Oliver M. Brandes, POLIS Water Sustainability Project Lead, has been appointed to support the review of better source water protection in B.C.’s Hullcar Aquifer. George Heyman, B.C. Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, made the announcement earlier this month.
Pollution in the Hullcar Aquifer, which supplies drinking water to about 150 residents, has been the subject of recent national attention. For over two years, its nitrate levels have exceeded the maximum allowed under the Canadian Drinking Water Guidelines. Contamination in the Hullcar Aquifer has been linked to agricultural operations in the watershed and is of major concern to local residents.
Oliver will provide strategic advice and oversee aspects of this government review. He will also lead a team that will make recommendations to Heyman to ensure that best practices for the agricultural sector are aligned with an explicit emphasis on ensuring safe, clean drinking water for all British Columbians. Recommendations will also focus on the importance of sustainable water management and governance as a priority for the province at large; this wider provincial perspective will build off the recent proposal set out by POLIS in the July 2017 brief A Revitalized Water Agenda for British Columbia’s Circular Economy.
The Ministry of Environment issued several pollution abatement orders to farms in the Hullcar Valley in May 2016 to address the storage and spreading of agricultural waste, but drinking water quality still remains an outstanding concern and must be addressed as part of a comprehensive and robust solution.
Oliver is already an established technical advisor to the Province with respect to the development of the provincial water policy and the ongoing development and implementation of the Water Sustainability Act, which he has been involved in since 2005.
The terms of reference for the Hullcar Aquifer review have been posted to the ministry’s website and the public are invited to provide input to the review online until Aug. 31st, 2017.
The review will be used to inform the development of future regulations and help provide innovative solutions to protect water quality. Findings from the review will be posted publicly on the ministry’s website.