Editor:
“User pay” is always an easy answer: toll roads, gasoline tax, water meters – in the hoary rubric of “supply and demand.” Raise the price and they will use less. This might be true for luxury items which are not needed such as cigarettes or liquor. Imposing a carbon tax on gasoline did not reduce consumption, nor tolling the Port Mann Bridge cut down car traffic, nor will metering water reduce usage.
Water is a necessity in any household. Two retired people living without a garden and doing three loads of laundry a week will obviously use less water than a young family doing laundry almost daily, using more bath water, flush water and no doubt more water to establish a newly planted garden. That family will be monetarily punished through no fault of their own in a metering system.
As it is, in the Sunshine Coast Regional District, we pay almost $500 annually in “land charge SCRD Water” and water utility use charges. And to pay for the capital cost of metering, estimated at close to $6 million, and then pay extra for usage on top is abhorrent. There are better ways to increase supply, instead of pretending that metering will reduce demand, many of which were discussed in last week’s Letters section. Just for once, let’s try thinking outside the box for an innovative solution! And let’s do it pronto.
Sue Carson, Halfmoon Bay
