Boats like those that clutter the Gorge Waterway near Banfield Park, Cowichan Bay and other anchorages along the coast have slipped through the regulatory cracks for decades. Authority is fragmented among governments, and few have had the fortitude to pull the pieces together so the problem can be solved.
The province owns the seabed of the Gorge and manages it through the Ministry of Lands, Forests and Natural Resource Operations, but the surface is a navigable waterway and is governed by federal navigation and marine habitat regulations.
At last, the city has become sufficiently fed up to embrace a potential solution. It will ask the provincial government to give it a licence of occupation for the waterway, and will then zone the area for recreational use. That will prohibit long-term anchorage and live-aboards.
It鈥檚 a solution that worked for the District of West Kelowna to clear problem boats off Okanagan Lake. Kelowna鈥檚 move has survived a court challenge.
The problem is not simply one of esthetics, although homeowners and park visitors turn up their noses at the sight of vessels with rusted metalwork and mounds of detritus on their decks. Derelict boats can leak fuel and oil. Live-aboards are accused of flushing their holding tanks into the water and dumping their garbage on the shore, although many conduct themselves responsibly and considerately.
Dumping sewage in freshwater or within a mile of shore in saltwater is illegal, but federal officials have shown little appetite for enforcing the rules in places like the Gorge.
The city clearly has developed an appetite for cleaning it up.
Some have argued that forcing boats out of the Gorge is a violation of individual freedom, but freedom can be restricted when it affects others and harms the environment. Others have argued that live-aboards fill a need for affordable housing.
While there might be a way to allow responsible owners to live aboard, we see few examples riding at anchor in the Gorge. Disposal of sewage and garbage will always be a problem for vessels that don鈥檛 have ready access to pump-out stations.
One answer might be a permit system that allowed boats to remain as long as they met pollution and safety criteria.
Those who live aboard their boats at least have a reason to anchor their vessels. Those who use the Gorge as a parking lot and then walk away from their gradually deteriorating craft have no excuse.
We don鈥檛 allow people to park derelict cars on our roads. There is no reason to allow derelict boats on our waterways.
Victoria has turned its Inner Harbour into a jewel by getting rid of the paint plant, soap factory and other industries that once made the water an open sewer. Years of hard work have similarly transformed the Gorge 鈥� except for the derelict boats.
However, the city鈥檚 move is an attempt to make the best of a bad situation. To find an effective solution, all levels of government have to get together to end the fragmentation of authority that has allowed derelict vessels to proliferate.
The province should agree to the City of Victoria鈥檚 request, and it should be the first step in a co-ordinated effort to protect not only the Gorge but all the other anchorages where irresponsible boat-owners foul our oceans.
