Ladysmith Asked Victoria To Protect Its Water. The Answer Still Hasn’t Come.

Ladysmith is not asking Victoria for a favour. It is asking for basic protection of drinking-water infrastructure serving roughly 12,000 people in Ladysmith, Stz’uminus First Nation, the Diamond Improvement District and Saltair. That should be an easy file for a provincial government to answer quickly.

Instead, Global News reported Friday that a recent human-caused wildfire along Banon Creek Forest Service Road has the town again calling on the province for “immediate emergency action” on safety and watershed protection. According to the report, council wrote to the province on June 26 seeking stronger access controls, more enforcement against unauthorized access, trespassing and encampments, and faster legal tools. The town said it had not received a response.

The risk is not abstract. Global reported a human-caused brush fire broke out in the area on August 18, after another fire in the same area weeks earlier. The town also raised concern about a catastrophic wildfire damaging critical drinking-water infrastructure or injuring people in the area. Those are not partisan talking points. They are the practical warnings of a local government responsible to residents who still need safe water when the smoke clears.

The province already knows the file. A March access-change release from the Town, the Province and forestry stakeholders said weekday access to Banon Creek Forest Service Road would be restricted starting May 19 because unauthorized camping and illegal dumping were increasing wildfire risk and possible watershed contamination. The same release said the watershed sits outside town boundaries, is managed under provincial timber licences held by private and Indigenous forestry operators, and that the Town does not directly control access.

That is the heart of the accountability problem. If the Town lacks direct control over access, and the province controls the legal and land-management tools, Victoria cannot hide behind jurisdictional fog while a local government absorbs the risk and taxpayers absorb the repair costs.

Global reported the access gate locks have been intentionally cut and removed less than 24 hours after installation at least six times, and that a newer high-security locking system has also been damaged. Because of repeated vandalism and fire-risk concerns, the gate is no longer locked and access is unrestricted. That is not a working protection plan; it is a failed control point.

Residents are already living with water pressure of another kind. Ladysmith’s official restrictions page shows Stage 3 water restrictions effective July 3. The Town’s June 29 notice said Stage 3 was triggered by declining Holland Lake levels, with lawn watering prohibited and restrictions on filling pools, washing vehicles and hosing outdoor surfaces. The Town said Holland Lake had been declining about 3% per week and that B.C. Drought Level 4 had arrived earlier than normal.

Premier David Eby’s government should answer the June letter publicly: what authority will the province use, what enforcement will be added, who is responsible for access, and by what date will the watershed have a durable protection plan? Safe drinking water is not a press-release category. It is a core duty.