Future of Recreation: Water Sustainability Plans

University of Victoria photo

The province is using its water planning tool for the first time. What you need to know about the future of water management and WSPs.

From access to nature to apps and AI, the evolution of trail construction to electric power, this story is part of a series of articles looking at how recreation will change and evolve over the short and long term. 

The Koksilah River, known to the Cowichan Tribes as Xwulqw’selu, is under stress. In recent years about a third less water ran down the river on southern Vancouver Island than in decades past. It was so bad during three of the last five summers, the provincial government had to restrict industrial and agricultural users from drawing water to protect fish and aquatic ecosystems. 

“Temporary restrictions are a very reactionary and short term tool,” says Lana Miller, the director of water sustainability in the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship. 

A longer term option is a Water Sustainability Plan or WSP. Enacted in 2016 through the Water Sustainability Act, a WSP allows a “thoughtful approach to make proactive decisions around water use,” says Miller. And an important venue for the recreation sector to influence future water use.

WSPs are meant to be used to address water conflicts related to competing uses and risks to water quality, quantity or aquatic ecosystems. One of the most powerful aspects, says Miller, is that the WSP process can look back and cancel or reduce past water licensing decisions. That’s helpful because many water licenses were issued decades ago during a different climate reality.

“There’s less water now, and we expect less water in the future,” says Miller. “The WSP is meant as a tool so we can pause and think. We may allocate water differently, dedicate water for agriculture and ensure water values are considered in other decisions. It has the ability to be quite powerful.”

WSPs are also meant to be a collaborative process. They include many different interests who collaborate to propose several possible solutions and then work together to give input to decision-makers on the best one. 

“Everyone at the table is supporting the process, the goals, and the trade-offs,” Miller says. 

The repetitive summer crisis on the Koksilah prompted the WSP tool to come off the shelf for the first time. In May 2023 the provincial government signed a government-to-government agreement with Cowichan Tribes to undertake the Xwulqw’selu Water Sustainability Plan. It includes a table with representatives from the provincial government and Cowichan Tribes, and a planning team, led by the contracted executive director Natasha Overduin. 

To ensure it represents all the public interests in the watershed, the process includes two advisory tables, one of Cowichan elders and another with diverse members of the impacted community, including recreation. The 19-member Xwulqw’selu WSP Community Collaborative Advisory Table includes representatives from the South Island Whitewater Club, the Cowichan Valley Naturalists Society and the Cowichan Valley Regional District’s Area E Parks and Recreation Committee. 

“These kinds of processes are a really good opportunity for recreation groups to get involved,” Overduin says. “Being part of a process like this, you see how the thing you love to do is so close to the bigger political and administrative powers and processes.”

The advisory table’s job is to provide input on the values and scope of the WSP process and, eventually, help give advice to decision-makers on actions, says Overduin. Recreation groups bring valuable insights and important knowledge about things like river flows, wildlife habitat and the physical and mental health benefits of nature and water. 

“I expect some really interesting deliberations and examinations of the potential trade-offs,” says Overduin. 

The final Xwulqw’selu WSP may include both legal and voluntary measures that could apply to everyone from the provincial government to industry and residents. The final plan is due in 2026. It will likely be the first WSP adopted in the province and lessons learned will guide future ones. 

Cowichan Tribes pushed for the first Water Sustainability Plan, but any level of government may drive the process, says Miller. However, she says WSPs are lengthy, expensive, and resource-intensive. They’re a specific tool to solve a specific type of problem—conflicts around water use, water quality, and aquatic ecosystems. Sedimentation issues might be more easily tackled with Forest Landscape Planning, for example. And WSPs are not a protection mechanism; that’s better addressed at a Land Use Planning level.  

But as climate change further alters stream flow patterns, she expects the need for more WSPs. It’s a tool whose time has come. 

Recreation and Water Sustainability Planning 101

Natasha Overduin has advice for recreation groups who may be interested in participating in a future Water Sustainability Plan: start preparing now. 

Recreational interests are an important part of any discussion about water use, she says, particularly when groups like anglers, paddlers, and naturalists have safety concerns, interest in flow levels, and intimate knowledge about the river and its ecosystem. 

But interest and expertise are not enough. Here’s what else Overduin says recreation groups should do if they want to take part in the process.

1. Learn about local Indigenous history and culture. WSPs are a collaborative process between the provincial government and First Nations. Anyone participating should do as much homework as they can to understand local Indigenous rights, culture and vision. 

2. Collaborate with other recreation groups. There’s often too many stakeholders to include every interested group. Partnering with other recreation clubs helps ensure some representation, amplifies the recreation message, and increases resources. 

3. Influence speaks volumes. Overduin says that in the Koksilah, they looked for advisory members who can be a spokesperson for the WSP process to their community and beyond. As an example she points to the member of the Xwulqw’selu WSP advisory table from the Southern Vancouver Island Whitewater Club: he is involved in several other recreation groups, has ties to tourism and grew up in the area. “People talking to their friends, neighbours and peers: that’s what will lead to a community based process,” she says.