Our island operates like a water battery. It recharges during the rainy season so we have water during the dry season. A central intact forest is essential for the recharge. Every time we cut forest we damage the ability to recharge.
How our ‘water battery’ works: forest promotes recharge.
Soil acts like a sponge. Trees cause rain to sprinkle to the ground, creating slow runoff. Forests slowly release rainfall over a long period of time.
Erosion reduces our water supply.
Clearcuts are prone to fast runoff. Rapid runoff from bare land causes erosion and harms its ability to recharge the water supply.
My water comes from Mount Baker!
Science says it probably doesn’t. Though some islanders guess that their springs or wells flow from Mount Baker or the North Shore, there is no scientific evidence for such claims. In fact, all indications point to island rainfall as the source of Bowen’s fresh water supply.
All Bowen water comes from rain.
Island Groundwater Systems
Ocean islands are surrounded by salt water, and this is also true underground. A limited zone of fresh groundwater underlies the island. This freshwater zone is fed by rainfall to the island, and is surrounded by salty groundwater that under the Salish Sea.
Industrial logging would threaten almost every water district on Bowen.
Despite promises from logging companies, communities across BC are dealing with the effects of exposed rock, eroding soil, silt in water and destruction of healthy soils. Let’s not experiment with our forests, and stay out of the ‘Forest Stewardship Plan’.
