Two summers ago, residents up and down the Coast protested to protect it and blocked roads to fight for it. Governments including the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) formed a local board of health and went to court for control of it. Now residents are taking it for granted and wasting it.
We're talking about our water supply - or lack of supply, according the SCRD waterworks staff. Last Thursday, June 4, water usage on the Coast reached an all-time high, leaving the Chapman Creek Water Treatment Plant reservoirs at dangerously low levels. The system can hold about 15 million litres of water, but by early morning on June 5, there were only about three million litres left.
This isn't the first time the Coast has set a gluttonous water use record.
Between June 30 and July 24 of 2008, daily water usage hit highs four times, peaking at 27,108 cubic metres. Last Thursday, during an unseasonably hot stretch, residents used 28,548 cubic metres.
If residents continue using water at this rate, we'll be out of water when the real heat strikes and summer arrives at the end of the month.
When Coast Reporter visited the treatment plant last Friday it was downright eerie when staff from the SCRD opened the tanks to show the water line and where the water should be. Have you ever looked down into a seemingly endless tunnel or hole and yelled to hear your echo? That's what it was like - and there was a lot more echo than there should have been.
We all have to get far more prudent with our water use. Don't run the taps when you don't have to. Flush your toilet only when needed, and look at purchasing a low flush toilet, which the SCRD has been promoting the past few years. When it comes to lawn sprinkling and watering your gardens, be responsible. Adhere to the sprinkling times and don't abuse the system by sneaking out in the middle of the night to turn on your hose.
SCRD staff reported last week that on a driving tour of West Sechelt, residents were observed running out of their homes to turn off their taps as the SCRD truck passed by their house. People know what they are doing is wrong, but they don't care. They just figure that when they turn on their tap, water will be there and that we don't need to conserve. We all better change our thinking before it's too late.
