Editor:
I agree that we don’t have a water shortage; we have a lack of storage. And we suffer from an inability or unwillingness to do anything about it. It wasn’t very long after I moved here in 1994 that I heard a rumour of an impending water crisis. Since that time, I’m unaware of any increase in the amount of water available to the “growing” population. I am likewise unaware of any effort to restrict growth because of “limited water resources.”
I am opposed to metering. It is not because I don’t think that metering will help to conserve water. It is because we have limited resources and we are spending those resources on metering a commodity we don’t have enough of! I think it is great that leaks have been identified in the process of installing meters, but if the best outcome of metering is that we “found leaks and saved tons of water” – could we not have figured out how to do that without metering each household?
The decision to not put ice in the Sechelt arena is what drove me to write. Has it really come to this? Who decided that we don’t have enough water for this purpose? I’ll bet had the hockey / skating community been asked, many would have been happy to give up a shower per week in exchange for ice. (I would happily join them in that effort, except that I already limit my water use so that I can water my garden.) If politicians think they have impressed the public with their wise decision-making, think again.
It is also perplexing that the Town of Gibsons is willing to risk its award-winning, aquifer-fed water. Imagine if the aquifer was compromised. How long would our water supply sustain us?
Laurie Miller, Gibsons
