Editor:
I’ve just returned from a visit to Vernon, at the head of the Okanagan valley. Smoky? Yes. Dry? No. Lawns and gardens in Vernon are flourishing. Parks are green, deciduous trees are lush, lawns are inviting, flowers are everywhere in public and private spaces. Urban vegetable gardens are productive. Vernon is a small city of 40,000-ish people, and as of Aug. 23, normal, year-round water restrictions are in effect:
• Watering is allowed three days per week. • Automatic timer irrigation may operate between the hours of 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. • Manual sprinklers (moved by hand) may be used between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. and 12 a.m. • Drip irrigation may operate anytime. A watering can or hose with spring-loaded nozzle may water anytime.
But they have Kal Lake, you say. Kal Lake is relied on only when the Duteau Creek watershed, with its three reservoir lakes, gets low. Because gravity-fed water is the cheapest, Kal Lake is their last resort. This is in a region that receives on average 16.7 inches of precipitation per year. Farm irrigation (untreated) water is tapped from groundwater resources.
By comparison, the lower Sunshine Coast with its 30,000-ish people, 54 inches of yearly precipitation, and multiple large lakes is unable to make it through the summer without reaching at least Stage 3 water restrictions.
There’s something seriously wrong here. The current slate of politicians have, to date, not modified the bylaws to restrict development based on water supply, and are in the process of rewriting the OCP for Roberts Creek to allow more development on smaller lots. They are not listening.
Enjoy your flower garden? Forget it. Grow your own vegetables? Forget it. If we want food and economic security here on the Coast, we need to address water security now.
Kathy Para, Gibsons
