A motion to extend the Stage 4 water use exemptions until 2028 for food producers on the Sunshine Coast will have to wait a little while longer.
According to the SCRD a two-year exemption has already been granted to commercial food-growing farms in 2023 to offer temporary relief, while a solution for commercial water use is investigated.
Halfmoon Bay director Justine Gabias presented the motion to extend the current exemption period, during an Aug. 25 board meeting, to allow producers the time needed until agricultural water and land use policies are developed and adopted.
Gabias says the motion she presents is just to make sure all commercial businesses in the district all have an equal playing field and should be treated as such.
“They [farms] would like a bit more security and stability in the long term,” Gabias says. “Same as last year when we passed this, the farmers just wanting to be on the same level as those other commercial indoor water users and are asking for the same consideration.”
Sechelt director Alton Toth conveyed his concerns over allowing exemptions to continue into and says this should be deferred, because by adding this could be precedent setting for future industries.
“I would like to know a bit more about how much water they used under the grant exemption for 2023,” Toth says. “I would also like to have a little more conversation about what these implications might be.
“We might not have any real large commercial operators right now, if they know they will be accessing a four-year exemption to water restrictions what are we inviting to the community.”
Toth added putting a timeline in place to vote on this motion is not necessary, because farmers already have an exemption in place for this year, but Area E director Donna McMahon says producers need to plan and therefore the district should deal with it in a timely manner.
“If the directors wish to defer this, I am fine with it,” she says. “Farms have to plan well ahead, so I would like to see this dealt with in the next two months.”
The motion to defer was passed with directors Inkster and Gabias opposed to deferring the exemption until the end of quarter two.
