There are four ways for accessing water on Hornby Island as an individual:

· Retrieving it from the ground
· Catching it from the air
· Reusing it from a previous purpose
· Purchasing it from a provider (sourced either from on or off-island)

As an island, with no lakes or rivers or snow-capped mountains, the main source of water for Hornby is from drilled and dug wells, along with some rainwater collection. Historically, people viewed the water from their drilled wells with an ownership mindset.

However, groundwater flows freely across property boundaries and is therefore a shared responsibility. People already experience the effect of their neighbour’s actions as water levels can be affected by the pumping of other wells in the immediate vicinity.

Aquifers in BC are classified according to vulnerability. Aquifers on Hornby are unconfined fractured bedrock and are classified as highly vulnerable.

Climate change has an effect on water. Spring rains may come earlier; fall rains may come later. We may need a diversity of sources to run our homes.

Residential wells are concentrated in the more populated areas and are not evenly distributed throughout the island. There are very few wells in the centre of the island.

The Official Community Plan (OCP) includes references to water throughout and, as such, helps to frame much of the work that may be proposed.

Research has indicated the potential value of “slowing water down” before it flows off the island, in order better to replenish the island’s groundwater, and to lessen the flow of contaminated water due to shallow wells and septic systems.

The relative “value” of land may arise in research. Some properties could be deemed to be higher or lower value based on their ability to produce water, which is frequently mentioned in real estate advertising.

The demographic and economic profile of Hornby shows that its population has a higher median age and a lower median income than the average for other areas of the province. Considerations for the expense of solutions will, of course, be central in prioritizing possible follow-on initiatives. As one water forum participant pointed out: most people won’t spend $15,000 for a water system if their well still produces, but they will spend that if their well runs dry. Septic, 25 years old, people don’t think they have a problem until there is poop on the ground.

Finally, water isn’t just ours; full ecosystems need it, too. Looking to the future, we may want, or need, to be more self-sufficient in food, and this should be a consideration in water plans. Similarly, there is a concept of a “water budget” that reflects the relationship between input and output of water through a region.