The plot of the Stanley Kubrick film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb pivots around an insane U.S. general starting nuclear Armageddon out of a misguided devotion to the purity of water.
I can't see the Town of Gibsons getting quite so carried away about its confined aquifer as Brigadier-Gen. Jack D. Ripper, the Sterling Hayden character in the film, who suspects the fluoridation of America's drinking water is a Soviet plot to undermine the life essence.
Still, when you listen to some Gibsons councillors talk about the aquifer as "the mysterious unknown," and their voices tremble a little while saying it, I wouldn't bring up the word chlorination at that moment. They might not send in the bombers, but Coun. Charlene SanJenko in boxing gloves could be dangerous.
And then there's Coun. Dan Bouman. He's from Michigan, so the Ripper connection is perhaps more apt, and Dan loves the confined Gibsons aquifer so much that he was "overjoyed" by the final report on the Town's four-year aquifer-mapping study.
Dr. Strangelove jokes aside, it's a healthy fascination.
Lying beneath the unconfined Capilano Aquifer and capped by the Vashon Till, the Gibsons Aquifer extends from the bedrock base of Mount Elphinstone into the ocean. Depending on its depth and location, the water ranges in age from seven to 87 years old, and the older it is, the colder it is. It takes about nine years for it to travel from Upper to Lower Gibsons.
The aquifer recharges from three sources, the study found. The big one, still largely a mystery, is the mountain block recharge. The other two - local creeks and the surface aquifer -account for an estimated 45 per cent. These pose a real challenge for the Town, since the health of the watersheds and surface aquifer will have direct bearing on the health of the Gibsons Aquifer.
That's why public outreach comes first in the final report's long "to-do list," as Mayor Wayne Rowe called it. An aware public is the key to protecting this core asset. But it's still only the first of 15 major recommendations, all necessary and some very costly.
One example really jumps out. The aquifer produces an artesian flow from the Town's supply wells. When the pumps are turned off, the water keeps flowing and is being diverted into the storm sewers and dumped into the sea. That's enough water to service 500 residents, hydrogeologist Darren David, the study's lead researcher, told a packed house at Gibsons council on May 16.
Capturing that water for use in the Town system is a medium to long-term recommendation in the final report. Taking a chemical inventory and monitoring for contamination are shorter-term recommendations. Climate stations, monitoring wells, establishing a groundwater management zone, developing a groundwater management plan with the regional district -council definitely has its work cut out for it.
Judging by the turnout and applause in the gallery for David and his team, the people of Gibsons are at least onboard. Evidently they don't need to be told that they are sitting on top of an amazing prize.
