The hissing of summer lawn sprinklers could become a thing of the past on the Sunshine Coast if tough conservation measures are adopted to buy time and save millions of dollars in water system upgrades.
Major upgrades are needed to the Chapman Lake system over the next 25 years -and even with more restrictive outdoor watering and universal metering, the price tag will be an estimated $36 million.
That was the sobering picture presented to more than 100 people at two open houses April 29 to review the draft comprehensive water plan for the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD).
"Last year your lake levels were so low that you almost ran out of water," consultant Gurjit Sangha told residents in Gibsons at the evening open house.
"We were actually releasing more water for fish than for human consumption," said Bryan Shoji, the SCRD's general manager of infrastructure services.
Last year's record drought forced the SCRD to enact stage three watering restrictions - no lawn sprinkling or car washing -and then stage four, banning all outside usage.
"That's a significant event," Sangha, vice president of Opus DaytonKnight Consultants, told the crowd. "When you went to stage three and four you reduced your water usage by 50 per cent."
The SCRD has among the highest per-capita water usage rates in the region, the plan shows.
At 1,250 litres, the per-capita maximum day demand on the Chapman system is more than 20 per cent higher than neighbouring communities. Universal metering and tighter watering restrictions are projected to reduce that amount by 25 per cent, to 940 litres per capita per day.
With universal metering, "you should realize a 20 per cent drop just like that, by raising awareness of water users," Shoji said.
Metering will also enable the SCRD to track leaks in the system. When Egmont went on meters, a huge leak from one residential connection was discovered.
"One house was consuming half the water in the community through a leak," he said. "The challenge now is we don't have the data. With universal metering we'll be able to read the meters and give everybody the opportunity to find where those leaks are coming from."
While radio-frequency meters have been approved for the separate Pender Harbour water system, no decision has been made on what kind of technology would be used under the regional system, Shoji said, noting that all meters would be installed at the property line, not in homes.
The draft plan calls for upgrades to each component of the system -source capacity, treatment plant, transmission and distribution infrastructure.
To increase the Chapman Lake source supply, the plan recommends the eventual construction of an engineered lake on an existing mined site. As an interim measure, a propane-powered floating pump station to draw water from below the lake outfall is recommended.
Shoji said the alternative to a floating pump station - flying pumps up to the lake during an emergency - carries a lot more risk.
The pumps are needed because about 80 per cent of the lake volume is below the outfall. Shoji said the SCRD will also determine if the outfall could be practically lowered.
For the proposed treatment plant upgrade, Sangha illustrated the advantage of adopting a more intensive demand management (IDM) approach.
"The Chapman treatment plant has reached capacity - you need to do upgrading. If you carry on with the same demand management system, immediate expansion is required," he said. With universal metering and more watering restrictions, however, "you could delay expansion to 2020."
The scale of the expansion will also be smaller under an IDM system, costing $6.4 million compared to $10 million under the existing system.
Several residents attending the open houses spoke in favour of adopting tougher watering restrictions, with some suggesting a total ban on lawn sprinkling in summer.
"We don't need Dick and Jane lawns," George Smith said during the afternoon session in Sechelt.
Speakers at both open houses, however, said watering vegetable gardens should be treated differently from cosmetic watering.
Others criticized the plan for not emphasizing measures such as rain harvesting and re-using grey water.
"I think we have to go to a lot more conservation measures," said Jason Herz, chair of the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association.
Shoji said those ideas would be looked at after universal metering is in place.
"Metering is a key to this, but it's not a silver bullet," he acknowledged.
During the next few weeks, the SCRD will conduct an on-line questionnaire on extending watering restrictions.
The public comment period for the regional water plan closes May 15, with a report scheduled to be presented June 6 to the SCRD's infrastructure services committee.
The timing, Shoji said, was designed to include the plan in the 2014 budget process.
The Chapman Lake system is the primary water system on the Coast, serving more than 90 per cent of regional water customers. Small systems within the region are expected to meet 2036 maximum day demands, except for Eastbourne, where the plan recommends tapping additional wells.
