A popular natural spring that was destroyed by boulders, allegedly at the hands of a luxury resort, is being investigated by the province “as it appears to be unauthorized work in a stream.”
After locals learned the public-built natural pool was covered with boulders, Mayor Fred Talen confirmed “these hot springs… as I understand it is controlled by the Harrison Hot Springs Resort [and] staff working for the resort placed these boulders in the hot spring pools.”
While the resort has a conditional water licence, the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship said the natural spring is on Provincial Crown land.
The Ministry said natural resource officers are now investigating the alleged damage to Hobo Hot Springs since “filling in or making changes to a spring and any associated pools would require a change approval.”
“The springs would be a crown resource, even if on private land,” the Ministry said.
During a council meeting this week, Mayor Talen said he welcomes the investigation, “including [looking into] the construction of the original pools and the materials used and a number of other factors.”
After the incident, Talen said he had spoken with the resort about it and said, “We agreed that [the] events unfolded in [a] less than ideal way.”
He was not able to provide any more information as “the situation is a little bit between stages.”
“There are meetings in the next few weeks that will touch on the hot springs,” he said.
In an email statement to Daily Hive, the Ministry also confirmed that there are no new applications for work in the area.
The conditional water licence the resort holds gives it permission to use water from Harrison Hot Springs. The rights date back to 1926. The current licence was issued in 2003 under the old Water Act.
However, the Ministry said, “Even where land ownership is private, the associated water rights are not typically rights of ownership, they are rights of use.”
“The licence purpose is for mineral trading (baths) and mineral trading (bottling water), and they are allowed to use 105,000 gallons per day for the baths and 10,000 gallons per day for the bottling,” the Ministry explained. “This can be used year-round. The licence grants authorization to construct works enabling them to use the water, including the pumps and pipeline, and notes that construction has already been completed.”
This licence also requires the resort to provide access to a continuous flow of four gallons per minute for public use between 6 am and 8 pm daily.
According to the Ministry, the resort provides public access to the pool at 101 Hot Springs Road instead of on the resort site.
Hobo Hot Springs, built by the public, was a natural pool located along an esplanade that led directly to the source of the hot springs. For people who didn’t feel like spending money to stay the night at Harrison Hot Springs Resort to use the hot-spring-fed mineral pools, the natural hot springs often attracted many travellers and residents to the area.