Gyula's insightful prediction that water rate increases may result in users turning off their taps and therefore reducing income to Greater Vernon Water could be among a constellation of consequences.
The increased cost of water will have an impact on on wildfire risk reduction, community stability and the containment of urban sprawl.
Homeowners, whether on a hobby farm or residential property who have reached the maximum cost they can sustain will have to decide between moving or letting their property go tinder-dry.
Ideas, on CBC radio, aired a chilling program: Visions of Wildfire. We are approaching a time when wild-fire management will be a contradiction of terms. Rather, it will be a shift of wind turning a fire back on itself or the snows of winter that dampen massive conflagrations, leaving the fire alive in the roots of the forest, ready to regain vigour as soon as conditions are right.
A wild-fire expert on BC Almanac CBC radio cautioned that the volume of water used to control wild-fire far exceeds that of responsible irrigation.
Media images of wild-fires, global or regional, are a powerful educational instrument. We are aware of wild-fire behaviour and risks, we recognize which structures will become charred shells and which will remain relatively untouched. We know that fuel reduction is key. However, there is a limit to what you can do when the structure you live in is wood and you do not have the financial where-with-all to replace your wooden decks, siding and roof.
According to experts, grass-fires and fire in debris-laden forests are among the fastest moving fires. Throw scorched lawns and shrubs into the mix and you have a ready-made wick abutting our dry forests.
Valued and much-missed long-time neighbours and nature-lovers were forced out of their hobby farm after the first dramatic water increase. They could not bear to watch their fruit and ornamental trees whither and die. Retirement income and open-ended regional taxation/fees/rates are not happy bed-fellows.
Established residents contribute to the vitality of our community, they have lived our history and understand that we must be vigilant with respect to the preservation of our values. They care about the well-being of our friends and neighbours. They are the eyes and ears on our children and homes.
When the last of the majority of taxpayers/rate-payers/fee-payers are "tapped" dry, the next logical step is to bring in more taxpayers, rate-payers and fee-payers. Goodbye "rural living at its best", hello urban-sprawl.
Gyula's warning that diminished income to Greater Vernon Water will affect water rates ought to be a wake-up call. The unpleasant taste of V.I.D. water is for many a distant memory, the unpleasant taste left in in one's mouth from unwise "conservation" taxation will linger no matter which way you wash it.
The increased cost of water will have an impact on on wildfire risk reduction, community stability and the containment of urban sprawl.
Homeowners, whether on a hobby farm or residential property who have reached the maximum cost they can sustain will have to decide between moving or letting their property go tinder-dry.
Ideas, on CBC radio, aired a chilling program: Visions of Wildfire. We are approaching a time when wild-fire management will be a contradiction of terms. Rather, it will be a shift of wind turning a fire back on itself or the snows of winter that dampen massive conflagrations, leaving the fire alive in the roots of the forest, ready to regain vigour as soon as conditions are right.
A wild-fire expert on BC Almanac CBC radio cautioned that the volume of water used to control wild-fire far exceeds that of responsible irrigation.
Media images of wild-fires, global or regional, are a powerful educational instrument. We are aware of wild-fire behaviour and risks, we recognize which structures will become charred shells and which will remain relatively untouched. We know that fuel reduction is key. However, there is a limit to what you can do when the structure you live in is wood and you do not have the financial where-with-all to replace your wooden decks, siding and roof.
According to experts, grass-fires and fire in debris-laden forests are among the fastest moving fires. Throw scorched lawns and shrubs into the mix and you have a ready-made wick abutting our dry forests.
Valued and much-missed long-time neighbours and nature-lovers were forced out of their hobby farm after the first dramatic water increase. They could not bear to watch their fruit and ornamental trees whither and die. Retirement income and open-ended regional taxation/fees/rates are not happy bed-fellows.
Established residents contribute to the vitality of our community, they have lived our history and understand that we must be vigilant with respect to the preservation of our values. They care about the well-being of our friends and neighbours. They are the eyes and ears on our children and homes.
When the last of the majority of taxpayers/rate-payers/fee-payers are "tapped" dry, the next logical step is to bring in more taxpayers, rate-payers and fee-payers. Goodbye "rural living at its best", hello urban-sprawl.
Gyula's warning that diminished income to Greater Vernon Water will affect water rates ought to be a wake-up call. The unpleasant taste of V.I.D. water is for many a distant memory, the unpleasant taste left in in one's mouth from unwise "conservation" taxation will linger no matter which way you wash it.
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