The Fraser River, Agriculture, Food Security

and the Impacts of a Changing Climate

T.W. van der Gulik

BC Area – 94,474,000 ha

Fraser Basin – 23,151,402 ha

Fraser River Watershed – drains

24.5% of British Columbia

BC’s Food Lands - Grain

BC’s Food Lands - Dairy

BC’s Food Lands – Forage and Berries

BC’s Food Lands – Fruits and Vegetables

BC’ Food Lands - Beef

Food Self Reliance in BC

Foods Group BC

Consumption

Million Kg’s

BC

Production

Million Kg’s

% Self

Reliance

Dairy 1080 617 57%

Meat 467 298 64%

Vegetables (BC Grown) 764 331 43%

Fruit (grown in BC) 172 273 159%

Grain for Food 315 43 14%

Total – (Grown in BC) 2798 1562 56%

Fruit (not able to grow in BC) 310

Vegetables

(not able to grow in BC)

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Sugar 136

Total - BC 3245 1562 48%

Healthy Diet Cropping Requirements in BC

If Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating is followed –

BC’s food self- reliance drops to 34%.

With the technology available today, 0.54 hectares of

farmland is required to produce the food for one person

for one year. ( six city lots)

To produce a healthy diet for British Columbians in 2005,

2.15 million hectares of production is required, of which

10% or 215,000 hectares must be irrigated.

Current estimated irrigated acreage in British Columbia is

around 120,000 hectares

Agriculture Needs to Grow

With population growth, to produce a healthy diet for British Columbians

in the next 20 years will require 2.78 million hectares, with a total irrigated

area of 307,000 hectares – 187,000 hectare increase. (the ALR is 4.6

million hectares)

Farmers will need to increase production by 30% to maintain

current level of self reliance.

Increased production will be concentrated on lands with

access to irrigation – typically close to urban centers.

BC Agri-foods Strategy

Fraser Basin has 51% of Provincial ALR

ALR Percentage of Basin Area – 9.8%

ALR Area in the Fraser Valley = 137,746 ha

Fraser Valley ALR is 5.8 % of total ALR in Fraser Basin

Fraser Valley contains 3% of the total ALR in British Columbia

Yet 50% of Provincial farm gate receipts come from the Fraser Valley

Land Use Inventory

• Developed by AGRI

• Allows for data to be sorted by local

government, crop, irrigation etc.

• Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley

Regional Districts have been

surveyed

• Has been resurveyed in 2017

Observations:

52% of the ALR is cropped

41% of the cropped area is irrigated

The irrigated area in the Fraser Valley exceeds

the Okanagan

Fraser Valley 28,354

Okanagan 21,000

Metro Vancouver Fraser Valley Regional District Totalha ha ha

Total ALR Land 61,089 71,657 132,746

Area cropped 30,393 38,220 68,613

Area Irrigated 13,070 15,284 28,354

Agriculture Land Use in the Fraser Valley

Metro Vancouver Irrigated Crops

Crop Group Total Area

(ha)

Irrigation

Area (ha)

Irrigation

Demand (mm)

2003

Blueberries 5504 4106 332

Cranberries 2591 2570 567

Forage 8776 1561 561

Golf 1170 1170 613

Nursery 715 125 370

Raspberries 177 119 374

Strawberry 180 82 321

Turf Farm 105 105 545

Vegetables 4515 2365 351

Greenhouse 466.6 466.6 1060

Total = 28,222 13,070 441

Crops Cropped Area Irrigated Area Water Demandha ha m3

Berries 14,254 12,305 47,189,300

Forage 41,465 7,652 40,592,722

Vegetables 6,556 3,728 14,606,211

Nursery 2,805 1,728 6,723,144

Greenhouse 772 772 8,568,312

Other 2,761 2,169 10,431,725

68,613 28,354 128,111,414

Crops and Irrigation in the Fraser Valley

Fraser River flows fluctuate from over 10,000 m3 /sec at freshet to a low of 1500 m3 /sec

in late summer. Even at low flow, Fraser River can supply this volume in 1 day

Future Potential Buildout rules:

• Within 1000 m of a surface water supply

• Within 1000 m from a groundwater source

• Within 1000 m from a water purveyor

• Ag classification of 1 – 4

• Must be in the ALR

• Below 750 m of elevation

• The property must be within 125 of elevation

from water source

Current ALR: 132,746 ha

Current Irrigated: 28,354 ha

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• The Fraser Valley has potential to irrigate an additional 40,000 ha, 21% of the 187,000 ha required for

food security in the future.

• More than half of the 21% is in the Metro Vancouver area

Region Irrigated Area Water Demand Irrigated Area Water Demand 2013 ha 2013 2065 ha 2065

Metro Vancouver 13,070 60.7 million m3 34,675 140.2 million m3

FVRD 15,284 67.4 million m3 33,933 132.1 million m3

Total 28,354 128.1 million m3 68,608 272.3 million m3

Fraser Valley Irrigated Buildout Potential

Region Irrigated Area Water Demand Peak Demand % Increase2013 ha 2013 range in 2065 2065

million m3 million m3 million m3

Metro Vancouver 13,070 60.7 80 - 99 31 - 63%

FVRD 15,284 67.4 102 - 126 66 - 86%

Total 28,354 128.1 182 - 225 42 - 75%

Irrigation Requirements Under Climate Change

• Climate change will increase irrigation demand drastically during hot dry years (2015 and 2017 are

examples

• Increased irrigation demand will have to be made up by efficiency and management improvements

Flood plain map of the Lower Fraser River

Productive Aquifers in Metro Vancouver

A good portion of the ALR follows

the Fraser Rover Flood plain –

and can then be supplied with

irrigation from the Fraser River

The Fraser River and

Groundwater are the two main

supply sources of irrigation water

Cowichan Land

Use

ALR in Metro Vancouver

Metro Van ALR = 60,554 ha

Cropped area = 30,393 ha

Irrigated area = 13,070 ha

20% - 25% of provincial farm gate receipts

come from here

Water Purveyors in Metro Vancouver

Concentrate on the area in the

Red box – this is where water

supply will be most impacted by

climate change – Delta and

Richmond

Fraser River Flows in 2011

From EBA Tetra Tech

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Longitudinal Salinity During High Tides Nov 13th, 2011

From EBA Tetra Tech

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From EBA Tetra Tech

Longitudinal Salinity During Low Tides Nov 13th, 2011

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Crop Electrical Conductivty of

Irrigation Water

Crop Tolerance

Ecw - ms/cm

Cranberries < 0.7 not tolerant

Strawberries, Raspberries < 0.7 not tolerant

Beans Carrots < 0.7 not tolerant

onion, lettuce, celery < 1.2 slightly tolerant

peas, potatos < 1.2 slightly tolerant

sweet corn, forage corn < 1.2 slightly tolerant

cucumber, tomato, alfalfa < 2.2 moderately tolerant

beets, oats, clover < 3.5 tolerant

soybean, wheat, barley < 5.0 very tolerant

Crop Tolerance to Irrigation Water Salinity

Irrigation intakes from Fraser are shut down if EC exceeds 0.40

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Site 1 – 28 km from mouth on River Rd

Site 2 – 24 km from mouth on River Rd

Site 3 – 22 km Chatterton

From EBA Tetra Tech

From EBA Tetra Tech

Near term effects are in the next 10-30 years

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From EBA Tetra Tech

Long term effects are in the next 50-100 years

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Upstream of Alex Fraser Bridge

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Tasker Intake

Tambouline Slough – Westham Island

Gun Club – Westham Island

Piling to be used

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The Salinity Sensor Project is funded by ….

Ministry of Agriculture

This session is funded in part through Growing Forward 2, a federal-provincial-territorial

initiative.