NOT ENOUGH VOICES AT STRATEGY TABLE

On January 5, 2022February 2, 2022 By peifsnIn Government Policy, Holding Ponds, Irrigation, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Boyd Allen, Published in the Charlottetown Guardian, January 5, 2022

In July 2020 the legislature passed a motion placing a moratorium on construction of new agricultural holding ponds. This motion passed by a 15 to 10 margin but was non-binding. This translates into government not being obligated to honour the motion’s intent if they choose not to.

It appears that these holding ponds are set to become an integral part of proposed drought contingency plans, a key component to the forthcoming irrigation strategy.

I use the word “appears’ because there is no way of discerning whether they are or are not. This strategy is being put together within the senior ranks of the provincial departments directly involved. There was the opportunity for Islanders to anonymously offer online comments on the proposed strategy, but this portal was slammed shut on Dec. 13. Organizations actively engaged in the Water Act process made several attempts to meet with the minister and/or department officials to talk about this irrigation strategy. These requests have so far not even been acknowledged.

Continue reading →

Agroecology as a Basis for Irrigation Strategy

On December 21, 2021February 2, 2022 By peifsnIn Government Policy, Irrigation, UncategorizedLeave a comment

By Trudy White, Iris

One would expect that any irrigation or soil improvement strategy being developed for our Island would be grounded in the most current scientific knowledge on soil health and would address the very serious issues of declining soil biodiversity and pesticides in soil, water, and sediment. Yet this irrigation strategy discussion document does not even mention the words biodiversity or pesticides.

Science clearly tells us that protecting and restoring soil biodiversity is critical for soil regeneration and resilience and also for sustaining our water cycle. But the document fails to mention “increasing biodiversity” even in its sections about Improved Environmental Benefits or Soil Health.

Continue reading →

PEI Chapter of Council of Canadians Responds to Irrigation Strategy

On December 17, 2021February 2, 2022 By peifsnIn Government Policy, Irrigation, UncategorizedLeave a comment

There is no vision nor much hope offered (in this Irrigation Strategy document) for the protection of PEI’s water and land. As Islanders, like the rest of the world, we face the most serious crisis in history – the climate crisis – yet, we are presented with a document that ignores the crisis and gives a ‘license’ for the continuation of an industrial model of farming controlled by very powerful corporate interests. A model of farming by all accounts that is not sustainable and is doomed – and a major contributor to the climate crisis.

Continue reading →

Guiding Principles for an Irrigation Strategy

On December 16, 2021February 2, 2022 By peifsnIn Government Policy, Irrigation, UncategorizedLeave a comment

By Don Mazer, on behalf of the Coalition for the Protection of PEI Water

The Irrigation Strategy (IS) document is the culmination of what began as the exemplary process of public consultation that resulted the Water Act. This process reflected widespread public opposition to ending the moratorium on high capacity (HC) wells. It is ironic that the outcome of this extended process was a plan to enable the return of HC wells. It is unfortunate that this decision seemed to be based almost entirely on the will of the minister, who seemed to require little evidence, and had little interest in meaningful consultation with citizens or even his own standing committee.

The result is an ‘irrigation strategy` that offers limited opportunities for meaningful input from Islanders. This document should have been the result of a public process that engaged citizens. Rather, it was developed quietly and internally by the department and its bureaucrats and whomever they chose to consult with. This did not include our group, the Coalition for the Protection of PEI Water. Our coalition includes a broad range of environmental, watershed and socially concerned groups and individuals. From the first days, we have been deeply involved in the process of developing the Water Act, and acknowledged by a previous Minister in the legislature for its important contribution to the Act. We are concerned why a group like ours with such a longstanding commitment to PEI water would not be included in such consultations.

Continue reading →