Brrrrr, the worm has turned and the normal variety of Cariboo fall weather has finally appeared.
Now there will certainly be frost-on-the-pumpkins! Have you ever noted, that no matter how nice and warm the days preceding (or the days after), Halloween always seems to occur on the nastiest day in the entire month? Is it a perverse rule of nature designed to shorten the goodie-gathering junket?
We also had our first notable amount of precipitation in awhile on Saturday night, as it poured most of the night.
However, water in any form — is good. It is, in fact, vital to agricultural operations. So much so that all producers need to note that the Province has recently released the legislative proposal for the new Water Sustainability Act and heed the fact that they have only a brief four-week period in which to comment. Public feedback will only be accepted up to November 15, 2013.
The BC Cattlemen’s Association strongly encourages individual producers to visit the following website: www.engage.gov.bc.ca/watersustainabilityact.
There you can read the Legislative Proposal (or Overview), see what others have been saying and post your own comment on the blog.
Some areas to consider commenting on (primary to agriculture) might include; Retention of First-in-Time, First-in-Right model of licensing, priority (putting agricultural water-needs ahead of oil, gas, mining, subdivision and other community-development), secure access (for livestock) to water sources (private and Crown lands), allow off-stream watering (without transferring volumes from irrigation licenses), recognize (allow) unrecorded use by livestock, invest in water storage-infrastructure, encourage water-conservation (incentives/funding for irrigation upgrading) and resistance to (opposition) water metering.
Please make the time to inform yourself and speak now.
Many times we procrastinate, believing someone else has our backs, so we do nothing; only rousing to complain when it is far too late, long after the deed is done or in this instance, perhaps, after an agriculture-unfriendly new Water Sustainability Act is already law.
Liz Twan is a rancher and freelance columnist for the Tribune.