Unfiltered: CCTF Members Respond to Drought Conditions

CCTF members Paul and Janet share their raw thoughts as we all grapple with a new, drier, future.

Paul: Drought is Mother Nature's response to what humans have been doing for the past hundred years or more and we have already been paying the price for the past number of years. We are all paying the price for it now. We will continue to pay the price far into the future and that price will continue to grow. Clean water is life for everything - drinking, food, etc. We have to consider what is essential and what is for aesthetic purposes.    Some of these suggestions are not palitable with the public but we have to adapt and consider alternatives. 

• Watering lawns should be banned because of the amount of water needed.
• Drought affects everything but expecially our forests. Bans on camping, barbequeing or fires of any type need to be mandatory and stricktly monitored.
• Harvesting of wood needs to be stopped or very strictly monitored because chain saws produce sparks and so do forest harvesting equipment.
• Smokers need to be warned about their cigarette butts and smoking in these extremely dry forests need to be banned altogether. When I worked in the woods this was standard practice all summer.
• Many wells all over this province have gone dry because of the drought so how do private home owners get enough water? The municipality has the infrastructure to bring water to those residents who's wells have gone dry and they should be putting this in place. 
• People who own swimming pools should be asked to consider not filling their pools.
• A long term solution - Municipalities need to consider developing and ensuring the desalination of sea water where it makes sense (Nova Scotia, Newfoundland/Labrador, British Columbia, Nunangat, Nunavut, Northwest Territories, etc.)

Janet: The concern I have among many is we are just beginning on this journey. There will be more extreme weather. More droughts.How are we going to handle this?I appreciate the extreme caution we need to take although I believe a staged approach would have been wiser. Let people walk and cycle and use our parks where they can be monitored but ban the use of  combustible motors (trail bikes, ATVs, chain saws etc) as a first step rather. But the big question is....are we seeing the government at the same time make the extreme effort and commitment to reduce emissions, stop fossil fuel development, pressure our federal government to ramp up renewables rather than deregulate and invest in pipelines? I worry about a future where the way govt will deal with extreme climate events will be to limit citizen movement and freedom as our climate causes unliveable conditions....and this is what will cause backlash from people who truly resent govt control similar to what we saw during covid lock down. I think people would be more willing to  follow the rules if they see real tangible commitment and action to address the root causes.