Editor:
Re: “SCRD directors set to declare immediate water emergency,” April 26.
A true declaration of a water emergency is exactly what’s needed at the SCRD, but to declare a “water emergency,” do nothing, and then call it “rhetoric” is frivolous, and a credibility killer. Crying wolf is not the action of a board that is in control, understands what’s at stake, or engenders trust.
Water regulations are being ignored, they say. Instead of encouraging compliance through education, bylaw enforcement, and addressing the core issue – water infrastructure – the SCRD is now dealing with a revolt from its citizens. Ordinary folk, and a lot of them, are committing an act of civil disobedience because the board has lost the trust of the electorate. The board has panicked in response. This is not leadership or good governance. When a governing body resorts to manipulating a population with half-truths, they create a community where people will believe anything and nothing is true.
The actual emergency is that we are headed into fire season with no reserved water, no SCRD emergency planner in place, and no emergency plan for running out of water. A real declaration of emergency would have the SCRD shut down every department that is not directly connected to water, and reallocate all resources to solving the water emergency. But: no water. No plan. No one to steer the ship.
My hope was that this new board would do something. Nothing else is more important. Certainly not developers and possible liability issues around turning off their water taps. Declaring an actual emergency would take care of that problem. Adding regulations and taxes would also control and slow development. None of this is rocket science.
The board doesn’t seem to know how to expedite this process. Here’s a suggestion: declare an actual emergency and get on with it.
Kathy Para, Gibsons
