VICTORIA – BC’s auditor general says the province has failed to ensure dam owners comply with dam safety regulations, raising the risk of failures such as the 2010 collapse of the Testalinden dam on rangeland south of Oliver that swept away houses, vineyards and farm equipment. But the report, released September 14, stopped short of …
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Don’t blame the wildfires
While this year’s wildfire season was routinely described as unprecedented, numbers from the Insurance Bureau of Canada point to the costs being a blip next to other natural disasters. Together, insured damages from this year’s wildfires amounted to a mere $155 million, split between just two fires – the Lytton wildfire, at $78 million, and …
Wildfire state of emergency ends
The provincial state of emergency triggered by this year’s wildfires is over. Originally declared July 20, the state of emergency officially ended at 11:59 pm on September 14. “Cooler seasonal weather and precipitation, combined with the hard work of firefighters from BC, Canada and abroad to contain and extinguish fires, means that BC can allow …
Province announces wildfire recovery funds
With close to 870,000 hectares burned across BC this year to date, the province has announced $20 million in financial assistance for ranchers and farmers hit by drought and wildfire. “This year’s drought and fires have been incredibly difficult for many BC ranchers and farmers,” BC agriculture minister Lana Popham said in a statement announcing …
Farmers take issue with water restrictions
GIBSONS – With a growing number of watersheds reaching Level 4 drought restrictions or higher, some farmers say regulators need to make greater allowances for food production. Sunshine Coast Regional District recently implemented Level 4 drought restrictions which prohibit all outdoor water use, including for agriculture. That doesn’t sit well with Raquel Kolof of Hough …
Province pledges emergency funding
BC has announced emergency funding to support farmers and ranchers impacted by wildfires, heat and drought this year. While the exact amount is undetermined and several details have yet to be worked out, the province has taken the immediate action of invoking the late participation provision of the AgriStability program. The original deadline was June …