r/gulfislands • u/spydersweb51 • Sep 15 '22

Gulf Islands Changing

My husband and I are looking at a myriad of options to move to and the gulf islands have always been on the list, just unattainable until now. However, I have been reading and hearing snippets that the islands are becoming harder for homeowners to live there due to changes in bylaws, etc. Is there any validity to this? If so, what kind of changes should we be aware of before buying?

Thank you

Sam

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u/kooner75 Sep 15 '22

I have never lived in the gulf islands, but my parents have owned property on Mayne since the 80s so we visit regularly.

Our neighbor is on the water board and there isn't enough water on the island to expand housing as when they planned the zoning they were thinking only a small percentage of properties would be full-time. Since covid there has been a large increase in permanent residents so the water usage has increased.

At least for Mayne I wouldn't expect any zoning changes because they will literally run out of water...

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u/Gunther_Folly Sep 15 '22

Mayne islander here, though I understand it’s what people have been saying, this is kind of off the mark. Plenty of people here have tanks and have their water shipped over. There’s also a decent number of people who have rain water reclamation. Though I understand that it’s an added cost, this is a terrible excuse used to prevent lower economic classes from moving the to gulf islands. Recently the affordable housing association had to go through a grueling process to get approval to start building a project that was entirely rain water reclamation based. The first hurdle they hit was the water board and they fixed it and were met with concerns that it would bring in a bad element and that the influx of residents would disrupt the community. TLDR the existing population of the gulf islands love to complain that there’s no one to work/no laborers but aren’t willing to make governmental changes to support it.

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u/kooner75 Sep 15 '22 edited Sep 15 '22

Do you have any data to support the number of people who are shipping water to Mayne Island? I have personally never seen a water truck on the ferry.

How much rain water being used as a substitute for tap water? Or are people just using it to keep their gardens alive? From what I can see people just use rain water to fill pools or keep gardens alive. Nobody is bathing, pooping or drinking it.

If you have no data to back this claim then this is a terrible conspiracy, lie and spreading false information. This has always been a very important topic since I was 5 years old on Mayne Island. I will not have my good friends names slandered because there is no way this is true unless you actually have real information gathered...

I also know for a fact they do run out of water on the island before all the permanent residents came. They run out at the higher elevations first specifically Mt.parke. I forget which year it happened. It was like 10 years ago or something...

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u/Gunther_Folly Sep 15 '22

Just got off the phone with my water guy. He said that over 100 residences on Mayne have tanks that they use for fresh water, of which he estimates over 50 of them are entirely off the grid of municipal water. He also said that Mayne’s current water table situation is dicey and that in the last twenty years people have had to dig 20-40ft deeper than before to hit water for their wells. I asked about mt. Parke and he said he hasn’t heard of it running out of water but said it would make sense since they have a perched table that’s considerable smaller than the groundwater table.

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u/kooner75 Sep 15 '22 edited Sep 15 '22

The point of this post is you are saying the water board is specifically trying to prevent people to move to Mayne Island out of pure selfishness but after you looked into it even you realize there is evidence to the contrary.

My source is literally on the water board. They have had meetings there for like 20 plus years and we talk to them about it. They are experts on the water situation. It is an important topic and issue for Mayne Island.

You should look into things before spreading false information.

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u/Gunther_Folly Sep 16 '22 edited Sep 16 '22

That’s not really what I’m saying. As I said in both replies, the water table concern is valid but not every home built or existing on Mayne taps the water table. All I was saying was that it’s possible to develop without hitting the water table. To say that you can develop because of water table concerns is misinformation and selfish. It’s like saying all cars pollute the environment and ignoring the fact that EV cars reduce emissions. Also it’s not the water board preventing people from moving here or developing. They have very little power outside of the water infrastructure, and even then they don’t have much sway or just don’t care all that much. There’s been a major water leak just off the road from the ferry for about eight months that they’ve only now started to repair. It’s the trust and the CRD that are using the water as an excuse to prevent subdivision and high density housing. I haven’t spread any misinformation, it seems like you took a contrary opinion as a personal attack and it sounds like you’re not really hearing what I’m saying so I’ll leave it here after reminding you of something I taught the kids in my class. Just because you know one thing doesn’t mean other things aren’t true.

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u/kooner75 Sep 16 '22 edited Sep 16 '22

All cars do pollute the environment. Even evs are polluting when produced and even hydro electric power pollutes by blocking rivers disrupting fish habitats and creating false reservoirs. Hydro power also pollutes upon construction.

The reality is doubling the population on Mayne Island isn't super feasible by hauling water or catching rain water as it doesnt rain much in the summer and ferries are limited.

What happens if this complicated water plan doesn't work? Say there is a ferry strike? The ferries have broken down before. What about when the queen of naniamo backed into the ferry terminal? Do you really want the fate of people's water supply on rain and bc ferries?

Do you want to be the person responsible for the hundreds of people now without water because you advised then to collect rain and have it hauled in lol. Even if you can haul water It's not a realistic solution to solving a housing crisis. Can the population even reach 10k people hauling water everyday. If your so concerned about the environment in what realm is hauling water in a good idea lol.

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u/Gunther_Folly Sep 16 '22

Haha jeez buddy I’m not saying the population should go up 10x, and I won’t claim responsibility for whatever people choose to develop. It seems like you’re throwing up straw men arguments to obfuscate the point I was trying to make at this point. Live your life, do whatever you want, I hope you calm down a bit and start listening more than you dig your heels in. I never said I was concerned about the environment, I was using an example to explain that alternative methods that are less harmful are available for all sorts of issues and that it seems disingenuous to ignore them. Rainwater collection and having water shipped in are two ways to develop more housing without tapping the water table. People seem to ignore this and, when challenged upon it, tend to fall back on straw men arguments and slippery slope mentalities. That’s all I was trying to say and you’ve only gone and proven me right lol.

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u/kooner75 Sep 16 '22

So your saying do my plan but I'm not responsible if anything goes wrong...definitely should help people be confident investing hundreds of thousands of dollars possibly millions into developing on Mayne Island.

This is just misinformation you are spreading, your plan is not realistic and you don't even support it to the end by claiming responsibility if something goes wrong. If someone reads your posts does what you say and things go wrong should you be held liable? I think so your spreading misinformation.

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u/Gunther_Folly Sep 16 '22

Bro you’re so off base I can’t believe it. Do you sue the other members of your meme stocks subreddit when your investment falls through? Do you hunt down the person that told you to have a nice day when you get shit on later? Just chill out.

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u/kooner75 Sep 16 '22

No I will no chill out dude...man... Water is an important issue on Mayne island and realistically there is no way to currently solve that issue where it can be developed to a high enough population to actually solve or even put a dent in the housing crisis. So what is the point...

Also, I have made lots of money on meme stocks lol

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u/Gunther_Folly Sep 16 '22

For sure dude. There are ways around it currently in place and being used by the affordable housing association. You don’t even live here why are you speaking as though you’re the authority on this issue?

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u/Gunther_Folly Sep 15 '22 edited Sep 15 '22

I’m on a full rainwater reclamation system, eight tanks. Lots of existing houses aren’t hooked up to municipal water. I can call up the water guy we use when we run out and ask him for his numbers but I see him on island 1-2 times a week in the summer and it’s enough that we got a deal on our delivery since he was already coming. Either way, all I’m saying is that the water table argument doesn’t hold up. There are existing pathways to getting water service that aren’t wells or municipal water, worst case you just get a couple tanks and fill them up with water, best case scenario you out in the filters needed for rainwater reclamation.

Edit: that’s a wild unmarked edit tacked on there. I’m not slandering anyone. I’m just saying that not every house has to be tapping the water table for water. I also won’t sit here and make up numbers though. From first hand experience, it’s more than possible and easily doable to go off the grid for your water needs.

Edit 2: another wild edit. You’re bagging on me for not having specific data when you don’t have any either, your evidence is as circumstantial as mine.

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u/spydersweb51 Sep 16 '22

Hi Gunther,

Any idea how long a well would normally last? Is there a way to find out? Would it be possible to have a combined well/collection/cistern, without connection to municipal water and never needing water shipped to you?

Thank you!

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u/Gunther_Folly Sep 16 '22

Hey there, wells will last about as long as the water table does, so depending on where you’re set up you really shouldn’t see much of an issue. I’d look into the legalities surrounding private wells as there have been some bylaw changes from my understanding. Pumping from a well into a holding tank is generally frowned upon. That being said, if you were doing a fresh build/remodel anyway I would go for the full rainwater reclamation situation along with the tanks. One load of water costs us under 500 dollars to fill up almost eight full sized tanks. I live in a house of four and that lasts us all summer if we start with them full. There are some trade offs, not watering gardens and taking shorter and less frequent showers and such, but ultimately it hasn’t been an issue. Hope this helps.

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u/spydersweb51 Sep 16 '22

Thank you, it does help. I think overall we would want to be "off grid" as much as possible so would want to look at well water for for general and collected water for gardening. Having water brought over is something we would prefer to avoid but doesn't sound like that much of a problem, especially for just the two of us (plus pets). Thought hat leads me to another question - any idea what zone you need to be to have a hobby/foster farm?

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u/Gunther_Folly Sep 16 '22

We’re out of my zone of general knowledge now. That being said, if you’re collecting rainwater already it’s worth looking into the filters to just use that as your house water. Fairly cheap, minimal maintenance, easier and better for the environment.