On-Farm Water Management Workshop

If the things you can depend on are death and taxes, the one thing you cannot depend on is the weather.  This workshop, held on March 5, 2016 at the Glenwood Hall, provided regionally-specific information on irrigation methods and equipment.  Andrew Petersen, an Irrigation Specialist with the Ministry of Agriculture, and Dick Ford from Highlands Irrigation shared their expertise on provincial drought patterns, irrigation efficiency and various irrigation systems.  Water at the right time and in the right amount is essential to crop health and productivity; too much or too little not only negatively impacts production, but can also lead to environmental degredation.

In addition, the BC government is in the process of finalizing regulations for our new Water Sustainability Act.  The new legislation is for both surface and ground water, and affects all agricultural producers.  Jennifer Vigano, a Water Policy Advisor was there from the Ministry of Environment to talk about the changes and answer questions.
Farm Irrigation Systems - Brochures
Water Sustainability Act - Important Links
Water licence query tool - allows you to find out who has licences on a source, if there are applications on a source or to print a scanned water licence document - http://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/wtrwhse/water_licences.input
 
BC Laws – the consolidated statute and regulations can be found here - http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/content/complete/statreg/901199259/1401584569/?xsl=/templates/browse.xsl
 
Information about the Water Sustainability Act and Engagement, including links to the Act (the Bill) and Regulations (the OICs) – https://engage.gov.bc.ca/watersustainabilityact/
 
BC Government water website – http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/air-land-water/water

WELLS database - enables all groundwater users to register their wells (particularly important for the domestic groundwater users) -- http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/air-land-water/water/water-science-data/water-data-tools