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NB: This is a short media article from a local newspaper in Sooke on Vancouver Island in British Columbia Canada.

[MP Keith] Martin Spouts off on National [Canada] Drinking Water Standards

What either trickles or flows out of our taps has prompted our Member of Parliament to ask the feds to work with the provinces to develop national drinking water standards. MP Keith Martin wants Ottawa to use the Walkerton Report (released in May in response to the seven deaths due to E. coli contaminated water in Walkerton, Ont.) to develop safe drinking water guidelines. His urgency stems from a number of areas in his Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca riding which are having problems accessing potable water. "Our area is a microcosm of what’s occurring across the country," said Martin, a physician. In the country, which has more fresh water than anywhere else in the world, the number of "boil water" notices continues to rise across Canada.

Martin said before more people die the federal and provincial governments have to act now and in tandem to ensure a basic right to life is protected. Elements of the Walkerton findings are suitable, Martin said but because the report did not deal with source protection, that aspect must be addressed. "Source to cup protection" is what Martin advocates.

That would be accomplished by scrupulous testing at water sites, ensuring those in charge of water systems are suitably trained, making sure the water conduits are safe and monitoring farming activities and their impact on the H2O.

Walkerton’s water system was not complying with provincial standards for years and Ontario Ministry of Environment regulators never bothered to enforce those standards according to an Oct. 31 editorial in the National Post. Even after the Walkerton tragedy, which cost the community an estimated $64.5-million, inspections were conducted and deficiencies at more than half of Ontario’s municipal water treatment plants were discovered.

Malahat-Juan de Fuca MLA Brian Kerr recognizes how important safe drinking water is but he said the life requirement does not come free. Our "culture of entitlement" makes us expect that we shouldn’t pay extra to have safe water, he said. To implement a program like Martin advocates will cost millions. Kerr said if a levy was placed on water bills it would help people understand that the resource does have a value and wasting or abusing it comes with a price. The levy would pay for improved surveillance and treatment. "When people get something for free that’s what they think it’s worth," Kerr said.

Sooke Mayor Ed Macgregor said water is almost a "motherhood issue" and he supports standards that would raise the safety level. He said most of the District of Sooke is fortunate in that it can tap into the Capital Region District Water system, where the liquid is tested frequently and gets treated at the Charters Creek station. He has "no qualms" about drinking the water from the Sooke Lake reservoir. It’s a bit different in the Juan de Fuca electoral area which is why Martin’s motion was seconded by the three Juan de Fuca electoral area candidates - Merell Harlow, Erik Lund and Ken Pungente.

Port Renfrew has arsenic in its water. Kemp Lake, which provides water for some Otter Point residents, is environmentally threatened and close to its threshold. East Sooke’s Seed Tree homeowners have wells that have run dry and fellow East Sooke Mt. Matheson residents have huge concerns about their watershed. The French Beach private system has faulty water pumps. "There’s problems all over the place," Lund said. Any development which happens in the area must have the services to sustain them, he said. That was echoed by Pungente who said that if more development is wanted, water has to be provided. "The land only gives us so much," he said. Water is an uncertain commodity and must be treated as such.

Harlow said when the Juan de Fuca Water Commission changed its boundaries, water utilities from Otter Point west were not included. There is no sounding board or body where concerns from those residents can be heard. The provincial government has downloaded many of its responsibilities to municipal governments and health authorities. The issues get swallowed up by a "black hole" Harlow said. She’s ready to work with the CRD bureaucrats to improve the Juan de Fuca situation.

Ministry of Health Services spokesperson Linda Mueller said the province is responsible for issuing and evaluating policies. The Vancouver Island Health Authority is responsible for putting the plans into practice.

Email Judith Burke at Waterose Environmental Services

• Sooke River Automated Water Quality Monitoring Project

• Testing the Waters Story in Sooke News Mirror, March 28, 2001 about the Automated Water Quality Monitoring Project

• Twelve Month Baseline Water Quality Study for Salmonids in the lower Sooke River Watershed Final Report by Waterose

• Twelve Month Baseline Water Quality Study for Salmonids in the lower Sooke River Watershed (Victoria Times Colonist Enviro News)

• Twelve Month Baseline Water Quality Study for Salmonids in the lower Sooke River Watershed (Sooke Mirror)

• Water Quality Project on Musqueam Salmon Stream in Urban Vancouver

• Analysis of Coliforms and Nutrients in surface waters flowing into Esquimalt Lagoon

• Water Quality Monitoring on Ayum Creek, a wild salmon and trout bearing stream, for Society for the Protection of Ayum Creek and Fisheries and Oceans, Canada

email Waterose for more information
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