Details

WHEREAS agricultural dams are significant resources for water storage for food producers in certain regions of British Columbia, and climate change with temperature increases and hydrological shifts will make these water sources even more important in future;

AND WHEREAS the Dam Safety Regulation specifies requirements for owners to hire engineers to inspect and develop plans to maintain these dams based on the level of risk:

AND WHEREAS these requirements are complex, onerous, and prohibitively expensive to dam owners, and the level of risk depends in part on development downstream which is beyond the control of the dam owner:

AND WHEREAS agricultural dams provide shared values to society, including recreational values, ecological values as they provide habitat for fish and wildlife, and water sources for forest firefighting:

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NCLGA and UBCM lobby the Province to work with agricultural dam owners to assist them in meeting the requirements of the Dam Safety Regulation in order that these water storage resources are safely preserved for food production and other values into the future.

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NCLGA and UBCM lobby the Province to fairly apportion the cost of inspecting and maintaining agricultural dams in a manner which takes into account other shared values, and the level of development downstream from the dams.

Responses

UBCM Comments:

The UBCM membership has not previously considered a resolution asking the provincial government to assist owners of agricultural dams to meet the requirements of the Dam Safety Regulation; nor have members asked the Province to apportion the cost of inspecting and maintaining agricultural dams “in a manner which takes into account other shared values, and the level of development downstream from the dams.”