During this summer’s drought, the provincial government has been telling farmers who are short of water, or not licensed to use it, to find places to buy it. …It would be more sensible, she said, to give priority to ecosystems and rivers, then make sure farms producing food have enough, before allocating water to golf courses, riding rings, water bottling and less essential uses,” Vancouver Island farmer Arzeena Hamir said. … “My feeling is the Ministry of Forests is using the drought as the excuse to come into the community and enforce water licensing. Nor, in Hamir’s view, does it make sense for the Ministry of Forests to be causing suffering to farmers by restricting water use when logging that could reduce water supplies continues. The land in the area, as on much of eastern Vancouver Island, is privately owned and the forests are managed with even fewer restrictions than they would be on public land.