Getting to know the problem

For my individual creative project, I chose to focus on the problem of producers located in coastal regions, specifically the Delta growing region in British Columbia, and their struggle to source fresh water. Water plays a critical role in crop production, but the access to this valuable resource is under threat. In times where the access to fresh water is minimal, producers are forced to make costly decisions that can result in crop failure, or worse, permanent damage to their land. By applying design thinking to this issue, I hope to determine what the possible solutions are that could help secure a reliable source of fresh water for the local producers in Delta.

Problem statement

How can farmers in coastal regions gain access to fresh water for crop production?

User based concerns

I used the empathy map to look at how exactly the situation is personally affecting the farming community.

General concerns in the community

Producers in the Delta region are worried about the quality and overall availability they have to fresh water. Being located at the mouth of the river, salt in the irrigation water is always a high concern for local producers. Fields with past applications of water that contained a high PPM of salt can be seen when you drive around the local farms. Large areas of the fields can be seen where crops struggle to establish. With the absurdly high land prices in the area, this kind of long-term damage can be devastating, since the access to good land is rare and expensive.

Specific producer concerns

A substantial amount of land in the area is used to farm cranberries. Local producer Brent H. says that access to water is crucial throughout the entire growing season for his berries. If there is no water in the early spring than they are unable to frost protect, resulting in critical damage to that year’s crop. Water than is needed throughout spring and summer for irrigation/fertigation, which is another large factor in the success of the crop. But the most important factor when it comes to growing cranberries is the access to water at harvest, since the method used to harvest the crop relies on flooding the entire farm with water. Brent told me that in 2018 the snowpack was very poor, this resulted in low river levels, which inevitably resulted in minimal access to water when it came time to harvest. Brent was forced with the decision to use salt containing water at harvest, which could have caused long term damage to his crop. In this specific time there was no other option for him other than writing off that year’s crop. Brent also mentioned that you never want to leave a cranberry crop unharvested, not just because of the lost monetary value, but because the fruit left in the field will go to seed and possibly ruin your crops genetics. When a single cranberry field can coast up to a million dollars to plant, the decision to put salt on your fields or ruin your crops genes in not made lightly.

Another group of producers that rely on water for their crop are the potato producers, which make up another large portion of the farms in Delta. Although not as dependent on access to water like cranberries, potatoes still need high quantities of water to help with plant health but also to help size the tubers. Since Irrigation is done mostly in the month of July, the potato growers must deal with trying to get water at the driest time of year. Unlike the cranberry growers they do not have reservoirs to rely on when ditch levels are low. The overall risk of not having water access is not to the extreme of the cranberry producers, but inadequate access to water can still result in large monetary losses.

Current environment

The “what’s your problem” chart was a helpful tool in identifying areas of focus, especially the environment in which this problem presides, which has a large impact on what solutions that are needed. Located at the mouth of the Fraser river, all of Delta’s water is sourced though the river or captured during times of precipitation. The majority of delta is located next to the ocean and most of its landmass is below sea level. This means there is no access to ground water and in times of low precipitation, the river is the only source of fresh water. For access to river water, producers rely on the local municipality to monitor salt levels and fill the ditches when the amount of fresh water in the river is adequate. High tides, dredging, rising sea levels, and the amount of snowpack are all threats to the local fresh water supply. Currently the Massey tunnel that crosses the Fraser river prevents dredging to a certain depth. This has been a positive for the producers since the shallower the river is, the less salt water can move up stream. The planning of a bridge to replace the tunnel, a decrease in snowpack year to year, and increasing ocean levels are all threats within the foreseeable future.

I formed a couple “how might we statements” to provide possible user-based solutions that focus on the needs of the farmers.

1. How might we increase the water holding capacity of the municipality?

• Ditches could be dug deeper and wider.
• Reservoirs could be made.
• A natural pond in the bog could be utilized as extra capacity.

2. How might we decrease salt accessing the system?

• The pump station could be moved further upriver.
• Monitoring could be improved.
• Secondary controls could be added to the system.

3.How might we increase the time water is available?

• increasing holding capacity would extend the amount of time farmers could irrigate.

4. How might we maximize the water already in the system?

• Farmers could start adopting more sustainable practices, like using soil moisture sensors to accurately measure moisture requirements and avoid over irrigating.

Final thoughts

The problem of access to fresh water for the producers of Delta can be seen as a significant problem the has a varying degree of impact depending on what producer you look at. The solution that is chosen must not only look at the individual producers’ problems, all though important, but also the community as a whole and the ability of the solution the provide equal opportunity to as many producers as possible. To fully be considered a success all growers in the region should be able to identify a positive impact for their production.