Drought forces some BC breweries, cannabis operators to turn off the taps

BC’s seemingly endless summer has extended patio season through “Hot-tober” but now many popular Sunshine Coast breweries will be going dry, and it isn’t because of over-consumption.

The ongoing hot and dry weather has led to a major drought on BC’s south coast and it has become so concerning in the Sunshine Coast region that officials there are taking major steps to protect the remaining drinking water supply.

The decision to turn off the taps on non-essential businesses and places like pools, breweries, cannabis operators, and more was made on Monday afternoon after a State of Local Emergency was declared.

It impacts the District of Sechelt, the shíshálh Nation, as well as the Sunshine Coast Regional District and goes into effect Tuesday night just before midnight.

State of Local Emergency declared due to ongoing drought on the Sunshine Coast. Read more here: https://t.co/Hryr6GNWfp pic.twitter.com/XYu0DJ7ghF

— Sunshine Coast RD (@SunshineCoastRD) October 17, 2022

The order means no water can be used for the purpose of brewing beer, wine, spirits, or other products with more than 1% alcohol by volume for businesses that fall within certain areas.

As well, no one can “receive and use water supplied by the Chapman Water System for the purpose of growing or producing cannabis, with the exemption of those licensed by Health Canada for medical production.”

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It also limits using the water supply for those in the construction industry as it prevents water from being used to, “manufacture, transport, processing, cleaning, installation or repair of concrete, cement, asphalt, gravel, or aggregate.”

“We have unfortunately been left with no choice but to order non-essential large commercial users to cease their use of drinking water,” says SCRD Board Chair Darnelda Siegers.

“At this time, we must prioritize our water supply for essential use by residents, the Sechelt Hospital, and fire protection.”

Big hit to small businesses

The seaside area is very popular with tourists both from within the region and from the nearby Lower Mainland, as it is a 30-minute ferry ride from West Vancouver’s Horseshoe Bay terminal.

Among the beloved breweries forced to halt production, Persephone Brewing Company, which is just a few minutes from the Langford Ferry Terminal in Gibsons.

Persephone Brewing Company

CEO Brian Smith says they expect to have enough supply to last through the week and likely next week as well, but worries about what this could mean if the drought persists.

“I think that we’re going to be able to stay open, the front of house will stay open, the tasting room will stay open. We’ll sell through the beer that we currently have in stock,” he said.

“If it goes on too long, we could start to see shortages and maybe, more importantly, we could start to see having to lay people off and, and more dire consequences for our business.”

He says they are trying to find ways to get through this, but worries that shortages will have a cascading impact.

Persephone Brewing Company

“Not only will customers not be able to grab it, but our wholesale accounts will not be able to order from us,” Smith said. “You start to see sort of a downward spiral. So anything more than a week I’m going to start to feel very, very concerned.”

In addition to making beer and cider, Persephone also has a farm that has been under previous water restrictions as of August which has severely impacted the crops.

Smith says they are trying to stay optimistic with the latest restrictions in place.

“We’re in our 10th year and we’ve actually been through a couple of major adversities one, one big struggle with the agricultural land reserve and then COVID — like everybody else, and so our company is full of really resilient people and we know that we can overcome challenges. So on the bright side, we’re not in a state of panic and we’re just going into problem-solving, troubleshooting mode, and trying to figure out how we’re going to get our way through this,” he said Monday evening.

Smith says this situation just shows the importance of adapting new environmental practices going forward.

“We all know climate change is coming at us faster than we realized. Farmers are arguably the first sort of victims having irrigation getting cut off and now small businesses and I think it’s important we’re really doubling down on regenerative agriculture as a nature-based solution to climate change.”