Hello. We are your neighbours, we live in Gibsons and we are overly concerned there is a looming crisis that is occurring in our community which is not being addressed by us citizens or our town officials when discussing the current Official Community Plan (OCP) in Information Sessions.

Good decisions cannot be made from deficient or non-existent information. Critical information concerning the sustainable capacity of Gibsons’ Aquifer hasn’t been considered in these sessions or conveyed to the public.

Finite capacity of our aquifer

Waterline Resources Inc. (the Town’s aquifer expert) in exhaustive studies, has determined that our critically important aquifer has the capacity to sustainably support a population of 10,000 people if managed correctly. Waterline also gave the year 2050 as the date that Gibsons could reach the 10,000 number of citizens depending on the aquifer and warns of the unknown effects of lower rainfall levels due to climate change and the dangers of sea level rise possibly contaminating the lower sections of the aquifer due to saltwater intrusion. The town does a decent job on maintenance but that doesn’t create more water, it guards against loss.

Important numbers:

  • In 2021 Statistics Canada noted that Gibsons had 4,758 people living in 2,482 residential units. The census also gave the average number occupying each unit as 2.0 people.
  • Since 2021 there are 2,403 residential units either constructed or in the process of planning and development approval. At 2 people per unit these add another 4,806 people to our population. New population, 9,564 just 436 short of the 10,000 limit and 218 units, (20+ years before Waterline’s 2050 date).
  • The OCP Update survey is now asking residents how to distribute 1,057 residential units. Is this in addition to what is already in the planning and development system? This would add another 2,114 people which will be over the capacity of the aquifer by 1,678 people and 839 dwelling units. Or is the public being asked how to distribute 1,057 dwelling units that have already been distributed?
  • The Homes for People Act that enables 4 – 6 dwelling units on single family lots could add an additional 3,000 dwelling units (6,000 people) to 5,000 dwelling units (10,000 people) on top of all this, planning us even further beyond our sustainable capacity. It just doesn’t add up!

What to do?

We need to confront this and talk publicly about how we are in danger of developing beyond the established 10,000 population threshold and we need to establish what costs developers must pay when they trigger additional infrastructure such as wells, wastewater treatment and more. Will we the taxpayers have to shell out millions of dollars for this? Will we be subsidizing developers’ profit margins? How will this impact our future taxation? These are fundamental OCP planning questions that need to be addressed now before it’s too late and the OCP update proceeds any further without this vital information and public consultation. The current planning would put us over double our established sustainable aquifer support. We believe it is every Gibsons citizen’s right to have this openly addressed. Quality decisions cannot be made in a void of quality information.