Delta is one step closer to having greater control over soil deposits and removal on agricultural land.

Civic politicians gave preliminary approval earlier this month to a new soil conservation and protection bylaw for agricultural lands.

"It's going to be nice that we finally have some clarity," said Coun. Ian Paton.

The new regulations must be approved by the minister of agriculture, as well as the minister of community, sport and cultural development, before they can come back to Delta for final approval.

Last year, several concerns around soil deposits and landfilling activities on agricultural land were identified as well as deficiencies in the existing bylaw.

At the time, chief administrative officer George Harvie said soil deposit and removal on agricultural land is "poorly regulated" under Delta's current bylaw with ambiguous language that makes the practice difficult to enforce.

While the deposit of soil on agricultural, particularly in low-lying areas, is often necessary to make a farm successful or used in dike maintenance and construction of access roads, in recent years, according to a staff report, there has been an increasing number of instances where fill is being used in volumes and in locations where it is deemed unnecessary or inappropriate.

"The cumulative effect of these fill operations is to gradually erode the agricultural land base as prime topsoil is covered over with less fertile subsoil (often mixed with poor quality material such as construction waste)," Harvie stated in a report last fall.

jkerr@delta-optimist.com