Councillor Harold Steves says part of the reason for the recent 12-hectare fire on the Department of National Defense Lands is a lack of water naturally reaching the 55-hectare parcel.
And with all eyes on the DND lands this week, Steves said he would be inclined to do away with the entire forest.
As a result of surrounding residential development and an increasingly efficient water pumping system in the municipality, water is not saturating the forested bog throughout the year, as it once did, said Steves, 81, a retired teacher and active farmer.
“We’ve closed all of Richmond off, got rid of all the flood gates, and put in pump stations. We’ve covered the ditches, so we suck the water out but there’s no way of getting it back in,” said Steves.
Steves said evidence of this is a dried out pond in the neighbouring Garden City Lands park. He says normally such a pond would have water in it from ditches and green spaces running from the north arm of the Fraser River. But now, the bog is effectively hemmed in and dependent on direct rainwater.
The DND lands were previously farmed, prior to the Second World War, said Steves, noting his father once farmed the land. Even in the summer, water would be present at or near the surface, he said.
“We need a canal right across Richmond from the north arm to the south arm to handle this farm, to handle all the farms along Highway 99, the Highway to Heaven” he said.
According to the city, river and rain water is pumped into existing irrigation systems in east and south Richmond.
“The city has installed irrigation structures, which allow water to be drawn in from the river for our local farming operations, i.e. cranberry and vegetable farms, etc.” notes a city website.
But the Garden City Lands has no river water to feed from, being in the City Centre area. A new 20-hectare research farm operated by Kwantlen Polytechnic University will need to draw on municipal water, which will prove costly, if not done efficiently, said Steves.
Without irrigation at the DND lands, Steves said he foresees more fires in the area, especially with more humans encroaching in the area.
“Anytime someone wants to go camping or you get homeless people (living) there, you’re going to have a fire,” he said.
Not unlike the neighbouring Richmond Nature Park, Steves said the DND lands are not naturally forested. As such, “they should cut all the trees down and keep it mowed just like they did with the Garden City Lands.”
Canada’s military often uses the land for training purposes. The area is populated by non-native plant species.
The Garden City Lands, DND lands and adjacent Richmond Nature Park comprise approximately 200 hectares of green space in Richmond.
