Editor:
As former water planner with the SCRD (2000-2002) I’d like to respond to recent statements in the Coast Reporter.
The SCRD did not get us to Stage 4. We did. Each of us demands the free flow of water from our taps. Whether in drought or flood we want our lawns green and our bathtubs full. Many Canadians feel it our right to be the second highest per capita water user in the world at 327 litres per person per day, second only to the U.S. Other nations, with a higher standard of living, thrive on half the water.
Municipal drinking water in Canada is the best in the world, SCRD water included. Using this water for farm irrigation is like washing your car with champagne. Drilling a shallow well or dugout would be a far better alternative than using world-class drinking water to build local food security.
The Coast has a good water plan, and Stage 4 is part of that plan. Reducing daily consumption from 16 to 14 to 10 million litres per day without a penny of cost to the taxpayer is good planning. Remember too, water planning is not only water supply planning, but also the operation and maintenance of a highly complex and disbursed water system of pipes, pumps and reservoirs from Langdale to Earls Cove.
Clowhom Lake has been looked upon as a potential source with a floating pipeline to Sechelt. The approval process would be long and complicated and the infrastructure more expensive than anything ever before envisioned by the SCRD. Looking to the deepest lake so that we can continue to be poor stewards of this precious resource is what got us into this problem in the first place.
More efficient water usage will come from smarter development and not a continuation of sprawling growth with monoculture landscaping. Co-housing and (slightly) higher density development always reduces per capita water consumption.
Water meters provide water savings. Initially a 25 per cent saving will be realized; over time the saving is closer to 15 per cent. The main benefit of meters is the ability of the SCRD to isolate and detect leaks that can account for 30 per cent of annual water consumption.
When it comes to the SCRD Stage 4 restriction, blaming it all on government is an old, outdated trick that doesn’t hold water. With more intense droughts to come, we all need to become better water stewards. Governments too need to change, allowing compost toilets and greywater systems in new construction, mixed density developments, and investment in wastewater recycling facilities.
New water will more affordably and sustainably come from smarter use of our existing water.
Bob Patrick, Sechelt
