Editor:
Now that we are done with the Election No One Wanted and Was Not Needed, we can return to more personal, locally urgent matters – water. The debate on whether putting meters in is a good idea will come back at us. I would like to offer two comments. First – in industry there is a saying, “if you can’t measure it, you cannot control it.” And the corollary to that is, “if you can’t control it, you have a problem.” So, I am of the mind that we need to meter the water usage and charge by the amount we consume. Some people will not take appropriate action unless there is a significant downside (cost) to not taking the action.
Secondly, water is becoming a scarce resource in many parts of the world – witness the calamity that is the Colorado River’s disastrous water level decline. Closer to home we have 2015, 2017 and this year as instructive events. There is no guarantee that 2022 will be any different in terms of rainfall and although some increase in supply is planned, I don’t think we should put too many eggs in that basket. Increase in demand and impact of climate change will likely eat up that addition.
My point is that if you have a scarce resource, you need to manage it carefully to ensure it is not wasted. And remember there are some water-starved populations south of the border and it would not be beyond the pale for them to work at acquiring some water from Canada.
Ron Wilson, Elphinstone
