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First detected in 2013, the Pacific Ocean Blob was a large-scale marine heat wave that extended from Alaska and down the B.C. coast to Mexico. It lasted until 2016. A long-lasting ridge of high pressure created a large, warm and nutrient-deficient body of water “We examined sea surface temperature in the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans over the period 1950-2014. We found that temperatures had never been higher. When there is persistent warming over decades, there will be more extremes,” stated Hillary Scannell.

“A long career provides perspective. A generation ago, water supply managers in B.C. could reasonably anticipate that three months of water storage would be sufficient to maintain supply during a dry summer. Today, however, a 6-month drought is a very real likelihood. Communities need double the storage volume. Everything changed in 2015 when extremes became the norm. The climate is changing and the water balance is out of balance. In engineering terms, we have small margins of safety for water storage and therefore limited resiliency to adapt,” stated Kim Stephens.

“For a growing number of municipalities, running out of water is no longer hypothetical. Last fall, years of drought pushed Dawson Creek’s water supplies to critical levels, forcing the city to declare a state of emergency and pursue costly emergency measures. The Sunshine Coast and the Village of McBride declared water emergencies in 2023 and 2024. And last month, the Syilx Okanagan Nation declared a watershed emergency across the Okanagan and neighbouring watersheds. These aren’t isolated incidents. Water insecurity is now a fact of life,” stated Vickey Brown.

“The Water Act had evolved over many years. We recognized the limitations of the Water Act. And I really appreciated that government was willing to go out on a limb to replace it. We looked at replacing priority rights with a different form of water allocation. But the decision was, continue the foundation of priority rights. The WSA respects priority rights BUT there is a provision that if you get into a situation where communities rely on a small amount of water for essential household needs, there is a provision to allow that to happen,” stated Valerie Cameron.

“If you were to do a search of hydraulic connection, you would find it worked in through the entire Water Sustainability Act. You cannot impact a stream nor an aquifer hydraulically connected to a stream. But even if the FITFIR system is there, there is still that essential household use and critical environmental flows that need to be protected before you start going down the seniority line to cut water use. So, if there is not enough flow in the stream and the Comptroller sets a critical environmental flow,, that takes priority over the oldest licence,” stated Mike Wei.

“Politics prevents you from doing the right thing because of the political lens that is put on everything. It was frustrating when I tried to bring the reality of the clearcut logging situation before my colleagues. And getting ignored because it did not fit the political agenda. Nobody seemed to care about the science. In the political world, it is based on whatever the flavour of the month is rather than what is right. Politicians ignore what they do not understand. By ignoring the consequences of clearcut logging, they put themselves in a pretty serious predicament,” stated Mike Morris.

In the story behind the story, Mark Angelo explains why his title is River Magic; why the Fraser River is the heart and soul of BC; and why Guichon Creek in Burnaby shows never give up. “The Fraser River has been such a big part of my life and a river that is dear to my heart. In 1975, I spent the entire summer paddling down the entire 1375-kilometre length of the Fraser River. I was so enamoured with the river, its powers, its beauty, its diversity. Ever since, I have referred to and felt passionately about the Fraser River as literally the heart and soul of BC,: stated Mark Angelo.

Lynn Kriwoken is a former Executive Director in the BC Ministry of Environment. In government, Lynn was a leader who made a difference behind the scenes with her vision and ability to make things happen. She was the Living Water Smart champion, and her passion and leadership drove it. “We took a different approach with British Columbia’s Water Plan. Rather than a boring, bureaucratic plan that starts with a vision, mission, goals, actions and words and more words…we started with a design. It was a different approach for government,” stated Lynn Kriwoken.

“Climate change has aggravated an existing vulnerability related to seasonal supply of water in British Columbia. Over time, and as the population has grown, the safety factor has been shrinking. While it rains a lot, we do not have an abundance of supply when demand is greatest. In 2015, Western North America clearly crossed an invisible threshold into a different hydrometeorological regime. Low snowpack and lingering impacts from on-going drought in recent years are pointing towards elevated drought hazards for this upcoming spring and summer,” stated Kim Stephens.

“If you are importing food, you are importing water. It is that simple. Also, our agricultural land in BC really is not as secure as everyone thinks. You can see all kinds of activities that do not support food production that are going on within the Agricultural Land Reserve. BC has two powerful tools for achieving food security. The Agricultural Land Use Inventory program is input to the Agriculture Water Demand Model. This is a powerful combination. These tools yield accurate data about agricultural land use and water need in all regions of BC,” stated Ted van der Gulik.