department of the Vancouver Public Library. As a member of the International Workers Union during his first career, and then involved with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, he has a combined 43 years of union activism. He is now active with the Council of Senior Citizens' Organizations of BC (COSCO) -- the Sunshine Coast Branch. This group works together to help improve seniors' conditions and to raise awareness of issues of concern relating to seniors but ultimately the general public as well. Mitravitz is also a member of the Council of Canadians, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and the Sunshine Coast Conservation Society

The Chapman Creek Watershed has been a focal point of controversy regarding drinking water protection for years, pitting citizens against the logging company, with violations recorded, and legislators and health officials involved. Yet direct action was required last summer, and the battle is not over. What can Comox Valley citizens and political leaders learn about our province's will to put public health above private profit? Come to this informative session to learn more!

FMI information, contact CVWWC Coordinator Kathleen Kinasewich at 335-0747. Email:waterwatchcoalition@gmail.com