Vancouver Sun publishes 10-part series on “Water: Life blood of BC” – part 5 delves into why large aquifers are crucial to water systems in the Fraser Valley and have plenty of capacity
Note to Reader:
Climate change threatens to make this summer’s drought look minor. In September 2015, the Vancouver Sun newspaper is publishing a 10-part series of articles about “Water: Life blood of BC”. The series theme is how BC uses water and what the future has in store for our waterways. Published on September 17, the fifth installment delves into the reasons why large aquifers are crucial to water systems in the Fraser Valley and have plenty of capacity.
Irrigation Requirements to Achieve Food Security in BC (Image Credit: Ted van der Gulik, Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC)
Underground Lakes Water the Fraser Valley
In the fifth installment, writer Kelly Siniski states that the Fraser Valley has 28,000 hectares of farmland, most of it in Abbotsford, which is watered mainly by the complex ditch system installed in the early 1980s to serve farmers on the Sumas and Matsqui Prairies. She quotes Ted van der Gulik, formerly the Senior Engineer with the Ministry of Agriculture and now President of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC, as follows:
While there are few farmers who have water licences, most of those in Abbotsford and Chilliwack rely on ditches to irrigate their crops from the Fraser River. Unlike Metro Vancouver, which could face problems with sea water infiltration in the local irrigation supply in Delta and Richmond, or limited water supply in Surrey from the Serpentine or Nicomekl rivers, the Fraser Valley is well served by the river, which is still high enough to serve as an irrigation source.
Agricultural Water Demand Model
In December, at the Feast AND Famine Workshop that will be held in Richmond, Ted van der Gulik will explain the facts about agriculture’s water use and how it may change in the Lower Fraser.
“Agriculture is a large fresh water user and the demand for water will only increase as summers get longer, hotter and drier,” states Ted van der Gulik. “The Ministry of Agriculture has developed a Water Demand Model that can determine agriculture’s water requirements today and in the future using global climate models stretching to the year 2100. The presentation will provide information on how water demand is expected to change. This takes into account potential cropping changes, irrigation system improvements and a changing climate.”
To Learn More:
To read the fifth installment in the 10-part series, click on Large aquifers are crucial to water systems in the Fraser Valley and have plenty of capacity.
The Partnership for Water Sustainability and Irrigation Industry Association (IIABC) have released a Program Overview for the Feast AND Famine Workshop that provides a detailed picture of what to expect in each of the four modules that comprise the workshop day. To download a copy, click on Feast AND Famine! – Solutions and Tools in Response to a Changing Climate.
