Almost 1,000 people in the Ahousaht First Nation on west Vancouver Island have been without clean drinking water for five days and they still don’t have a timeline for repairs.
The issue is a broken pipe that brings water to the remote community from the water plant. On Friday the pipe failed.
Ahousaht is on Flores Island and is only accessible by boat or plane. Members of the community were praised for their quick actions when they sprang to help save people on board a whale watching boat when it sunk off the coast of Tofino last October.
Members of the community have now been working hard to fix the broken pipe, which is in a difficult location. “Our problem is we don’t have the man power or machinery to get there,” said Michael Swan, councillor and one of the Ahousaht Emergency Coordinators.
Swan explained the pipe is below sea level and is only accessible for a short time period while the tide is out. Volunteers have been trying to put sandbags around it but Swan said the mud keeps seeping through.
The community does have two excavators but they broke down trying to clear a path down the hill and through the trees to access the pipe. “We don’t have the finances to do anything,” said Swan.
He added they are hoping the province is going to step in and help with emergency funds but they are still waiting for information.
For now the community is surviving on bottled water and the elders have been moved to Tofino for safety. Swan said they are able to get some water through the pipe now but it’s not drinkable and can really only be used to fill the toilets.
They are accepting donations of bottled water and anyone who wants to help can bring donations to the 1st Street Dock in Tofino and the Coast Guard said they will transport the water to Ahousaht.
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