To: IPPBC Members

From: Brian James, IPPBC Director and our rep on Water Highway BC

The Vancouver Sun article on February 20 entitled “Industry upset over cuts to water monitoring” included that statement “the provincial government’s recent decision to eliminate 20 per cent of the water-monitoring stations around the province...”

I would like to take this opportunity to update that statement with some good news. 

Earlier this week BC Environment Minister Barry Penner informed the IPPBC that “I’ve secured the provincial share of funding through the Ministry of Environment for fiscal 2006/07, and in a meeting with the new federal minister last Friday I secured a commitment that the 50 stations scheduled to close on April 1 will not close”.

The article below from the Prince George Citizen provides more details.

This is indeed good news for this coming fiscal year.  IPPBC and Water Highway BC have expressed concern over possible loss of hydrometric stations in the province-wide network and will continue to work to encourage the provincial and federal governments to appropriately fund and support our valuable Hydrometric Network for the future.   

Water-monitoring stations saved from closure

Prince George Citizen

Tue 21 Feb 2006

Mark Nielsen

Funding* should be in place to keep all 450 water-monitoring stations open for another fiscal year when the provincial budget is released today, says B.C. environment minister Barry Penner.

Water Highways B.C., a broad-based society whose membership includes resource industries, had released a list of 50 stations, 20 per cent of the province's network, it said will be shut down as a cost-saving measure. About half of those 50 stations are in northern B.C.

It costs about $5 million to run the network, 80 per cent of which is paid for by the federal and provincial governments, and the rest is covered by industry, local government and First Nations.

Between inflation and reduced funding from Ottawa, Penner said the system has faced a funding squeeze, but added he met Friday with federal environment minister Rona Ambrose about the issue and came away convinced Ottawa will cover its share.

"The minister and her deputy minister made a commitment to me on Friday that those 50 or so monitoring stations will not close as had been planned on April 1," Penner said.

One challenge is making sure there are enough qualified people to operate the stations. Negotiations are also ongoing, Penner said, for establishing a longer-term funding model to replace year-by-year allocations and provide some predictability.

The stations act as an early-warning system for knowing if there will be too much or too little water and the data they produce help determine fish counts and give farmers, loggers and miners information to help in their activities.

"I do recognize the importance of this monitoring activity in this province," Penner said. "We do have some very diverse and complex topography in British Columbia and water is absolutely crucial to our well-being."

* Barry informed IPPBC that it is the provincial share of the funding that has been committed.