BRIDESVILLE, B.C. — The demand for British Columbia water is large — and growing. In Bridesville, just east of Osoyoos, a local water-bottling plant wants to meet that demand by expanding. But people in the agricultural community are concerned about the implications.
Don Hallverson is a local farmer. He says his well has gone dry in recent years and while he doesn’t want to put the blame on Miller Springs, he wants the company to do a hydrology study before development plans move ahead.
“The threat to the groundwater system, that’s an unknown because there has not been a study done,” he says.
Miller Springs recently applied to the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary to expand its operations. In its proposal, it plans to take more groundwater.
The company currently extracts 6,250 litres a day. It wants to take out 55,000 litres more per day, which is about eight times more than its current amount.
Another farmer, Dennis Eikanger, is issuing a call to action.
“We would like to have everyone who’s losing water in the wells and have had to re-drill…to write into the Agricultural Land Commission and let them know your water table is dropping considerably.”
No one from Miller Springs was available for comment.
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