Jeri Patterson, a farmer in West Sechelt, told Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) directors last Thursday about a chance encounter with an old friend she ran into at a grocery store recently. She described the 88-year-old as a “phenomenal” gardener.
“So what are you planning to garden this year?” she asked him.
His response: “After three years of having to watch my garden die and go without fresh food, I’m not planting a garden this year.”
The anecdote punctuated the tail end of Patterson’s presentation at the March 28 SCRD board meeting, and drove home her case for why food growers should be allowed to water their crops during drought.
“[The bylaw] is extremely restrictive to food production and it is extremely restrictive to farms,” she told directors.
SCRD’s drought management plan bylaw doesn’t contain provisions to allow farmers to continue watering their crops during Stage 4, including crops in greenhouses. SCRD has implemented Stage 4 restrictions in three of the past four years.
Other regional districts aren’t as heavy-handed with their restrictions, such as the Regional District of Nanaimo, which Patterson used for comparison. One of its exemptions states, “A person may water vegetable gardens or fruit trees at any day and time.”
“This is what we need,” Patterson said.
Sechelt Mayor Darnelda Siegers mentioned that staff are already researching drought management plans used in other regions and how they deal with agriculture exemptions. They have also sought advice from the SCRD’s Agricultural Advisory Committee. “We hear you and we hear the community,” she said.
Following Patterson’s presentation, West Howe Sound director Mark Hiltz raised the question of how to define farms. Patterson suggested properties that have achieved farm classification according to BC Assessment and farms that operate on Agricultural Land Reserve should be exempt, adding that the regional district could establish its own definitions.
Patterson also raised the problem of timing in response to Elphinstone director Donna McMahon’s acknowledgment that farmers are concerned.
“This is the planting season,” Patterson said. “We need to know how much water we’re going to have or not, now,” she said, adding that she lost up to thousands of dollars worth of product last year and has been forced to grow non-food crops such as Christmas trees to deal with water restrictions.
Area F director Mark Hiltz also asked about supporting farmers to use alternative water sources such as rainwater collected in cisterns. Patterson was wary, because water quality must comply with Canadian guidelines for food crops. “When it comes to food products, we’re limited,” she said.
