Climate Adaptation

Thank you for your interest in this project! We encourage residents to plant drought resistant, native species to conserve water. Allowing native plants to flourish on your property is also beneficial for biodiversity and water conservation. As long as the plants are not invasive, interfering with any surrounding infrastructure or disrupting neighbouring properties, these plants wouldn’t make your property a “nuisance property”. For more information on drought tolerant plantings, please visit https://www.northcowichan.ca/EN/main/departments/environmental-services/native-plants/Native_Drought_Tolerant_Gardening.html

Thank you for your questions. The Municipality of North Cowichan analyzed its wildfire risk in the 2020 Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). The Wildfire Mitigation Project was launched in 2021 to respond to several of the Community Wildfire Protection Plan’s recommendations. This work will support wildfire resilience through a variety of strategies to proactively reduce wildfire risk in North Cowichan. For more information, please visit https://www.northcowichan.ca/EN/main/departments/forestry/wildfire-mitigation-project.html.

The removal or modification of hazardous trees within riparian areas is regulated by the Provincial Riparian Areas Protection Regulation (https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/plants-animals-ecosystems/fish/aquatic-habitat-management/riparian-areas-regulation) as well as the Municipalities Development Permit Guidelines. Exemptions for the removal and modification of hazardous trees do exist, but are subject to certain conditions that are project specific. 

Thank you for showing interest in this project. The provincial government has air quality monitoring stations located throughout the island. To view daily air quality for North Cowichan, please visit https://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/bcairquality/readings/find-stations-map.html

Thanks for your interest in the Climate Adaptation project. North Cowichan's air quality meets provincial guidelines. Occasionally there are exceedances of the guidelines for particulate matter from wildfire events in the summer, for more information please visit www.northcowicha.ca/airquality. If you’d like to report a bylaw violation, please visit https://www.northcowichan.ca/EN/main/departments/bylaw/report-a-bylaw-violation.html

Thank you for your interest in this project. North Cowichan’s three water systems predominantly rely on aquifers for their water supply and our aquifers are healthy. For more information about North Cowichan's water system, please visit www.northcowichan.ca/water.

Thank you for showing interest in this project. North Cowichan currently regulates discharge from 3 different reservoirs which collect water during our rainy season.

Thanks for your interest in water restrictions. As part of North Cowichan’s ongoing response to the  climate crisis, we are continually reviewing our municipal plans, operations and infrastructure to be more resilient to climate hazards and we appreciate your question for opportunities to address this.

Golf courses in North Cowichan are not connected to municipal water for the purposes of irrigation. Golf courses have their own private wells and/or ponds that they use for irrigation. The wells are licensed and regulated by the Province.

North Cowichan's community spaces are for all residents to enjoy and lack of watering can cause significant financial impacts. School and municipal playing fields are often sand-based and require regular watering. For that reason, they are exempt from sprinkling regulations, with reduced watering and other conservation methods.  

North Cowichan’s Parks department is currently reducing and eliminating irrigation to turf where possible and transitioning to drip irrigation with respect to water restriction stages and installing tree watering bags where necessary to protect much needed shade trees and trees planted within the last three years.

Thank you for your input in regard to this project. North Cowichan's Council discussed and acknowledged that there's a climate emergency on July 17, 2019. 

Thank you for your question. North Cowichan is in the process of developing a Master Transportation Plan (MTP). Pending Council endorsement of the Plan, the MTP report recommends additional study to determine the appropriateness of NZEVs for North Cowichan.

Thanks for your question. Municipal staff continue to engage with the Quw’utsun Nation about the Municipal Forestry Review, respecting the commitments made in the signed Memorandum of Understanding. While engagement with the Quw’utsun Nation is on-going, staff continue to work with the UBC Partnership Group who will present the final draft scenarios to Council for decision which is anticipated to take place in the fall of 2023.