OPINION EDITORIAL

By Colin Hansen
Minister of Health Services

In the last several years there has been increased awareness of the need to ensure a safe and secure drinking water supply.

While the vast majority of British Columbians enjoy high quality drinking water, there are many communities where improvements are clearly needed. That's why our government is implementing a comprehensive new "source to tap" drinking water protection plan, to safeguard the health of British Columbians, and to strengthen water protection in a way that is workable and affordable.

In particular, our new action plan focuses on preventing and treating contamination, as well as accurately and appropriately identifying risks for communities.

The initiative is based on eight key principles that will ensure a proactive and responsible approach to protecting drinking water, including:
* The provincial health officer will play a key role in recommending when and where a specific drinking water protection plan needs to be developed.
* New drinking water officer positions will be created in each region to investigate complaints, perform inspections, co-ordinate source protection and issue orders.
* The resource ministries will adopt an integrated approach to provide an important first line of defence to protect drinking water.
* A source tap assessment of all drinking water systems will be completed, and inspection and laboratory testing related to drinking water systems will be increased.
* There will be flexibility in dealing with the 3,300 drinking water systems that exist across the province, recognizing the challenges facing small systems with less than 15 connections.

Under the plan, our government will establish a groundwater advisory board and a drinking water advisory committee to provide expert technical advice on regulations and standards. Comprehensive groundwater legislation and legislative changes to the Drinking Water Protection Act will be developed and introduced this fall.

Safe drinking water is a vital public health priority for all British Columbians. And all of us must recognize that safe, quality drinking water is not free.

We are expanding and improving public services for drinking water protection. And those improved services cost money. As a result, it's important to recognize that those who will receive improved water services will be asked to share in the costs.

At the same time, we want to ensure that the resources needed to pay for these improved services are generated in a way that is fair, workable and affordable.

Consultations with key stakeholders will begin immediately to develop cost-recovery options for the $16 million in increased annual costs associated with the action plan. Longer-term costs of future infrastructure needs will be identified, and new cost-recovery mechanisms will be explored.

In the meantime, our government has already invested $109 million in funding for 42 water system improvement projects - projects that are directly strengthening the public health of British Columbians in those communities.

We will continue to develop and implement an integrated, multi-agency and multi-barrier approach, so that we ensure safe and secure drinking water for British Columbians, regardless of where they live.