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The Province has approved a five-year extension to the Environmental Assessment Certificate for Garibaldi at Squamish (GAS).
With this extension, the GAS Certificate remains valid until January 26, 2026.
The extension gives five more years to GAS to complete the EA Certificate requirements and start construction on the project.
An earlier condition also required that GAS drill test wells and report the location of the main pumping well by January 2021.
The new amendment and extension remove those deadline. “This will give us time to thoroughly investigate on-mountain water supply options,” the company says.
Sabina Foofat, the project director, says the amendment now ensures that if water from the Paradise Valley isn’t required, the company isn’t compelled to drill wells in the Paradise Valley.
“The previous wording of the Certificate would require we drill wells in the Paradise Valley no matter what, but the amendment makes it so that we only drill wells in the Paradise Valley if they are required by the province,” she says.
Meanwhile, GAS continues to drill test wells on the mountain in vicinity of the Main Village, although that project was paused last summer to answer technical questions by Squamish Nation.
“It is important to us that Squamish Nation is comfortable with our test well program before we proceed.”
District of Squamish, SLRD and Paradise Valley Community Association had expressed concerns about the potential water supply for the project.
The community association had told the province they won’t support the proposed project if water was to be accessed from the Paradise Valley Aquifer.
If GAS does find an on-mountain water supply, the company would still require various permits from federal, provincial and local government jurisdictions.
Wolfgang Richter says
Very good.
Robert says
It should also be important to know that the residents & business’s of Paradise Valley are vehemently opposed to a selfish water extraction to be pumped out to the extent required for such a development.