Schumann Resorts owns both Big White and Silver Star Ski Resorts and have been aggressively growing development. Presently a reservoir capable of holding 240,000 cubic metres of water is being completed at Silver Star, and in 2005 the company dug a reservoir at Big White capable of holding more than 60 million gallons of water.
It appears both resorts are planning to secure water demands in order to grow resort populations high up in the upper reaches of the Okanagan.
Resort spokesperson Michael J. Ballingall went on record saying the resort doesn't need any additional water right now, but adds that could change if global warming interferes with the amount of snow the resort receives.
"At this time, we don't need the additional water. We've been asked to project to the future - 20 or 30 years down the line - and if global warming dictates that we need water to make snow to secure the economic development of the resort and tourism, we would need water for that."
Environmentalists and the resort corporation will agree on one thing, that global warming is impacting snow pack and run-off and that future supplies of water may be at risk.
"This is tied to expansion plans for the ski hill and would entail the construction of upstream storage dams. This would, in all likelihood, mean less water available for existing downstream residential and agricultural users," says Angelo who adds that the Kettle River is listed as one of the top 10 endangered rivers in B.C.
"Last spring, despite an above average snow pack, yet for the very first time there was no noticeable runoff or peak in the entire Kettle River system. In the view of many locals, this was a clear indication of water extraction pressures and yet, new proposals continue to come forward."
However, Ballingall said the resort applied to increase its water licence last year in anticipation of the growth and global warming. But he says there are no plans to construct dams. "The word 'dam' wouldn't be fair. We would create reservoirs in two locations on the mountain and collect snow run-off. Of course, we wouldn't collect 100 per cent of the run-off, the creeks would continue to flow."
Ballingall’s comments have now caused a tsunami of criticism that is positioning the resort corporation as unfriendly to public process, the environment and the needs of other communities.
Mayor Marguerite Rotvold of the Village of Midway is upset because she claims that there was no public consultation.
"Public consultation is not a notice in the newspaper. Public consultation involves public hearings and dialogue with all stakeholders. The Village of Midway opposes this application based on the information available to date. If the Ministry of Environment has information available that demonstrates the minimal downstream impact of the application, we request that the Ministry hold a well-advertised public meeting in the Kettle Valley to present the information to area residents as a means of making the application review process more transparent."
Angelo confirms a similar set of concerns and claiming that extracting more water from the Kettle River will also put fish at risk. "Last summer, the river was at an all-time low flow -- so low that locals couldn’t even tube down stretches of it. Such low flows result in increased temperature, increased algal growth and the deterioration of habitat for fish and other aquatic organisms."
Both Big White and Silver Star represent resorts that are fixed in plateau areas above the Okanagan Valley. These areas depend on snow pack for feeding water to an already drying ecosystem that acts as a large sponge. There is neither a mountain range nor glaciers to support a water supply that appears to be dwindling. From Silver Star water drains into the Okanagan Valley which ultimately flows into the Columbia River, as well as into the Vance Creek drainage which feeds the Shuswap River which then feeds the Fraser River system.
Water from catchments located at Big White largely feed the Kettle River to the east, and the West Kettle to the west of the resort. The West Kettle River also serves as an eastern outflow for the Graystokes Plateau which is also the source of Mission Creek and a domestic water source for the Central Okanagan.
Such resorts have become a growing anomaly within planning in the Okanagan because they appear to be growing developments which seem to fly under the radar of public planning mechanisms. Last year Silver Star Resort began constructing a water reservoir on the mountain large enough to sustain 16,000 people and planned additional wells that could accommodate even more people. In the process it was discovered that approvals were not in place for the creation of the reservoir.
While approvals were eventually granted, the process by which they came about has left many people wondering about whether such expanding mountain resorts are really planning in a responsible fashion and whether they are being held to the same scrutiny as other communities.
This time it’s Big White, and the watershed being impacted is far enough away from the large population base of the Okanagan that it too may be flying under the radar.
In an effort to deal with these impacts, there is a need for the provincial government to establish a Watershed Management Plan for the Kettle River. This is essential in the view of many given the seemingly unbridled development now taking place within the upper watershed. It’s also important to note that there are many authorized licenses that were not fully utilized during last year’s period of record low flows and yet, their right to extract water remains unchanged. There also appears to be an increasing number of unauthorized withdrawals. In light of all this, the development of a management plan must recognize that there are clear ecological limits to water withdrawal from the Kettle River system.
Aside from cultural and tourism concerns, the Kettle River is also home to at least three red-listed and five blue-listed species of fish. One of these species is the speckled dace (Rhinichthys osculus) which is being considered for listing under the Species at Risk Act, and the bulk, if not all of the Canadian population, is found in the Kettle River watershed.
As water-use issues at Big White surface, this extra attention on the plight of the Kettle River may be a diamond in the rough. The ORCBC believes that the river should have more protection including Cascade Canyon being preserved as a Goal 2 (Special Feature) provincial park.
Resorts such as Big White and Silver Star are important to our community, we recognize their contribution to the local economy and to the endless recreational services they provide residents and visitors, however giving resort developers what appears to be free rein is running rampant through the Okanagan.
One local decision maker summed it up well when he told me, “It’s expected that developers will do everything they can to make their project happen, we’ve come to expect that, but it’s up to local government to watch them and regulate whenever there is a need.”
We’ll see if our new and refreshed local councils throughout the valley are up for that challenge.
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Don Elzer writes and comments about the future, current affairs, lifestyle and the natural world. He is a director of the Watershed Intelligence Network publishers of The Monster Guide, which can be found at www.themonsterguide.com
He can also be reached by email at: treks@uniserve.com
