The Sunshine Coast Regional District’s decision to move to Stage 4 water restrictions this week was not unexpected, but the response from Vancouver Coastal Health to the SCRD’s Stage 4 home gardening tips was troubling, to say the least.
While Stage 4 bans all tap water use for any outdoor application, the SCRD was advising the public to save their food crops by using “clean grey water (e.g., water from a bathtub or sink) for watering outdoor plants and vegetables.”
When asked about that advice, Dr. Mark Lysyshyn, acting medical health officer for the Sunshine Coast, seemed to contradict it.
VCH would be concerned, he said, “with someone using grey water from the shower or washing dishes and putting it on food.” But isn’t that what we’re supposed to be doing? Dr. Lysyshyn also said it would be “problematic” if people used the water they shower in, but it would be OK to collect some water before actually stepping under the shower. Isn’t that cheating?
After talking to the VCH drinking water officer on Wednesday, SCRD acting chief administrative officer Angie Legault said the public would be given more specific information on best practices for using reclaimed water to irrigate food crops. Specifically, they will be told not to apply grey water directly on fruits or vegetables or near any source of drinking water or in areas where children play, and to be sure to thoroughly wash plants before eating them.
Apart from the impact on residential gardeners, Stage 4 will have a devastating effect on farms that are not eligible for the SCRD’s exemption. At a time when the SCRD is promoting an agricultural plan to ambitiously increase the region’s food production capacity, allowing crops to literally die in the ground seems, frankly, unbelievable.
But apparently at least one car wash will stay open.
Legault said it was her understanding that one car wash on the regional system is voluntarily closing, while staff has had discussions with another operator about reducing consumption. We also heard this week that the SCRD has been slow to repair broken water lines in Roberts Creek and Elphinstone, allowing water to gush for days in some cases. Perhaps there are water savings that the SCRD has not been aggressive enough in pursuing.
The SCRD’s current water use priorities are focused on water for human health, firefighting and environmental flows. We agree with Pratt Road farmer Chris Kelly’s comment that “food is health.”
We’re all about putting health first. In our view, Stage 4 rules fail to do precisely that and need to be seriously re-examined.
– John Gleeson
