Editor:
The SCRD meeting about Stage 4 water restrictions was scary. Dale Peterson and Annette Clarke requested a one-time exemption only for food crops for commercial farmers and backyard growers.
Director Nohr staunchly refused the request after hearing from Bryan Shoji. Then Director Lebelle made a motion to allow the exemption. Several spoke in favour. Mayor Bruce Milne, opposed, explained why we have Stage 4: human health, environmental flow and firefighting. This understanding made the amended motion, applicable only to metered commercial farms, easier for backyard growers to accept.
Until backyard growers are metered, it is absolutely right they should not be privileged. Some comments heard after the meeting: “I’ll just water at night.” “I’ll get water from …” These are the people who will bring us to Stage 4. They should be heavily fined.
Some people save every drop. They turn off the toilet tap, leave the tank cover off, put the plug in the bathtub and scoop shower water into the tank whenever the toilet needs flushing. They save the rinse from the laundry (always a full load), wash dishes by hand, have a kitchen bucket to save the water from washing vegetables and rinsing dirty dishes that need it before washing. They never waste the cold before the hot runs.
Our family once wanted to subdivide their property. They were told no more subdivisions until the water supply was expanded. From then till now development has exploded. A moratorium should be called.
Our water belongs to us, Canadian citizens and B.C. residents. Guests on CBC’s Almanac argued local farmers should pay the same for ground water as Nestle and other giants waiting to commercialize it. Let’s keep any surplus for ourselves, and share it first with other Canadians.
Ted and Nancy Leathley, Sechelt
