Heat and wildfires are affecting Hope already this summer, with four recent local wildfires and a current heat wave warning.
And with drought concerns increasing across B.C., all water bottling companies are being asked to reduce their water extraction activity. This includes BlueTriton Brands (formerly known as Nestlé Waters North America) who extract water near Hope.
“We have asked them (water bottling companies) to reduce their water use at this time and are actively monitoring the conditions. And we won’t hesitate to issue temporary protection orders to restrict water if necessary,” said Bowinn Ma, the Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (MOEMCR). “Water bottling companies, like all other industrial water users, must follow legislation, regulations, bylaws, and restrictions including when and if they can extract water from resources.”
The decision was announced during a press conference, on Tuesday morning (July 18), that provided an update on the wildfire situation in B.C. During the conference, Ma said that she also acknowledges that many communities are reliant on bottled water right now, whether due to evacuation or localized water-boil advisories. However, she said that everyone still needs to be doing their part to mitigate the impact of the drought and wildfires — regardless of whether they’re corporations, industries, people, communities, or governments.
BlueTriton said they are happy to abide by this decision.
“We share Minister Ma’s concern about sustainable water supply for the public and will abide by science-based restrictions the government may require,” said Andreanne Simard, the BlueTriton Brands natural resource manager. “BlueTriton Brands has a very sophisticated system of monitoring the aquifer we use and share that information with the local community and B.C. government when asked. We take less than one per cent of the available water in the aquifer.
“We also recognize Minister’s statement about the need for bottled water for first responders and communities in wildfire and other emergency situations and have donated water where it’s needed for many years; we will continue to do so with current situations as needed.”
As of July 13, two-thirds of B.C.’s water basins are at Drought Level 4 or 5.
For over two decades water has been, and continues to be, extracted from the Kawkawa Lake aquifer, first by Nestlé and now by BlueTriton.
Previously, the NDP criticized the water extraction near Hope by Nestlé, who owned the factory until 2021, following the completion of its North American sector being acquired by “One Rock Capital Partners, LLC (“One Rock”), in partnership with Metropoulos & Co., from Nestlé S.A.” It was then renamed to BlueTriton.
Currently there are 391 active fires burning in B.C., with a total of 1183 wildfires (since April 1) having burnt a total of 1.39 million hectares. Due to these fires, 150 people are under evacuation orders and 3400 people are under an evacuation alert in the northwest, northeast, and Cariboo regions of the province. One BC Wildfire Service firefighter, Devyn Gale, also lost her life last Thursday (July 13) while battling the wildfires.
READ MORE: ‘Long, complex and challenging’: worsening drought feeds wildfire risk
@KemoneMoodley
kemone.moodley@hopestandard.com
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