Water Stewardship Information Sources

Citation BC Forest Practices Board. 2014. Community Watersheds: From Objectives to Results on the Ground, Special Investigation. BC Forest Practices Board. FPB/SIR/40.
Organization BC Forest Practices Board
URL http://www.bcfpb.ca/sites/default/files/reports/SIR40-Community-Watersheds-From-Objectives-to-Results-on-the-Ground.pdf
Abstract/Description or Keywords Drinking water is of paramount concern to British Columbians. Government regulates the safe and
reliable supply of drinking water primarily under the Drinking Water Protection Act. However,
additional laws are in place to protect drinking water while carrying out activities like mining,
forestry, range use and oil and gas development on Crown land. The law that regulates forest and
range activities on Crown land is called the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA).
In the FRPA legislation, government sets rules that apply to all forest and range activities on the
ground. Most harvesting in the provincial forest is conducted by licensees with a government
approved forest stewardship plan (FSP). In the FSP, licensees propose results or strategies consistent
with government’s objectives.
This special investigation is about how well forestry and range use provides for the protection of
drinking water as required under FRPA. The investigation focuses on how the requirements for
drinking water are being met in a sample of 466 designated areas, referred to as community
watersheds. These areas are designated because government decided the watersheds require special
forest management for the protection of drinking water.
The investigation sampled 48 of the 131 community watersheds where some amount of forest
harvesting has occurred under FRPA. Investigators examined how each forest licensee working in
those watersheds and required to have an FSP, addressed government’s community watershed
objective and followed through with the commitments in their plans. In 12 of the 48 watersheds in
the sample, investigators field-assessed watershed condition and determined whether forest and
range practices complied with rules on the ground. In this investigation, the Board also explored
whether the legislation provides clear direction to forest and range users; whether government is
monitoring forest and range practices on the ground; and how government decides which
watersheds need special forest management.
The Board’s investigation found several significant weaknesses and some positive aspects in how
drinking water is protected in community watersheds.
Clarity of FRPA’s requirements and approval of forest stewardship plans by government
• Some legal requirements for the protection of drinking water in FRPA are too limited in scope or
unclear.
• When government approved the FSPs examined in the 48 sample watersheds, it did not always
ensure the content of the plans related to community watersheds met the requirements of FRPA.
For instance, 3 of the 471 approved FSPs examined did not address the community watershed
objective. Also, not all commitments made in the plans were measurable or verifiable as
required. This means it may be difficult for government to enforce adherence to these
commitments. Commitments made in forest stewardship plans
• Most forest licensees retained a professional to complete some type of watershed assessment
prior to harvesting or road construction. However, deficiencies were identified in those
professional assessments. Of the 31 assessments in the Board’s sample: 11 did not follow the
content for the assessment as described in the FSP; 26 considered, to varying degrees, the
hydrological effects of FRPA and pre-FRPA forest activities over the entire watershed; and only 6
considered the potential effects of planned forest development on water quality, quantity or
timing of flow in relation to the licensed waterworks—key elements of the community
watershed objective.
• Investigators found most results and strategies provided meaningful content because they were
intended to assess hydrological responses associated with planned forest harvesting. However,
for 41 of 44 FSPs, 2 the results or strategies were not sufficiently detailed for investigators to
conclude if they were consistent with the community watershed objective.
Compliance with drinking water-related practice requirements3 on the ground (field sample of 12
community watersheds)
• Investigators found that woodlot licence holders and range agreement holders met the
requirements of the legislation.
• Forest licensees4 met the requirements to retain buffers adjacent to streams, lakes and wetlands,
and to provide water licensees with at least 48 hours notice of planned road construction or
deactivation. However, on forest roads, investigators observed little evidence of measures to
minimize erosion and control sediment deposition into streams. In 3 of 12 watersheds,
investigators found those practices to be unsound. In 4 of 12 watersheds, licensees did not meet
all of the requirements that provide for protection of drinking water quality, including
prevention of landslides, road maintenance and maintenance of natural surface drainage
patterns.
Monitoring achievement of the community watershed objective
• While, government has a program to monitor water quality, it does not specifically monitor the
effectiveness of forest and range practices to protect drinking water quality generally or in
community watersheds.
Designation of community watersheds and use for drinking water
• Government has draft guidelines for designating or delisting community watersheds. Since
2004, six community watersheds were designated and one was delisted.
• In 16 of the 48 community watersheds, the source of drinking water has changed from a stream
to a well or lake. Of the 16 community watersheds, 7 still maintain the stream intake as an
emergency back-up supply. In 7 of the 12 community watersheds that were field-assessed, the condition of the watersheds is
being affected primarily by pre-FRPA forest harvesting and, to a lesser extent, FRPA-related activities
and other land uses like mining, activities on private land and recreation, such as off-road vehicle
use.
The special investigation has identified several weaknesses in FRPA and how it is being
implemented by forest licensees. Issues related to the requirements of FRPA, approval of FSPs,
monitoring of drinking water and plans and practices undertaken by licensees were identified.
Together, these issues have the potential to compromise the effective achievement of government’s
objective for community watersheds.
The Board makes recommendations to:
• strengthen FRPA’s requirements for the protection of drinking water;
• strengthen the content and approval of FSPs;
• ensure the content of professional assessments is meaningful;
• monitor the protection of drinking water; and
• update the status of community watersheds. water supply, water quality
Information Type report
Regional Watershed Province
Sub-watershed if known
Aquifer #
Comments
Project status complete
Contact Name BC Forest Practices Board
Contact Email [email protected]