By ROY WOOD
Councillor Jack Bennest argued to fellow council members and senior town staff Monday about the need to have a drought management plan in place before conditions demand water-use restrictions.
In a handout to council and staff, Bennest said, “Drought management plans should be developed before conditions require their use.
“Because of the potentially severe socio-economic and environmental impacts of droughts, emotions can run very high during these events. Therefore, planning well in advance of a drought will allow more time for thoughtful, rational and comprehensive planning than when a community is already experiencing a drought.”
Such plans, Bennest wrote, are important for minimizing the impact of water shortages and for managing demand and reducing consumption.
At Monday’s council committee meeting, Bennest asked operations director Shawn Goodsell if any progress has been made on creating a drought management plan. Goodsell responded that staff has been waiting for assessments of snow packs and aquifer levels before taking any action.
At a meeting in late July, Goodsell recommended that council consider moderate water restrictions in the town, such as alternate day, nighttime lawn watering. Council voted against the idea, making Oliver one of the very few BC jurisdictions without water-use restrictions last summer.
Council opted to revisit the issue early this spring when snow pack data is available.
On Monday, Bennest reiterated his desire for a “made-in-Oliver plan” to deal with drought situations rather than accepting something from, for example, the Okanagan Basin Water Board (OBWB) headquarters in Kelowna.
Last October, Bennest defended Oliver’s water conservation record against apparent criticism of Oliver’s water conservation from OBWB executive director Anna Warwick Sears. Bennest said at the time the criticism was unwarranted and suggested the water board may not “fully understand our water system.”
He also said: “We need to design a drought plan, and we will.”
On Monday, Bennest pointed out that such management plans utilize a series of drought severity stages, which trigger a corresponding set of predetermined responses.
Council took no action regarding Bennest’s presentation. He said at the full council meeting later Monday his intent is to keep the drought management plan process moving forward.