COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • NOVEMBER 2019 Feedback on new watering regs a concern
Ten years of consultation on livestock watering rules at risk by TOM WALKER
VICTORIA – The province has finally broken its 20- month silence on new livestock watering regulations it put out to public consultation in January 2018. But the summary report of what the province heard in the six weeks allotted for feedback that winter may give the province the justification it needs to change its plans completely. “It’s really frustrating,” says Linda Allison, water subcommittee chair for BC Cattlemen’s Association (BCCA). “At one point I thought we were working together for the betterment of the environment and the ranching industry and now I feel like we are adversaries. It’s like we are now on opposite sides of the page and it’s only about what is best for the environment in someone’s opinion.”
Allison traces the
development of the new regulations to 2009 with a ranching task force. “We established an
understanding that water was crucial to the livestock industry and our use of Crown land. The grass is no good to us without water,” she says. The 2018 intentions paper outlined objectives and requirements for the proposed regulations and invited public feedback. A final set of recommendations was planned for “early 2018.” Public feedback closed on
February 16, 2018 and nothing more was heard until last month, on October 9.
“We have heard nothing
decisive from the government since the regulations intentions paper was published in January 2018,” groused Allison. “They are just waffling in my opinion.” What annoys her is that she had seen the document more than a year ago and was allowed to review the comments – but only after signing a non-disclosure agreement. “I have no idea why it took them so long,” says Allison. “I am really struggling with this; we have not heard anything decisive.”
She questions the
background of those who are making decisions. “There has been a change in ministry staff with the change in government and I don’t believe that the people we are talking to currently have a lot of experience in the livestock industry,” she says. BCCA brought ministry
staff to Prince George this past April for a tour of a local ranch and offered to organize a tour in the southern Interior during the summer. Staff refused the offer, but Allison thinks it could have helped them understand the practices they’re trying to regulate.
Respondents to the intentons paper provided very little support for the cattle industry, according to the summary report, and many of the statements weren’t based on facts. “There are a lot of untruths
in that feedback,” says Allison. “They are made by people who don’t like cows.”
FILE PHOTO Government received 69
responses during the 2018 consultation, including 35 from ranchers and ranching associations, 11 from Indigenous organizations and 23 from the public, environmental organizations and local governments. Submissions presented in
the report allege there are “many livestock users that do not comply with existing regulations” and claiming, “Growing beef is the worst waste of water on the planet, do not make it easier to use the water.”
The document said statements from Indigenous respondents “expressed concerns about cattle drinking streams dry in times of scarcity.” Non-governmental
organizations claimed there are “public costs associated with cattle grazing,” including
fencing, the spread of weeds, and greater risk of wildfire. “Costs exceed the benefits, to the point where it would be cheaper to pay ranchers to relinquish grazing permits,” one submission claimed. Allison expects the
province to use such statements to justify public support to overhaul the proposed watering regulations.
“Honestly, I think that is what they are going to do,” she says.
The summary report
promises to make good on her fears. “Staff have researched options to incorporate ‘What We Heard’ into policy options for government’s consideration,” the report states. “Final policy direction is expected in late 2019.”
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www.cattlefund.net 1.877.688.2333
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