To Sechelt Mayor and Council:
On Oct. 27, several of our directors attended a tour and discussion session at the Sechelt Water Resource Centre. The full house was given a very informative and enlightening expert explanation of the operation and potential of the new facility by Troy Vassos and Paul Nash (mediated by Bill Beamish). We were informed that the approximately two million litres per day of reclaimed water which is discharged into the ocean does, in fact, already meet the provincial regulations for use for irrigation in district parks, landscaping, golf courses and certain agricultural applications. Following the meeting, we were advised by the four councillors present that an application to the provincial government for approval to use the reclaimed water for these purposes would require approximately six months processing time, but that the application had not yet been made since “more public discussion was necessary.”
During the summer of 2014, and then to a greater extent during this past summer, Sechelt and much of the Coast experienced significant water shortages. If global warming is our new reality, there is a strong likelihood there will be a similar event in 2016. Clearly, as a community we should be preparing for this possibility. We recognize that public consultation is important to a certain extent; however, when we have a significant water resource that is being wasted it is imperative that action be taken to utilize the resource rather than pump it out to sea. In our opinion, an abundance of perfectly good water to irrigate and beautify our parks and gardens during dry summer months must not be wasted.
Sechelt has a water resource centre that is second to none. It is time to move forward with all necessary applications so that the water resources produced by that plant are available for use and sale before we face another drought. The time for action, not continued discussion, is now.
Peter Wooding, East Porpoise Bay Community Association
