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by Carla Moss
Ha-Shilth-Sa Writer
Sept. 7, 2006
Tofino - If you eat out
at a fine restaurant in Tofino over the coming weeks you may find yourself
being served on paper plates with plastic forks because that's one way
some businesses are saving water in Tofino during this time of water crisis.
The good news for local businesses is that they're open.
After a week of wild rumor, panic and daily media scrums Tofino's water crisis has stabilized, at least for the time being. On Friday, September 1st Mayor John Fraser announced that businesses could remain open over the Labour Day weekend and into the coming weeks on the condition that the community as a whole uses no more than 250,000 gallons of municipal water per day until further notice. In a warning sent out to all business owners, if the consumption exceeds the 250,000 gal/day limit, "the District will provide three hours notice that commercial users must shut down or have theri service disconnected."
At an emergency council meeting August 31st in Tofino, Mayor Fraser said that water consumption had been between 450,000 and 500,000 gallons per day with peaks at 600,000 gallons. Meanwhile, water levels in the supply creeks located on Meares had dropped significantly and was no longer servicing the demand. In an interview September 4th, Mayor Fraser said that figures he had regarding water flow on August 31st were from the town engineer, since government hydrology reports have shown that the flow was not quite as low as originally thought and is in fact approximately 470,000 gallons/day, but still unsustainable at the pre-crisis consumption levels.
Fraser said government hydrologists will be coming every Wednesday until the crisis is past to test the water flows on Meares Island.
If new water supplies quit filling the Sharp Creek and Ginnard reservoirs and the storage tanks, even if all were completely full Tofino would be completely dry within 3-4 days said Mayor Fraser. Allowing the tanks to run dry, he said, is not an option because of impacts to the hydraulics. For example, the fresh water from Meares Island is piped across to Tofino by undersea water lines. If those lines go dry salt water infiltration is possible.
Mayor Fraser said the District was aware the water resources in the area were being stressed, just from common sense, "we were using a lot of water and it obviously hadn't rained for a long time but flows seemed to be keeping up."
That was until 8:30pm Monday August 28 when Fraser was notified that the water volume in the storage tank Tofino uses for fire protection was going down fast and that there wasn't enough water refilling it from the Sharp Creek reservoir. The water flow had become so slow, Fraser said they could only use one pump because that's all the water that was coming in at the time.
On August 29th, the District of Tofino ordered all accommodations and food services to close by Friday. September 1st, and a boil water advisory was issued for those receiving water from the Ginnard reservoir, which is those south of Industrial Way. In their press release, the Vancouver Island Health Authority states, "testing revealed that water volumes moving through the treatment plant are not allowing for proper chlorine residual in the alternate water source from Ginnard Creek reservoir. Non-chlorinated water is at higher risk for diseases such as Cryptosporidium, E-coli and Giardia. Water must be brought to a full boil for two minutes.
Many businesses worried about the impact the loss of sales over the Labour Day weekend would have on them, especially with winter looming around the corner.
Still, many such as Tin Wis, Duffin Cove, House of Himwitsa and the Wickaninnish Inn chose to initiate the process of shutting down operations voluntarily, laying off employees and cancelling reservations.
Then came the wild rumors and emotional roller coaster rides peaking at an Aug. 31st Special Meeting of the Tofino Council. Local residents and business people argued, yelled and banged on the windows to be let in once the meeting room had been filled to capacity.
During the meeting developer Chris Lefeve put $50,000 on the table to bring in tanker trucks to haul water from Ucluelet to be pumped directly into the District's water system. Stating this was the first time he had heard this offer, Mayor Fraser and the Tofino Council moved to accept, with "subject tos" including Ucluelet be willing to provide the water, and the trucks meet the Health Inspector's approval.
The exhale was audible throughout the Tofino business community when news of the District's announcement allowing businesses to remain open was released. Many local businesses explored methods to conserve water to keep community-wide consumption at 250,000 gall/day. Methods adopted include the use of paper plates and plastic cutlery, providing guests with boiled water, closing hot tubs and washing wetsuits in a saltwater/vinegar combination.
Consumption levels had dropped August 31st to 258,000 gallons then on September 1st dropped further to 170,000 gallons. According to District of Tofino's website, 200,00 gallons were used September 3rd.
Mayor Fraser attributed the water shortage partly to rapid increases in consumption with the boooming tourism business and a shortage of storage facilities for water but primarily to the fact the we are experiencing the driest August on record and changing weather patterns demonstrated by the fact that we're not even seeing fog in the mornings as we once did.
Fraser said that the
only thing that can really end the water shortage in Tofino in the short
term is rain. Environment Canada's forecasts indicate the water shortage
could last another 4-6 weeks.
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Copyright Ha-Shilth-Sa Newspaper,
published by the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council. Reproduction of this article
or photographs, in whole or in part, is illegal without the written consent
of Ha-Shilth-Sa Newspaper (hashilthsa@nuuchahnulth.org)
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