Whereas effective stewardship of watersheds is critical for the sustenance, health, and wellbeing of current and future generations of British Columbians; And whereas the lack of water-use plans hinders the feasibility of maintaining healthy aquifers, stable riverbanks, and the prevention of ice dams for the safety and security of neighbouring communities: Therefore it be resolved that UBCM request that the Province of BC fund the cost of hydrologists to determine an accurate measurement of beds in major rivers across BC, as well as provide stable funding to groups with projects relating to advancing watershed sustainability.
Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy The Province is committed to the sustainable management of land and water in BC. New management tools within the Water Sustainability Act WSA have the potential to address land-based activities that may contribute to sediment runoff and downstream impacts on river systems. Provincial and regional hydrologists play a significant role in water management across BC through a broad range of programs and activities, including WSA implementation, watershed restoration and conservation activities, and flood and drought management. WSA s.43 enables water objectives to be established for a watershed, stream, aquifer, or other specified area, feature, or matter to help sustain water quality, water quantity, andor aquatic ecosystems. Once objectives are in place, public sector decision makers can be required to consider them in decisions and local government decision makers in planning. The WSA also enables the development of water sustainability plans which may include consideration of uses of land or resources that affect water. Such plans, once accepted by the Province, may establish requirements on provincial government, local government and other public sector decision makers. As part of its COVID-19 economic recovery plan, the Province allocated 27M in stimulus funding to help restore critical watersheds and habitat across BC. This funding will help improve the condition of watersheds while putting British Columbians back to work. The Province provides ongoing financial support to stewardship groups directly through the Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program, https:www2.gov.bc.cagovcontentenvironmentresearch-monitoring-reportingm… and indirectly through financial support to the BC Lake Stewardship Society, which supports local stewardship groups. The Province supports water stewardship by making federal and provincial water data https:www2.gov.bc.cagovcontentenvironmentresearch-monitoring-reportingm… available and accessible. It also makes third party data accessible through data sharing agreements https:www2.gov.bc.cagovcontentenvironmentair-land-waterwaterwater-scien… that improve the geographic coverage of water quality, groundwater, hydrometric, and snow data. With respect to active riverbeds where erosion and deposition is affecting flood risks, the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund CEPF https:www.ubcm.caENmainfundinglgpscommunity-emergency-preparedness-fund… is currently available to local authorities and First Nations. The fund supports work to update existing river profiles, flood maps and flood mitigation plans. For active rivers with frequently changing geomorphology and adjacent communities at risk of flooding, such updates should ideally be reviewed once every 10 years using LiDAR and hydraulic modelling tools, or more frequently if major events result in changes to channel geometry. For smaller communities, the level of effort and cost to complete such detailed studies on a regular basis can be a challenge. The province is also currently developing a Flood Risk Strategy to help set directions for continuous improvements in building flood resilience across BC along with other orders of government.