Fruit Growers Association call for plan to support farmers amid water shortage
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The province’s fruit industry advocacy group has called for a halt in the current water management approach for local agricultural properties.
As of July 13, Greater Vernon Water (GVW) was authorized to shut off water service to agricultural properties that had reached their seasonal water allocation limit.
B.C. Fruit Growers’ Association (BCFGA) claimed the water use reduction calling for agricultural properties to reduce the use of their remaining allotted water by 70 per cent, and then to shut off service once the limit had been reached “was made without a coordinated survival plan for the orchards and farms it affects.”
The group said the water restrictions came during the hottest weeks of the year and during growing season, putting the sector and the economy at risk. The association said the shut-offs affect more than 2,100 acres of orchards and widespread losses could amount to $300 million in direct losses, production, packing, trucking, labour, suppliers and related local business. It also noted mature orchards were not like annual crops, as they take years to reach the point in which they develop crops.
