Gibbons asked council to take a series of steps against the practice of water bottling and sale, citing the recent events at the Comox Valley Regional District after a resident of Merville sought permission to bottle water on their property.
His requests included the prohibition of water bottling in any of the city’s zoning, support from the city government for the Strathcona Regional District’s resolution to ask the province to “curtail” commercial extraction of groundwater for bottling or bulk sale, and for the city to take steps to be deemed a “Blue Community” by the Council of Canadians.
Those steps would include the recognition of water as a human right, the promotion of publicly owned, financed, and operated water/wastewater services, and bottled water sales being banned at events held by the City of Courtenay and public facilities.
“We would sincerely appreciate the support of the City of Courtenay in protecting the above ground uses of our groundwater by preventing anyone from bottling and selling water from the Comox Valley aquifer or any other aquifer in BC.” Council members did not reject the idea, though there were questions raised about the ban on bottled water sales in public facilities and City events.
There was also discussion about how a ban on bottled water production could work in the event of boil water notices, which have occurred in the Valley in the past.
Gibbons indicated that there were exceptions for the asks, such as the issuing of a boil water notice.
After the meeting, Mayor Bob Wells indicated that the proposition from Gibbons will likely come back to council in the future, likely through a motion by a council member or a report from city staff asked for by council.
“I think that there is a lot of public backlash right now on bottling water,” said Wells.
“When you don’t know what your water is going to be like, and you’re trying to make sure that you’re providing it for all the citizens in your community, you don’t want to have a bunch of your water that is going to be sold, and you don’t necessarily know what that outcome is going to be.
This is potentially that thin edge of the wedge, when maybe they’ve got great intentions, they’re going to sell that water locally, but once that’s approved, then other things can come down the road.”