Residents living above Highway 101 in Roberts Creek near Crow Road fear a logging cut block already underway may result in a loss of access to drinking water - so much so, they've formed a group and laid out some plans to lobby for different logging practices on Mount Elphinstone where residents rely on streams and wells for water.
Gerry Hills, spokesperson for the Mount Elphinstone water licence holders and well users association, said water levels in the streams and wells, that more than 300 homes rely on, are reaching new lows and clear cuts around the streams will likely make things worse.
"The issue is that where our water comes from is all intertwined and connected and the little tiny streams that connect with the big ones are all part of it and when it's clear cut and left for at least two years, most times, before it's replanted, it will kill the little rivulets. It will diminish our water and without water, we can't live there," she said. "Our creek is really, really low."
The cut block has three small creeks running through it in addition to Robinson Creek, which many residents who are unable to be connected to the Sunshine Coast Regional District's (SCRD) water supply draw water from. Robinson Creek has a buffer of trees around it that cannot be harvested, but the smaller creeks do not.
Hills said the association is now going to focus on lobbying SCRD directors, consulting with forest hydrologists, meeting with other community groups and asking B.C. Timber Sales (BCTS), which designs cut blocks and sells logging licences, for more sustainable logging practices.
Beyond the concern of decreased water supply, Hills, along with SCRD Roberts Creek director Donna Shugar said there is concern that erosion and changes in the physical environment may lead to landslides on the steep pitch of the mountain.
In November 1983, a culvert under a logging road became plugged with debris, creating a dam which gave way sending a debris slide down the mountain, severing the highway for two days and destroying part of Lower Road.
"Twenty feet of Lower Road fell apart, fell off, disappeared and had to be replaced. It's amazing," Shugar said.
She said concerns about logging on Mount Elphinstone are not limited to the residents of Crow Road as the block in question is just one of many that will eventually be harvested, something she said should be addressed in a comprehensive resource plan for the entire mountain. She added that changes to the way logging is done would be better than eliminating logging altogether.
"The objection is not to logging per se. The objection is to clear cutting, so if B.C. Timber Sales was amenable to doing a more ecological, selective kind of logging system, I don't think people would object," she said.
Shugar said the SCRD will soon revive past efforts to work with the province and BCTS to create a memorandum of understanding on logging Mount Elphinstone that addresses the concerns of all parties.
Don Hudson, acting timber sales manager of BCTS, said the agency understands the concerns over water, but he does not believe that this cut block will negatively affect water supplies.
"Generally when you cut timber down, you end up creating more water for the systems so it's rare that harvesting trees results in less water being available for people," he said.
Hudson conceded that some of the streams in the cut block do not have buffers of trees around them, but said the block has a large reserve of trees remaining in place, probably more than would be required.
"I know the block meets the standards of the day and we are well aware of the environmental interests in that area of the world and we tend to be pretty conservative with the prescriptions that we employ," he said. "We're as concerned as anybody about water quality. The last thing we want to do is impact anybody's drinking water quality, absolutely."
Hudson said BCTS would be amenable to inviting a representative of the community for a joint inspection of the block as work progresses.
