The water crisis on the Sunshine Coast is over for another year. Once again the public has spoken loudly, insisting that adding storage capacity to the Chapman water system should be the number one focus of the region’s water purveyor, the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD). The SCRD, however, seems unfathomably disconnected from this reality.
Last week, more than two years after the water crisis of 2015 ended, directors finally received a staff report on the results of a “desk-top” study of potential groundwater sources. They accepted staff’s recommendation to consider, as part of the 2018 budget deliberations, allocating $325,000 to test four possible well sites. The spending item will be discussed, analyzed and prioritized this winter along with all the other departmental requests.
Assuming the funding is approved, the site tests would be carried out some time next year. If one site is identified as a viable supplementary water source, the cost for developing a groundwater supply may be referred to the 2019 budget, although another budget cycle could be needed for further studies that provide technical and cost breakdowns for a phased implementation. In other words, even if there is a positive outcome, which is not guaranteed, this could go on for years.
Hence the public’s frustration and, in some cases, intense anger over the stagnant water situation: there is no apparent sense of urgency in this process. SCRD administration says staff is looking at a whole range of water initiatives and that a comprehensive report is in the works, but the only thing on the books now is a planned $5-million bandage to be rolled out at Stage 4, a speculative desk-top study, and more water meters. The public is looking to its elected leaders to face the crisis head-on, and that doesn’t appear to be happening.
With one year to go before the next municipal elections, Sechelt council has gotten the message and is speaking out bluntly about the SCRD’s handling of its core responsibility. Councillors are asking the critical questions about adding storage capacity, meeting development pressure, and timing. The mayor is talking about the need to “accelerate” the regional water plan.
It’s a promising sign, but the public has been raising this red flag since the summer of 2015. Accelerated plans should have been hatched then, when gardeners were sprinkling bathtub water on their zucchinis.
Questions are good, but the time to act is yesterday.
