CROFTON Water Woes - Who is next?

 

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Crofton’s Water Woes — Who Is Next?

For Crofton, the mill closure isn’t just a jobs story. It’s a community stability story — and it’s landing as a triple whammy: lost jobs, lost tax base, and now a looming question mark over drinking water.

Start with the part that should make every Island resident sit up: about 70% of Crofton’s water supply has been running through the mill’s water treatment system for decades. That relationship goes back to the mill era — built in the mid-1950s and commissioned in 1957. 

Domtar says it will keep supplying water (and managing operations at the Lake Cowichan weir) until the end of 2026 — but beyond that, there is no committed plan. 

So yes, hundreds of workers are hit. But Crofton is also staring at a hard date on the calendar: December 31, 2026 — after which the town can’t run on assumptions.

Now add the second punch: the tax base hit. North Cowichan says the Crofton mill has been its single largest taxpayer, contributing about $5 million annually in property taxes — money that funds core municipal services. 

And here’s the third punch — the one that’s harder to quantify but very real: those mill jobs weren’t just paycheques. They were the ability for hundreds of households to pay their own property taxes, keep mortgages current, hire local trades, shop locally, and keep other small businesses alive. When those incomes disappear, a community doesn’t just lose the mill’s tax bill — it risks losing secondary tax stability across the whole area.

That’s the triple whammy in plain language:

1. Jobs evaporate (and with them household tax-paying power).

2. A $5M/year pillar of the municipal tax base disappears. (Municipality of North Cowichan)

3. A major chunk of the community’s water supply is tied to an industrial site — with a ticking deadline. 

So what should Crofton residents demand now?

Not “we’re in discussions.” Not “we assume a new buyer will factor it in.” (Hope is not a water strategy.)

Crofton needs a public, written transition plan with dates and deliverables — including what it costs, who pays, and what the back-up system must look like if the mill site changes hands or shuts down its support functions. And if the plan relies on any private owner, Crofton needs binding, durable agreements that survive ownership changes and business cycles.

Because Crofton is not a one-off. It’s a warning flare.

If a town can unknowingly become dependent on an industrial site for water for half a century, the question for the rest of Vancouver Island is obvious:

Who is next?