Sechelt Mayor and Council:
Scary pictures in Coast Reporter (“Water levels dangerously low,” Sept. 29) of almost empty Chapman Lake, from which the SCRD is prepared to siphon up bottom water to extend our totally inadequate water supply.
Summer 2015 we hit Stage 4 watering restrictions because there was no snow pack the previous winter to provide melt water. Now in 2017, despite a good snow pack, it’s October and we’re precariously close to stage 4 after a long drought. Things are not going to get better in future. It’s called global warming/climate change, something this council and the SCRD seems to not believe in.
The reality is that for many months each year there isn’t enough water for the people who already live here. Sucking the silt out of Chapman Lake is not the answer; it’s a short-term, Band-Aid solution that isn’t going to solve our water shortage if council continues to issue building permits for hundreds, thousands more homes.
Scientists say it’s going to get hotter and drier. Droughts will not be unusual. There will be more wildfires. If we don’t have enough water for personal use (never mind keeping our gardens alive), how is there going to be enough water to fight fires?
Before any more building takes place, we need to have a water source capable of supplying an ever-increasing population. The water treatment plant needs to be upgraded and expanded. We need a better sewer system – my neighbourhood and many others aren’t even on sewer. We also need a better highway to carry increasing traffic.
Seems to me council is continually putting the cart before the horse. Wake up to reality and look after the people who already live here and fix the things that need fixing. Don’t just keep building. It’s irresponsible and short-sighted.
Cecilia Ohm-Eriksen, Sechelt
