To the Chair and Members of the SCRD:
Today I bought zucchini, green onions, tomatoes, cabbage, cucumbers, beans and more at a local garden. All of what I regularly buy there is reasonably priced, grown with care and skill, and healthily nutritious and delicious.
A few days before, we picked plums from a generous neighbour’s tree.
I did not need to rely on California, Florida, Mexico or Washington and Oregon farmers.
I did not need to use fossil fuels to get to the sources for my shopping.
My money stayed on the Coast and supported the local economy.
The lack of planning over so many years, the lack of a manageable and sustainable plan for water use has hung our local hard-working backyard gardeners out to dry! And it’s killing beautiful garden flowers, bushes and trees.
Low flush toilets alone won’t turn this mess around.
For starters: The SCRD should not have allowed people to water their lawns (it will come back), fill their hot tubs or swimming pools, wash their sidewalks, etcetera, in the early spring. Better to have been safe than sorry.
Using grey water might be an option for a recreational zucchini grower with their half a dozen plants, but it isn’t for the majority of people growing vegetables and fruits on a larger scale. I think many of these people will need financial assistance to purchase rainwater receptacles or to set up grey water systems.
To those of you in the regional district denying the huge impact on food security, you need to lift your heads up and get them out of those dark shady spots that are preventing you from seeing the real Coast.
I have only one more comment – the SCRD cannot continue to manage water in an assbackward way! Your smart leadership and collaboration with people who live here and have knowledge is desperately needed!
Dianne Goldberg, Halfmoon Bay
