There is no greater source of pride for the Town of Gibsons than the internationally recognized drinking water drawn from its aquifer. Paris has its Eiffel Tower, Rome has its Colosseum, London has its Big Ben, and Gibsons has its aquifer water – of such high quality that it doesn’t even require chlorination.
Gibsons’ water is therefore the last thing anyone would ever want to tamper with, tinker with, move in on, or in any way threaten without risking the wrath of South Fletcher Road and the watchful, water-wise, unchlorinated population of the town.
Enter the geniuses at the Sunshine Coast Regional District. After dragging its feet for years on the search for desperately needed new water sources, the SCRD drew up a list last fall of four test well sites, including one on Mahan Road that would drill into the Gibsons Aquifer.
Gibsons council immediately opposed the idea, with Mayor Wayne Rowe saying on Nov. 7: “In my mind this is actually a much greater threat to the Gibsons Aquifer than anything that we’ve been dealing with up to this point.” Then the Town got proactive, developing a plan to wean its Zone 3 area off Chapman water and extend its municipal system to the entire town, thus easing some of the pressure on the regional water supply.
Despite that concession and ignoring Mayor Rowe’s repeated call to cease and desist, SCRD directors voted last Thursday to proceed with the Mahan Road test well site.
Outtakes from the committee meeting do not paint a pretty picture. There was something unseemly about the mayor of Sechelt, now also sitting as SCRD chair, challenging Gibsons’ manager of infrastructure services on the Town’s long-term water needs. Other directors sounded pushy and condescending, suggesting the SCRD was doing Gibsons a big favour by acting against its wishes. An attempt to offer Gibsons a modicum of assurance was shot down in flames. And all the talk about collaboration rang hollow as this numerically superior body forced its will on a single member regarding a matter of supreme importance to that member.
In the three years since a summer drought plunged the region into a severe water crisis, the SCRD has taken no meaningful steps to increase the water supply. The obvious solution of building a reservoir has now, finally, almost reached the feasibility study stage, to be followed by a desktop study stage. In other words, they’ve done nothing. Using strong-arm tactics on Gibsons doesn’t change that.
But it does bring real risks. It could profoundly alienate Gibsons and cause a political rupture whose effects will have serious implications for regional governance and regional harmony.
Do not – and we repeat – do not mess with Gibsons’ water.
