Nanaimo’s recent boil water advisory is highlighting an issue the Mid-Island Council of Canadians has been worried about for some time.
The group is calling for public ownership of the watershed where Nanaimo’s draws its drinking water.
Paul Manly is with the Council of Canadians. He’s also the director of the film “Troubled Water”, about threats facing watersheds across Vancouver Island.
The area behind Jump Lake (shown above in a 2006 photo taken by Manly) is currently owned by Island Timberlands and Timber West.
The Council of Canadians is working on a petition to urge the City and the Regional District of Nanaimo to either purchase or expropriate the watershed, and protect it.
Similar concerns are being raised again on the Sunshine Coast as well, where parts of the watershed are private managed forest land.
