Residents Approve Parcel Taxes to Fund the Regional District of Nanaimo’s Drinking Water and Watershed Protection Program

The Regional District of Nanaimo collects upwards of $500,000 per year to fund their Drinking Water and Watershed Protection (DWWP) program thanks to a parcel tax ($7.50) implemented by member municipalities and electoral areas.

Prior to the creation of the DWWP program, staff at the RDN engaged community members in numerous public meetings to build support. Community members approved the DWWP program and cost recovery in a referendum for Service Area Establishment across all RDN electoral areas.

The parcel tax is applied evenly through all member municipalities.

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We are all downstream.

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A healthy watershed is central to clean and abundant source water.

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Establishing setbacks, restoring riparian buffer zones along watercourses, and acquiring watershed segments can save money by preventing costly impacts to source water.

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British Columbia legislation related to source water protection is complicated, and the Government of British Columbia does not have a lead water agency.

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Local action supported by stable funding and consistent and coordinated approaches is imperative to maintaining source water quality.

Funding for this project was provided by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Interior Health Authority, City of Kelowna, City of West Kelowna and the Okanagan Basin Water Board. This project was also supported through the Healthy Watersheds Initiative, which is delivered by the Real Estate Foundation of BC and Watersheds BC, with financial support from the Province of British Columbia as part of its $10-billion COVID-19 response.