Editor:
Let me get right to the issue and lack of political will. We do not have a water shortage. We have a lack of storage.
Many years ago our not-so-wise politicians, with advice from many residents, thought water requirements on the Sunshine Coast (Halfmoon Bay to Gibsons) could be supplied by one little lake back up in our hills. A park was created to help protect our drinking water. As it all turns out, we need much more water than any amount of conservation and metering will provide.
This issue and solution are clear. Referendums and more taxation through metering are not solutions, just stalling tactics. Water, like the air we breathe, is a given right. Of course waste is not in the equation. But how we go about providing adequate water for today and 50 years hence lies in making a decision to tap into a reservoir large enough to supply all our needs for dry years and growth.
So after walking and being driven down the Clowhom River Valley and seeing for myself what storage is available to us, I say it’s time to solve this problem.
Here we have a massive reservoir. Surely we can find the engineering to bring water over Polytope Pass and down the Rainy River, or into the Gray Creek drainage to connect and construct required piping to Chapman Creek. Logging roads and power lines abound back there and could provide right of way and power for pumping.
Come on, folks. Lets get behind a workable plan. Property development costs should be raised to support these expenditures.
Chapman Lake could serve as a backup in case of emergency and eliminate the need to alter the landscape in the park.
Clearly a crisis is upon us and the SCRD is primarily responsible. I for one am tired of being used to play Russian roulette with our water needs every year when things get dry.
Al Jenkins, West Sechelt
