Editor:
From 1990 to 2014, the population of the Sunshine Coast has increased from 20,497 to 29,580. That’s nearly 10,000 more people using water.
Much has been done to the delivery system over that time, by very little has been done to increase supply. Edwards Lake was raised six inches!
Here we are today, living with Stage 4 water restrictions for the second time in less than five years. Last time was October 2012, which lasted a week. This time, we are looking at possibly several months. People can’t even water their vegetable gardens!
I have looked over the “Comprehensive Regional Water Plan” (www.scrd.ca/Water) and am appalled by what I see there. This is a 10-year plan, published in 2013, that continues to rely on the Chapman Lake/Gray Creek system to 2036 (and likely beyond)! The system, even with a new, artificial reservoir, still depends entirely on snow pack, rainfall and flow through the existing system to work. If we had another winter like 2014/15 followed by a summer like this one, it would still fail.
Just around the corner is Clowhom Lake, an existing BC Hydro reservoir about 11 km long, with glacial meltwater adding to the water supplied by its many tributaries. The 10-year plan puts a lot of focus on curbing water use via spending millions on water meters and education, yet we live in a temperate rainforest, with a massive amount of water just a few miles away. Pipelines are built every day.
No matter how we conserve, cut back, etc., if we don’t either stop all new subdivisions (silly) or increase our water supply, we’re going to be in big trouble. 2015 is a wakeup call.
Dave Cottrell, Gibsons
